The Cultural Nomads Project

05/31/2026

Today, on the last Sunday of May, the capital of Ukraine celebrates City Day. No fear, no bowing to Russian threats.

This morning, a friend from Kyiv wrote to me about her stroke of good luck: an unexpected last-minute ticket to see The Witch of Konotop (Konotopska vidma), based on the novella by Hryhoriy Kvitka-Osnovyanenko, one of the classics of Ukrainian literature.

Staged in 2023 at the Franko National Theatre by the outstanding Ukrainian director Ivan Uryvskyi, the production has already reached 200 performances and remains one of the most sought-after tickets among the many theatrical highlights of the Ukrainian capital.

This satirical comedy, set in the striking modern décor of Tetiana Ovsiichyk, with music by Susanna Karpenko and choreography by Olha Semioshina, explores the perennial struggle between darkness and light. It combines a contemporary sensibility with infectious energy and inspiration.

Happy Kyiv Day, dear city of freedom! Be proud of your wonderful artists and of your incomparable theatre audience.

http://ft.org.ua/ua/performance/konotopska-vidmaРежисер-постановни...

05/24/2026

The cycle of fifteen performances of La Dame aux Camélias, choreographed by John Neumeier to Frédéric Chopin’s music, ended yesterday, leaving the audience gasping for more. Neumeier brought his 1978 creation to the repertoire of the Paris Opera Ballet in 2006. Over the past twenty years, different generations of dancers have explored the depths of Neumeier’s dramaturgy, recreating its tragic story of the impossible love between a courtesan and a good boy from a proper bourgeois family.

Inspired by Alexandre Dumas fils’s story, itself rooted in the writer’s personal life, Neumeier sought to reveal the profoundly human, universal passions and pains experienced by his characters as they navigate the rigid social conventions of nineteenth-century Parisian demi-monde society. This is not a literary ballet that requires a libretto, but rather a flow of emotions danced as if it were the truest medium for the fine psychological study. This ballet takes you in unconditionally due to its masterful staging (it is not just choreography)

Waiting for the next run of this ballet by the Paris Opera Ballet, I will cherish in my memory many moments of the excellent casts of 2026. Moreover, I will probably never forget Irek Mukhamedov in the role of père Duval, and it is a barely dancing role, yet one through which he revealed another layer of Neumeier’s tragic vision in multiple perspectives. It is through the eyes of M. Duval and his memories, a generically elusive matter to stage finely, that we witness Marguerite’s demise and the quiet despair of his son.

La Dame aux camélias de John Neumeier, du 4 décembre 2018 au 3 janvier 2019 au Palais Garnierhttps://www.operadeparis.fr/saison-18-19/ballet/la-dame-aux-came...

05/13/2026

Étoile of the Paris Opera Ballet Mathieu Ganio stepped last week into the haunted universe of Nikolai Gogol in 'Le rappel des oiseaux' (“The Calling of the Birds”) - a fragile, mesmerizing theatrical journey through loneliness, imagination, and madness.

Our cultural educator Tatiana Senkevitch reflects on this striking Paris production and Ganio’s daring transformation beyond the classical ballet stage: https://culturalnomads.org/mathieu-ganio-diary-of-a-madman-paris Opéra national de Paris Mathieu Ganio - Fan Group

05/07/2026

Can there be a “heated rivalry” in classical ballet? Yes!

What inspired Jamaican-born choreographer Christopher Rudd to create a ballet about gay love between "Adam and Steve"? How can classical dance speak about masculinity, desire, conflict, and identity in today’s world while remaining rooted in the language of ballet?

Enjoy our interview with Christopher Rudd to find out!

05/03/2026

An exciting presentation of William Forsythe’s works by the Ballet de l’Opéra National du Rhin in Théâtre de la ville in Paris. The programme consisted of the three “classical” pieces created by the American choreographer in the 1990s (yes, classical exists even in the category of contemporary dance): TRIO, QUINTETT, and ENEMY IN THE FIGURE . All three were interpreted by the excellent dancers of the company with sensitivity, intelligence, and passion. In the poetic TRIO and QUINTETT dancers reinvent the expressive vocabulary and often the syllables of familiar choreographic language. It was followed by the powerful ENEMY IN THE FIGURE, which questions the established order of theatre dance in its relationship to the setting, lighting, the public, and most importantly to dancers themselves. It was thrilling to see Forsythe through bodies and souls of dancers from the Ballet de l'Opéra National du Rhin led by Bruno Bouché, their artistic director. And yes, the Richard Serra-style curved curtain on stage is an enduring invention.
On stage till May 6, 2026

7 likes. "Ballet de l'Opéra national du Rhin – William Forsythe - Quintett / Trio / Enemy in the Figure"

04/26/2026

Banned in Russia, reborn in Berlin.

Kirill Serebrennikov’s Nureyev ballet returns to the stage with the Staatsballett Berlin with a powerful, multimedia portrait of Rudolf Nureyev that goes far beyond biography. This is a story of exile, artistic freedom, memory, and the price of defiance.

Blending dance, theatre, music, and striking visual imagery, the production captures not just the legend of Nureyev, but the fragility and intensity of the artist behind it, while echoing today’s cultural and political realities.

A moving, ambitious work that reminds us why art must remain free.

Tatiana Senkevitch shares her impressions here: https://culturalnomads.org/nureyev-ballet-2026