Alexei Ratmansky Has Staged Balanchine’s ‘Donizetti Variations’ in Kyiv
The production of George Balanchine’s “Donizetti Variations” by Alexei Ratmansky will be the first certified staging of Balanchine’s choreography for a Ukrainian ballet company. The project brings Ratmansky back to the National Opera of Ukraine, where his career began, after decades abroad.
The National Opera of Ukraine will launch its 159th season with a groundbreaking ballet production: Alexei Ratmansky will direct George Balanchine's "Donizetti Variations." This neoclassical one-act ballet is set to the music from Gaetano Donizetti's opera "Dom Sebastien." For Ukraine's national ballet company, this is the first officially certified staging of a Balanchine work.
The project holds special significance for Ratmansky, as he returns to the theater where his own professional journey began. Born in Leningrad but raised in Kyiv, Ratmansky trained at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow before becoming a soloist at the Kyiv State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre. He began his choreographic career in Kyiv and gained international recognition, working with prestigious companies in Canada, Denmark, New York, and Russia.
Since 2008, Ratmansky has been closely linked with the American Ballet Theatre in New York, while continuing to create works for ballet companies worldwide. In 2022, Ratmansky halted his Moscow projects due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and has since become a vocal critic of Russia's actions. He has consistently supported Ukrainian artists and institutions, with Ukrainian themes increasingly appearing in his choreography.
In 2022, he created "Wartime Elegy" for the Pacific Northwest Ballet, which premiered with a Ukrainian flag unfurling on stage. In 2024, Ratmansky choreographed an updated version of "Wartime Elegy" for the National Opera of Ukraine, which premiered in Amsterdam. The work will also be performed in New York's Fall for Dance festival in September 2025.
Ratmansky has also choreographed works dedicated to Ukrainian culture, such as "Solitude" (2024) for New York City Ballet and "The Art of Fugue" (2025) for the Royal Danish Ballet. Ratmansky's commitment to Ukrainian ballet artists is evident through his support for the United Ukrainian Ballet, a company formed in 2022 for Ukrainian dancers who had to leave their home theaters due to the war.
In 2025, Ratmansky, along with his wife Tatiana and other collaborators, launched the Ballet Shoes for Ukraine project, providing thousands of pairs of ballet shoes to theaters and ballet schools across Ukraine.
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