Ukrainian Dancers Defy The Laws of Gravity and Motion
by Larry B. on 2/26/25Savannah Civic Center - Johnny Mercer Theatre - SavannahRating: 5 out of 5When I think of going to a concert with my wife, normally it’s for one of our favorite musicians. Ballet is usually not high on the list. But a happy wife is a happy life. Oksana wanted to see people from Ukraine in a happy situation. February 22nd marked the third year of tears with Putin’s greedy invasion of my wife’s homeland, Ukraine. My wife, Oksana Gruszka, is a child prodigy artist born in Ternopil, Ukraine. I found affordable seats in the orchestra center and it was date night at the ballet. “You never take me anywhere” was shelved for one day.
Our gallery in Savannah City Market, was just a few blocks from the venue at Savannah’s Civic Center. We literally just walked to the event, no bother with parking. Saturday had been a day in hell. I gave Oksana the day off to find the right outfit. I had prepaid for her manicure. Food in the frig. I couldn’t control her chipping several nails after the salon appointment, but I got her back in for gel nails. Did they have to play a Russian song on the YouTube? I’m sure that was absolutely planned by the Russian media defense department. I had no sales in the gallery. Only a miracle could save our marriage at this point.
The weather was comfortably cool for our four block walk. It helped both of our moods. Oksana was dressed in her native Ukrainian best with hand stitched beadwork. We passed the bus for the performers and you could hear her native Ukrainian tongue. Oksana smiled and excitedly conversed with a stranger in her native Ukrainian.
The line to get in went very fast and I didn’t even have time to pull up my digital tickets. The kind staff came to my aide before the good mood could sour. Now we had hold-in-your-hands real tickets! The perfect memento.
We found our seats. Way better than most of our acquaintances who paid about the same. “Can you get me a glass of wine?” “Of course.” I made it back in time for the opening scene. Oksana was smiling broadly! The magic from her country was enchanting us all.
Beautiful, colorful costumes. It was like being a time traveler eavesdropping on the beautiful grand past. The little girl in Oksana was in heaven!
Then the dancers started showing off for the other dancers. The audience was not important. They were performing for each other. Half of the group were not stretching in the back stage eaves, they were sitting on either side of the huge stage with perfect posture like rigid members of a royal court. The audience on stage was choreographed to be fluid and static at times to focus our attention. Most everyone on stage was so cultured and poised, but a few characters stood out with colorful costumes. A court jester and the jealous black swan were comic relief and sources of tension throughout the performance. Interestingly, these secondary characters stole the show! No words to translate. No boring opera singing in some strange language. This was dance at its highest level.
The entire performance was scene after colorful scene with the performers on stage performing to impress the other performers! Graceful jumps and kicks that could only come from a lifetime’s practice were one after another. It was like a movie with some digital effects, the dancers could jump twice their height. They could slow down time and leap across the stage in slow motion It was amazing with the level of skill, but even more so with the synchronization of the dancer’s movements. Timing was insanely accurate! We have our professional team cheerleaders, but this wasn’t an impressive five minute high kick routine, this was the whole game in competitive dance! Bravo!
I heard the mom from Argentina and her wide eyes little girl shout “Brava!”
Later we found out this is the feminine version of “Bravo!”
It’s customary when a performer is pushing the limits of human ability to shout out encouragement. When the tiny foreign dancer is doing a pirouette and spinning herself like a human top more than a dozen times in a row, it’s an Olympic Games performance in front of you! She might not understand “Go! Go!” But the entire world has adopted the French exclamation “Brava! Brava!” Go see the Ukrainian ballet. Bring the little girl who sits beside you for a night of magic. Glory to Ukraine. Glory to her heroes!