BEAUMONT, Texas — Around the world, people and businesses are boycotting Russian products and severing ties with Russian companies amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian Ballet Theatre Company is set to come to Beaumont soon, and it has left community members with questions. Many have shown caution about supporting businesses with a Russian connection.
“People ask questions, and that's understandable," Guyla Hartwick, RBT producer, said. "They want to know what are they supporting when they come to our shows."
The RBT will perform Swan Lake at the Jefferson Theatre on Saturday. Members have been asked a multitude of questions and are happy to provide answers.
Hartwick and the Russian Ballet Association have confirmed that the RBT does not have any business ties to Russia. According to Hartwick, Russian ballet is a style of dance.
“We are a U.S. entity,” Hartwick said. “We’re named after a ballet style. The style of dance, Russian ballet, is the Vaganova technique. That is the foundation of the world ballet as we know it today."
Officials with the Russian Ballet Association confirmed this saying in part, “The Vaganova method is developed by Russian dancer and pedagogue Agrippina Vaganova. The professional ballet technique and training system puts enormous focus on progression."
The RBT has been on tour in the U.S. since February. Company dancers come from nine different countries including Ukraine, Poland, Belarus, Slovenia, Italy, Japan, Armenia and Russia.
"You can see different nations performing this beautiful art form, on the stage together,” Hartwick said.
The ongoing crisis in the Ukraine has brought on a new set of challenges and questions for the company and its dancers. Some RBT members have family members who have had to evacuate Ukraine for safety.
With the war being so close to home, members said performing has become an outlet for the dancers.
"It's a way of escaping their reality and also making the world a little better," Hartwick said. "When they're on stage. They're Rothbart. They're Odile. They're Odette. They're jester. They're there to bring you happiness, and peace, and hope."
Since the attacks started, RBT has started every performance with a, “We dance for peace,” banner. Now, their ballet has much more at stake and a deeper meaning.
"It's much more than just a tour of a beautiful production of a classical ballet," Hartwick said. "We are on a mission now. We would scream against the war if we could, but we are dancers. So we dance for peace."
Members said the ballet is a testament to the peace and unity the RBT advocates for through their dance.
Hartwick said their mix of international talent is living proof that different nations can come together on one stage and create something beautiful instead of destroying it.