SUFFOLK, Va. - The Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts is preparing to welcome the biggest act ever to take its historic stage.
Kyiv City Ballet is coming to town September 19-22 as part of the organization's first-ever U.S. tour.
"We’re so excited to have these dancers here because they are a world-class group," said Lorelei Costa Morrow, the Suffolk Center's Director.
The ballet is scheduled to perform "Tribute to Peace: Ukrainian Repertoire" on Wednesday, September 21 at 7 p.m. "Swan Lake" will follow Thursday night at 7 p.m.
But the dancers will have a chance to get acquainted with Suffolk as early as Monday, with a Welcome Reception that's closed to the public. It's part of the city's plan to try and make the group feel at home at a time when its home country of Ukraine is in turmoil from Russia's invasion.
Costa Morrow tells News 3 the ballet left Kyiv on one of the final flights out in February...and hasn't been able to return home since. The U.S. tour was added to keep the dancers working and revenue coming in.
When the opportunity came to bring them to Suffolk, the Suffolk Center jumped on it.
“It is stretching us to the max in terms of our dressing rooms, in terms of our volunteers but our community has been amazing in terms of sponsoring the performance, in terms of lots of people from the community volunteering to help," said Costa Morrow.
At a little more than 500 seats, Suffolk Center is a smaller venue than those that would normally host Kyiv City Ballet. Costa Morrow tells News 3 it's a unique opportunity for the audience to see the world-class performers up close.
Ahead of the performance, Suffolk Center replaced hundreds of old seats with new, larger ones. The new seats also offer more leg room. The century-old venue — the former Suffolk High School — says it will also use the performance to kick off a fundraising campaign to renovate the historic structure.
During its stay in Suffolk, Kyiv City Ballet is scheduled to offer educational programs and master classes at Suffolk Center.
At four days, the ballet is staying in Suffolk longer than it would in most other cities.
“This is why I got in the arts. To me, art is all about sharing your experiences with your neighbors, in this case global neighbors. Learning from each other, developing empathy for each other, understanding the world better through someone else’s eyes, through art," said Costa Morrow.
Click HERE for ticket information and more details about the Kyiv City Ballet's visit.
