EDMONDS — The Grand Kyiv Ballet brought a light-enhanced version of Tchaikovsky’s classic ballet “Swan Lake” to the Edmonds Center for the Arts on Friday, Oct. 16, as part of its 2026-27 U.S. tour.
Titled “The Swan Lake: Symphony of Lights,” the production combined traditional ballet choreography and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s music with illuminated costumes and wearable light technology, incorporating lighting effects into the dancers’ movements.
First performed in 1877, “Swan Lake” is among the best-known works in classical ballet. The story follows Prince Siegfried and Odette, a princess transformed into a swan by an evil sorcerer’s curse. The ballet explores themes of love, deception and sacrifice, with Tchaikovsky’s score and the contrasting roles of the white and black swans central to the production.
Grand Kyiv Ballet Founder and Artistic Director Oleksandr Stoianov, originally from the Crimea peninsula in Ukraine, relocated to Seattle after Russia invaded his home country in the winter of 2022 when he lost his home to the war. He founded the Grand Kyiv Ballet company in 2014 because most ballet dancers working in the country at the time worked for Russian Ballet companies, he said, and he wanted to showcase exclusively Ukrainian talent.
Stoianov has been dancing since the age of eight, beginning his career as a ballroom dancer. He made the swap to ballet after an esteemed ballet instructor saw one of his performances and convinced him to give it a try. Now, at the age of 36, 26 years of ballet dancing later, Stoianov strictly focuses on the business side of things as he informed the Lynnwood Times his age is no longer conducive to the technical maneuvers seen in his performances.
Before relocating to the Seattle area the Grand Kyiv Ballet has performed all over the world with countries including France, China, Spain, Norway, Denmark, Holland, Poland, Norway, Belgium, Sweden, Chile, and many others. They have even performed for a list of royal families, politicians, and public figures.
What started as a group of about 25 ballet dancers, his company has now grown to approximately 60 dancers, spread between two teams (which is how the company can have two performance on the same night in two different locations).
Dancers in the Grand Kyiv Ballet now represent a diverse pool of different nationalities from Poland; to Spain; to the U.S.; to Italy and Iceland.
The Edmonds performance of Swan Lake is part of a broader international tour by Artistic Space Productions, which lists additional performances at venues across the United States, Canada and Europe.
For tickets and event details, visit Artistic Space Productions’ event page.
Author: Kienan Briscoe
