Dancers from Kyiv City Ballet at York Theatre Royal on their June 2022 visit. Picture: Tom Arber
KYIV City Ballet will return to York on a special visit next week, climaxing with a fundraising gala performance at York Theatre Royal.
The 30-strong Ukrainian dance troupe first performed there last June, playingto a full house, at the invitation of Tom Bird, the then chief executive.
Plans for their 2023 stay include a primary school visit and a lunch with Ukrainian families based in York, as well as An Evening With Kyiv City Ballet on March 30 at 7.30pm at the Theatre Royal.
Directed by Ivan Kozlov and Ekaterina Kozlova, the evening will feature excerpts from the ballets Tribute To Peace, Don Quixote, La Bayadere, Les Sylphides and Paquita. All funds raised will support Kyiv City Ballet and York Theatre Royal’s ongoing partnership.
Aelita Shekchuk dancing at York Theatre Royal last June. Picture: Tom Arber
Businesses in York and beyond have come together to ensure the Ukrainian dancers receive a warm welcome to the city once again. Eurostar and LNER have stepped in to arrange their travel from France to York, while hotels within Hospitality Association York are collaborating to offer 24 rooms for the company to rest during their stay.
Those hotels include The Grand; Middletons; No.1 by Guest House; Elmbank; York Pavilion; Marriott; Queens Hotel; Hampton by Hilton; Malmaison; Hilton York; Middlethorpe Hall and Mercure York Fairfield Manor Hotel, who have all offered their hospitality.
The dancers will be treated to a tour of York Minster and an evening river cruise, provided by City Cruises, as part of their visit.
The gala performance has sold out but those unable to attend can support the event via Crowdfunder donations to crowdfunder.co.uk/p/an-evening-with-kyiv-city-ballet. The funds raised will help to cover the costs involved in the visit and ensure the company can continue to spread the vital message of hope through its inspirational work.
Aelita Shevchuk and Nazar Korniichuck of Kyiv City Ballet
Michael Slavin, interim chief executive of York Theatre Royal, says:“We were overwhelmed by the generosity and support of the city when Kyiv City Ballet made their visit to York last year and we are thrilled to be able to build on this ongoing partnership by inviting them back once again.
“They are an immensely talented group of artists, and we are delighted to share our stage with them once more. A huge thank-you to all the businesses across York who have come together to help us celebrate and share the rich and amazing culture of the city and to all our audience members and donors who have made this event happen.”
Ekaterina Kozlova, associate director of Kyiv City Ballet, says: Our visit to York last year was so special and we are so happy to be returning once again. We can’t wait to experience more of what the beautiful city of York has to offer, to meet people in the community and share our work with audiences.”
Kyiv City Ballet dancers arrive at York Station last June. Pictured, back row, centre, are director Ivan Kozlov and York Theatre Royal’s then chief executive, Tom Bird (in Ukrainian blue and yellow). Picture: Ant Robling
Musetta and her dog in Ellen kent’s production of La Bohème for the Ukrainian Opera & Ballet Theatre Kyiv
INDOMITABLE impresario Ellen Kent had contemplated the unthinkable: calling time on mounting her lavish opera and ballet tours by eastern European companies under her own steam.
Now, however, not even President Putin can stop her as she heads back and forth to Ukraine to bring the Ukrainian Opera & Ballet Theatre Kyiv to Britain, not least to one of her most regular stamping grounds, the Grand Opera House in York next week.
Senbla, part of the Sony Music Entertainment stable, have taken on the financier’s role for her Opera International tours. “I put the productions on; they pay for them and pay me a fee. We’ve been doing this since 2019, and it’s a good way to end my career because it doesn’t carry any risk,” she says.
This arrangement leaves the tireless Ellen free to concentrate on directing rehearsals for the Kyiv company’s 2023 productions of Puccini’s La Boheme and Madama Butterfly and Verdi’s Aida.
Opera director Ellen Kent
What’s more, she has had to make all the arrangements for securing visas and permissions for the Ukrainian orchestra, chorus, soloists and technical and stage crew – 73 people in total – for their British itinerary that opens tonight (26/1/2023) in Manchester.
