The United Ukrainian Ballet (UUB) is to replace its performance of Swan Lake with other programs when it visits Taiwan next month, event organizer udnFunLife Co Ltd said yesterday.
The company was originally scheduled to perform three shows of Swan Lake, a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, at the Taipei Music Center on April 29 and April 30 during its first trip to Taiwan.
Considering Russia’s war in Ukraine, “the cultural sensitivities that the war has caused in the Ukrainian nation means that it is not possible for UUB to perform Swan Lake at this time,” the company told the organizer in a statement on Tuesday.
Photo courtesy of udnFunLife Co Ltd and Altin Kaftira via CNA
The program is to be replaced by a series of ballets featuring choreographer Alexei Ratmansky’s new work Wartime Elegy and dances from classic ballet pieces Don Quixote, Le Corsairse and Carmen, the statement said.
The 18-minute Wartime Elegy — the choreographer’s first ballet since the war began — is “a love letter to the Ukrainian people,” it said.
“We unite to protect and support our country,” dancers of the company said in a video, adding that they are glad to be able to perform in Taipei.
The company was founded last year, comprising about 60 Ukrainian ballet dancers in exile, who train and live in the old building of the Royal Conservatory in The Hague.
The dancers have performed in Australia, the Netherlands, Singapore, the UK and the US.
Although Swan Lake has long been regarded as a common asset of human civilization, udnFunLife respected the company’s decision to change the program to “avoid unnecessary misunderstanding and confusion,” it said.
People who already bought tickets to the performances and request a refund can do so without a service charge before March 15, it said.
Those who bought tickets before the announcement at 11am yesterday, and still wish to see the performances, can receive a free program on the day of the show, it said.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
RSS