A ballet company calling itself “Ballet of Ukraine” recently performed The Nutcracker in eight Swedish cities while presenting itself as Ukrainian, but has strong connections to Russia, according to an investigation by Swedish broadcaster SVT.
SVT reported that when journalists visited the address in Kyiv listed on the Ballet of Ukraine’s website, they found only an office building and shopping mall, with no ballet studio in sight.
“They are making money from our suffering,” said Lana Roxy, press officer at the National Opera in Kyiv.
The investigation revealed that seven of the 14 dancers listed on the company’s website are active in Russia. The booking company, Touring Actors, is hosted on a Russian server and owned by a Russian citizen registered as a business owner in Moscow, who pays taxes in Russia.
“The number of ballet companies claiming to be Ukrainian has now become so many that it’s difficult to keep track of them,” Roxy told SVT.
SVT found that payments from at least six performances in Sweden were made to a Swiss AI company owned by a former Russian banker.
The Russian businessman behind the booking company dismissed claims about Russian connections as a “smear campaign” and claimed that Ballet of Ukraine does not hire Russian dancers. The artistic director wrote that the dancer list on the website was outdated, but SVT notes this was the same list the booking company referenced when selling the tour.
This is not the only case. In 2022, the National Opera in Kyiv issued a warning about “clone troupes” touring under false flags. In December, The Heritage Ballet had its Swedish tour canceled after a security investigation showed connections to the Russian state.
The websites for both Ballet of Ukraine and Touring Actors have now been taken down.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many European governments and cultural institutions have boycotted Russian cultural events, including ballet performances, as a form of protest against the war. This boycott has led to cancellations of Russian ballet tours and performances across Europe, with some arguing that Russian culture is too closely tied to Kremlin propaganda.
Read also:
- How American “culture wars” became Russia’s actual war against Ukraine
- Russia’s war on culture and freedom of speech: 145 Ukrainian artists, 95 journalists killed since 2022
- Russian war crimes push cultural break but 30% of Ukrainians still tied to Russian culture, expert says
