The National Ballet of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Shumka Dancers concluded their successful US Tour with a sold-out performances, and arrived back in Kyiv.  Over the course of 23 days, they captivated audiences with 18 shows across 16 cities, reaching over 22,000 attendees. This Tour became a successful mission to celebrate and share Ukrainian culture with America, taking the audiences on a profound emotional journey, culminating in a sense of immense joy and hope.

USUBC was a proud partner of this enormous cultural achievement for Ukraine, with USUBC Acting President, Irina Paliashvili, having served on the Host Committee, chaired by  HE Oksana Markarova, Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States.  We are grateful to all USUBC members, who supported the Tour and attended the performances! USUBC extends its congratulations to Marc McMurrin, President & CEO Ginsburg Family Foundation and the entire team, who organized this highly successful cerebration of Ukrainian culture in the United States.

CBS Morning News celebrated the National Ballet’s journey with a heartfelt story highlighting their remarkable success and resilience. We also would like to share a heartwarming story from Sarasota, where the show was initially cancelled because of devastating hurricane Milton, but then the Sarasota Opera House reached out to the National Ballet to let them know that the venue remained unharmed, welcomed them with open arms and the show went ahead as planned. The Ukrainian dancers, who have personally faced devastation, immediately connected with the needs of the Sarasota community and volunteered at All Faiths Food Bank to help pack food for families in need. It was a special reminder that even in the face of hardship, art and kindness can create unity and hope. Pictures at the Food Bank

The review of the opening performance at the Kennedy Center shared that “the audience witnessed the richness of Ukrainian culture, the bleak interpersonal realities of war, and the courage of Ukrainians to find joy through it all” and stressed the superb technical skill of the dancers, which “was as near to perfect as I have ever seen”.

NPR covered the story on “All Things Considered”.