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The Sky Was on Fire: Ballet & War in Ukraine

This film tells the story of the Russian attempts to erase the culture of Ukraine- the story of the ballerinas and dancers who must make a choice: to leave the country, to stay and dance, or to pick up arms and fight. How do these dancers navigate their choice to leave their homeland or to stay under a blanket of rocket fire and fight? What happens to the future of Ukrainian ballet and dance when so many artists are relocated across the globe? As prima ballerina Khrystyna Shyshpor asks, "If everyone leaves, who will stay and dance?" And as war continues, how will this younger generation of dancers change the art form of ballet to separate themselves from Russian influence? Dancers who have stayed find themselves performing in between air raid sirens and bombings. And in some regions, the bombing has rendered their stages unusable. For those who traded the stage for the front lines, picking up arms to defend their country, some have paid the ultimate sacrifice in the name of Ukrainian independence. And for many dancers who have been training their whole life for the chance at the grand stage, the only option was to take refuge in other countries where they have the chance to continue their dreams. Over 250 dancers have relocated to the US alone, while operas, ballets, and schools across the globe have taken in countless others. Throughout the last century, ballet has been used by Russian regimes as a form of political propaganda and an expression of "soft power," meant to highlight Russia's dominance of the art form. As Russia tries to erase the culture and national identity of Ukraine, ballet once again takes center stage as a lynchpin of international politics and resistance in Eastern Europe. Ballet dancers and artists across the country have had to make the choice to leave and continue their careers, or to stay and fight. For the Ukrainian Ambassador to the US, Oksana Markarova, stopping artistic expressions of Ukrainian culture and ballet is "exactly what [Russian officials] wanted us to do." And when Russian forces took control of Mariupol and Kharkiv, they bombed the theaters, operas, and museums-targeting and killing dancers, composers, and artists With unprecedented access to these dancers and to the war they are fighting, this film tells this remarkable and emotional story of how these individuals are fighting to keep the heart and soul of Ukraine alive.

The Sky Was on Fire: Ballet & War in Ukraine (2025)

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The Sky Was on Fire: Ballet & War in Ukraine

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