‘The Snow Queen’ Review: Grand Kyiv Ballet Shares Its Unique Identity

On Nov. 30, Grand Kyiv Ballet brought Hans Christian Anderson’s timeless tale, “The Snow Queen,” to the Emerson Colonial Theatre. Adapted from the same story that inspired Disney’s “Frozen,” the performance was captivating and full of holiday festivities. Apart from its unique choreography and emotional movements, Grand Kyiv Ballet also brought to the stage their Ukrainian cultural identity and a heart of philanthropy. The company’s dancers, with their heartfelt performances and technical prowess, created a breathtaking and emotionally resonant show.

The story of “The Snow Queen” involves three main characters. Kai (Mykola Khoma) was taken away from his friend Gerda (Diana Stetsenko) by the Snow Queen (Kseniya Dronova), who turned Kai’s heart stone cold. Heartbroken, Gerda searched for Kai across the realms of the ravens, fairies, robbers, and more, finally finding him and freeing him from the spell of the Snow Queen. In addition to the main story, a narrator (Zack Tidswell) reappeared throughout, connecting the different episodes.

Choreographed by Alexander Abdukarimov, Grand Kyiv Ballet’s production of “The Snow Queen” added a flair of uniqueness to this age-old tale. Filled with sharp movements, bold lifts, and round dances, Abdukarimov’s choreography was a visual spectacle that combined ballet with acrobatics, modern dance elements, and movements that evoked Ukrainian folk dances.

In the first scene, the Snow Queen entered the stage walking en pointe, and several times in the later scenes, the ensemble brought onstage lengthy and highly technical pieces depicting round dances. From partnering lifts and straddle jumps to playful kicks with flexed feet, the ensemble moved sharply and swiftly to the fast-paced music, putting the audience in a mood for holiday festivities.

However, the choreography did not always perfectly deliver the narrative. The narrator, dressed in an anachronistic gray suit with a microscope-esque box covering his head, appeared onstage periodically to perform an interpretive modern dance to the literal words spoken in the narration. While his movements flowed smoothly and impeccably, they appeared strange in the context of the story, which was exacerbated by the oddity of his costume.

Moreover, with a runtime of two hours, “The Snow Queen” felt slightly rushed and undramatic both in its ending and its technical support. For instance, the defeat of the Snow Queen only involved a handful of dancers onstage and felt short despite being a major part of the finale. The relatively bland sets involving only backdrops and a few other small, moveable pieces detracted from the theatricality that “The Snow Queen” could have achieved. The lighting of the show was often too strong for the audience to clearly see the dancers. Nonetheless, for a touring company with about 20 dancers in “The Snow Queen,” these limitations appear reasonable and were compensated for by the techniques of the dancers.

Apart from its performance, Grand Kyiv Ballet shook the hearts of many with its charity work in Ukraine. The Ballet was founded as a touring company in 2014 by Oleksander Stoianov, who, along with his wife Kateryna Kukhar, a principal dancer at the National Opera of Ukraine, has since taken part in various charity gala concerts in support of Ukraine.

The philanthropic goal of Grand Kyiv Ballet’s tours is apparent. The show program, sold at $10 each, ends with Stoianov and Kukhar’s charity work through Grand Kyiv Ballet, as well as a QR code linking to a PayPal page asking audiences to donate to the Kyiv State Ballet College, also known as Kyiv State Choreographic College. As Ukraine’s main ballet school and both Stoianov and Kukhar’s alma mater, the restoration of the Kyiv State Ballet College becomes a symbol for the preservation of Ukrainian culture in face of Russia’s artistic dominance in ballet. Grand Kyiv Ballet is also fundraising for its own dancers’ pointe shoes and a tour bus with an aim to bring its performance farther around the world.

In the final scene of “The Snow Queen,” Gerda and Kai celebrated with their fellow townsmen onstage. They soon discovered one of the Snow Queen’s trolls hiding away. Instead of punishing him, Gerda welcomed him into their celebrations. Instead of good driving evil out, “The Snow Queen” ends with good accepting evil with compassion and turning it into a part of the good. The ending is perhaps emblematic of Grand Kyiv Ballet’s own hope in the ongoing global conflict — to find compassion through dance.

Grand Kyiv Ballet will return to Boston at the Emerson Colonial Theatre on Feb. 19 and 20 with their production of “Swan Lake.”

—Staff writer Xinran (Olivia) Ma can be reached at xinran.ma@thecrimson.com.