Kristina Kadashevych performs with the Richmond Ballet in “Firebird” and “Serenade” from Feb. 17-19. (Photo courtesy Richmond Ballet)
It was around 5 a.m. when Kristina Kadashevych first heard distant shelling from her home in Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, heralding the start of the Russian invasion last February. One of the most well-known ballerinas in Ukraine, the 33-year-old was packing her bags that morning to fly to Paris to dance as a guest soloist for Kyiv City Ballet. When she heard explosions that sounded like fireworks, she and her parents rushed to turn on the news.
“We couldn’t believe it was really happening,” Kadashevych says. “It was like some kind of horror movie.”
With the invasion escalating, Kadashevych made the heartbreaking decision to leave her 3-year-old son in the care of her parents, who fled to a safer area in western Ukraine near Poland.
“It’s really difficult to be apart, and he’s so small, and I think he needs his mommy,” Kadashevych says, “but there was no work [in Ukraine] for me and my parents, so somebody needs to work.”
Kadashevych left for Paris to perform with the Kyiv City Ballet for a two-week tour. Unable to return to their home country, the dancers performed across Europe and the United States, including a stop in Suffolk, with ticket sales benefiting the war effort. At the end of her performances, Kadashevych was often moved to tears as she looked out from the stage to see Ukrainian flags waving.
“It was very emotional, every time,” she says. “In the audience, sometimes there were Ukrainian refugees, people who needed support from us. It was difficult, but we felt we were doing something really important.”
Even as she coped through a difficult period, Kadashevych brought holiday cheer to Richmond as a guest principal dancer for the Richmond Ballet’s annual production of “The Nutcracker.” She danced the roles of the Sugar Plum Fairy, Snow Queen and Mrs. Silberhaus throughout the 15-perfomance run. Next month, Kadashevych will perform in “Firebird” and “Serenade” at the Dominion Energy Center from Feb. 17-19. A principal dancer for the Kharkiv National Opera and Ballet Theatre for 13 years, her roles in Richmond are the first she has danced for an American ballet company.
“I love the company very much,” Kadashevych says. “I’m very happy to be here, and I love all the dancers and teachers, and this city is also so great, so it’s a good time for me.”
Known for her expressive dance style, Kadashevych was the ideal professional to temporarily fill the toe shoes of a Richmond Ballet dancer on maternity leave, says Stoner Winslett, the company’s artistic director. Recruiting a dancer from a war-torn nation is also incredibly meaningful, Winslett says.
“The mission of Richmond Ballet is to awaken, uplift and unite human spirits through the power of dance, and I thought that bringing a ballerina here who is unable to currently dance in her home country would be another way our organization could further its mission,” she says.
Kadashevych is one of many Ukrainian performers and artists who have found themselves stranded during the invasion. As natives of a country with long-standing contributions to the art of ballet, Ukraine’s dancers have received support worldwide. The foundation of philanthropist Howard Buffett, son of Warren Buffett, has granted more than $1 million to support Ukrainian dancers unable to return home. And the Youth America Grand Prix, a prestigious competition for dance scholarships, is connecting Ukrainian dancers with ballet schools abroad after their training was halted by the invasion.
Dance is an escape for Kadashevych and other dancers who are missing home.
“The rehearsals and performances help me not think about what’s going on at home for a while,” she says. “For a moment, I think about something good.”
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