Alexei Ratmansky Has Staged Balanchine’s ‘Donizetti Variations’ in Kyiv

The National Opera of Ukraine is opening its 159th season with a landmark ballet project: Alexei Ratmansky will stage George Balanchine’s “Donizetti Variations.” The one-act neoclassical ballet is set to dance music from Gaetano Donizetti’s opera “Dom Sébastien.” For the Ukrainian company, the production will be the first certified staging of a Balanchine work.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Balanchine, one of the most influential choreographers of the 20th century, is particularly known for his one-act, plotless ballets, in which movement, musicality, and the dancers’ physical expression take center stage. For Ratmansky, the project has another dimension: he is returning to the theater where his own professional career began. Alexei Ratmansky during a rehearsal of “Donizetti Variations.” (Photo via the National Opera of Ukraine) Ratmansky was born in Leningrad but grew up in Kyiv. He studied at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow from 1978-86 before returning to Ukraine. From 1986-97, he was a soloist at the Kyiv State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre named after Taras Shevchenko, which is now the National Opera of Ukraine. He became known for his technical precision and ability to combine virtuoso movement with a strong dramatic interpretation. Other Topics of Interest Kyiv Shortens Curfew, Changes Metro Rules as Russian Drone Attacks Intensify The changes come as Russia has stepped up attacks on Kyiv with jet-powered drones, with the capital now facing more than 10 air raid alerts a day. But Ratmansky was already looking beyond the stage. In 1987, while still developing his career as a dancer, he made his choreographic debut in Kyiv. His early miniatures and one-act ballets were later brought together as Evenings of One-Act Ballets, a program that became popular with audiences in the 1980s and 1990s. He also established himself in international competitions, winning first place at the All-Ukrainian Ballet Artists Competition in Donetsk in 1988, a gold medal and the Vaslav Nijinsky Prize at the Sergei Diaghilev International Competition in Moscow in 1992, and second place in choreography at the Serge Lifar International Ballet and Choreography Competition in Kyiv in 1994. His career soon moved decisively onto the international stage. Ratmansky became a soloist with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in Canada and later joined the Royal Danish Ballet in Copenhagen, where he became both an artist and an artistic director, creating 15 ballets. He subsequently worked in New York and Russia, including as director of the Bolshoi Ballet from 2004 to 2008. Since 2008, with a short interruption, Ratmansky has been closely associated with the American Ballet Theatre in New York, while continuing to create works for major companies across Europe, North America, Asia, and Australia. His choreography has earned some of the profession’s most prestigious honors, including the UK National Dance Award, Benois de la Danse, Dance Magazine Award, Bessy, MacArthur “Genius Grant,” Isadora Duncan Dance Award, Green Room Award, Premio Danza&Danza, Golden Mask, and Reumert. Ratmansky’s career took a decisive turn on Feb. 24, 2022. He was in Moscow working on two productions when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Ratmansky shut down both projects, cancelled their premieres, and immediately left Russia. Since then, he has become an outspoken critic of Russia’s war against Ukraine, describing it as an imperialist and colonial war, calling for greater moral responsibility from the international cultural community. He has also taken a clear position against his works being performed in Russia. “It is humiliating to think that dancers should only dance and concentrate on their art, regardless of what is happening around them. They have not only beautiful legs, but brains and hearts,” Ratmansky said. His position has also translated into concrete support for Ukrainian artists and institutions. Ukraine has long been present in Ratmansky’s choreography. His works include “On the Dnipro” (2009), “Odessa” (2017), and “Songs of Bukovina” (2017). After 2022, the war became an increasingly direct subject of his work. In 2022, he created “Wartime Elegy” for Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle. At its premiere on Sept. 26, he unfurled a Ukrainian flag on stage as the audience rose in a standing ovation. Ratmansky later created an updated version of “Wartime Elegy” for the National Opera of Ukraine. Rehearsals began in Amsterdam in May 2024, involving eight leading soloists of the Ukrainian company. The Ukrainian premiere took place on June 22, 2024, and the work became an important part of the company’s repertoire. In September 2025, the National Opera’s ballet dancers took “Wartime Elegy” to New York’s Fall for Dance festival, where the production received a strong response from critics and audiences. Ratmansky has also brought Ukrainian culture to major international stages. In February 2024, his choreography to “Rozluka,” a waltz by Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko, premiered at the Vienna Opera Ball. His “Solitude,” created for New York City Ballet in 2024 and the Dutch National Ballet in 2026, is dedicated to Ukrainian children affected by the war. In 2025, he created “The Art of Fugue” for the Royal Danish Ballet, dedicating the work to Ukraine. Support for Ukrainian artists Another important area of Ratmansky’s work is his support for Ukrainian ballet artists. He supported the United Ukrainian Ballet, a united Ukrainian ballet company established in The Hague in 2022 for Ukrainian artists who were forced to leave their home theaters because of the war. The company’s debut production was “Giselle,” choreographed by Ratmansky. In 2023, his “Solitude,” or “Elegy for the War,” became part of the company’s Dancing in Defiance program. The performances took place in the UK, Singapore, Australia, the US, and other countries. In 2025, Alexei and Tatiana Ratmansky, together with Antonina Skobina and Denis Drozdyuk, launched the Ballet Shoes for Ukraine project in the US. The initiative has delivered thousands of pairs of pointe shoes and ballet slippers to theaters and ballet schools in Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, Dnipro, and Kharkiv. Tetiana Beletska, Alexei and Tetiana Ratmansky at a press conference ahead of the premiere of “Donizetti Variations.” (Photo via the National Opera of Ukraine) Ratmansky’s return to the National Opera of Ukraine in a new role – now as one of the world’s most renowned Ukrainian choreographers – carries particular symbolic significance. He is working on a ballet by Balanchine, whose productions have also no longer been licensed to Russian ballet companies since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Alexei Ratmansky: “I think that what is happening in Ukraine now is not only about war and Russian aggression. This is a historic moment when the very idea of democracy is being called into question. If Ukraine does not win, it will be the collapse of the idea of democracy and justice. That is why I understand that it is not only politicians, but also the majority of people around the world who support Ukraine and believe that Ukraine will win.” “My current work in Ukraine has a personal and professional connection. We – my wife, Tatiana Ratmansky, a choreographer, and I – are from Ukraine, we are from Kyiv. Our relatives and friends are here. It was at this theater that we began our professional careers, as dancers and as choreographers. I started here, and I very much want Ukrainian ballet not only to survive, but also to be on a level with the leading ballet companies of the world,” Alexei Ratmansky said. “Because Ukraine produces great ballet artists. There was a period, about 20 years ago, when Ukrainian dancers were among the best. And I wish for that to continue. It is important that performances continue and that new repertoire is being created. But in my opinion, it is impossible to fully develop ballet without Balanchine’s repertoire. This is a step that Ukrainian ballet has not yet taken. One Donizetti is not enough. We need to do more and more, because classical ballet and contemporary ballet – all of this needs to develop together,” he added. Scene from “Donizetti Variations.” (Photo via the National Opera of Ukraine) “Donizetti Variations” at the National Opera of Ukraine will become the first certified staging of Balanchine’s choreography for the Ukrainian company. With this production, the Ukrainian stage will receive a work by one of the key choreographers of the 20th century, interpreted by Alexei Ratmansky – an artist whose professional journey began in Kyiv.