“The older I get, the more I seem to do,” says artistic director Ellen. “My first opera with the Romanian National Opera was in 1993, and I know this is crazy, but I don’t look any older.”
She is 73, and her diligent, devoted work in being the first producer to bring big-scale opera tours from Eastern Europe to British theatres has seen her come face to face with three conflicts in Ukraine since starting with the Ukrainian National Opera in Odesa in 2002: the Orange Revolution protests of 2004-2005, Donbas under attack in 2014 and now Putin’s “special military operation”.
“This is the most difficult tour I’ve done in my whole life,” says Ellen, who may no longer face financial risks in her work but nevertheless had to fly to war-ravaged Ukraine in November to oversee all the preparations for the tour.
Natalia Matveeva: Ukrainian mezzo-soprano performing in Madama Butterfly
“Ok, there are bombs and drones, but somehow everyone carries on as normal. For this tour, I’ve had to bring them out of Kyiv three times, first to get their visas done for the British Home Office, taking them from Ukraine to Moldova, then getting them on to overnight coaches for rehearsals in Chişinău, putting them in hotels, and calling on my relationship with the Opera Ballet Theatre of Moldova. Now the tour itself.”
Ellen’s administration for this 2023 itinerary has been double that required for any previous travels. “I’ve almost had a nervous breakdown, not from bombs, but from all the bureaucracy, as all men aged 18 to 60 are not allowed out of Ukraine, should they be enlisted, and so you have to get special permission for arts organisations from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, who have to send the permissions to individual mobile phones.
“They sent them about two days before, and then you have Kyiv being bombed, and all the telecommunications go down, having booked them on the night train from Kyiv to Chisinau.”
Further problems ensued with Ukraine-Moldova border guards, whose computers came up blank for the QR codes for their electronic passes when they were travelling for rehearsals in Chisinau. “The whole lot of them had to stay overnight at a petrol station that happened to have a café. Then I got a call at six in the morning to say the border guards said ‘come again’, as the connections had been fixed.”
Alyona Kistenyova: Ukrainian soprano singing in La Bohème
For the tour dates, Ellen made arrangements for the company to travel by coach from Kyiv to Krakow, still waiting for their electronic pass permissions for their British stay at the time of this interview (January 19), but with time in hand for any hiccoughs ahead of the flight from Poland to Manchester, due to arrive on January 25.
“Putting the war to one side, I’ve always felt very connected to Ukraine because the quality of their operatic work in Odesa, Kharkiv and Kyiv is so high. What I was not prepared to do was just walk away. I love opera, I love working in eastern Europe; it’s exciting.
“I’ve had a ball, I’ve had a good life, and I will not walk away because they must preserve the culture in Ukraine that Putin wants to destroy – and he’s already bombed the Kharkiv company out of functioning,” she says.
“My feeling now is that I want to protect their art and what I’m doing is helping to keep it alive. God help us all if Putin were to take that country over.”
Ellen is already making plans for Ukrainian Opera & Ballet Theatre Kyiv to tour Britain in 2024: “Carmen, definitely Madama Butterfly again,” she says. “And, the third opera…that’s an interesting question. Wait and see!”
A scene from Ellen Kent’s production of Madama Butterfly
UKRAINIAN Opera & Ballet Theatre Kyiv perform Puccini’s La Bohème on February 3 and Madama Butterfly on February 4, at the Grand Opera House, York, at 7.30pm.
Ukrainian soprano Alyona Kistenyova, Korean soprano Elena Dee and French soprano Olga Perrier are the tour soloists for La Bohème, Puccini’s romantic but tragic operatic tale of the doomed, consumptive Mimi and her love for a penniless writer, staged with bohemian art, a brass band and snow effects.
Dee, Kistenyova and Ukrainian mezzo-soprano Natalia Matveeva return in Kent’s staging of Madama Butterfly, Puccini’s heart-breaking story of the beautiful young Japanese girl who falls in love with an American naval lieutenant. A Japanese garden and antique wedding kimonos are promised. Box office:atgtickets.com/york.
Opera Aperta in Chornobyldorf. Picture: Artem Galkin
HUDDERSFIELD Contemporary Music Festival sprang back into full ten-day mode for the first time since Covid with this shattering “archaeological opera” from Ukraine.
That country had been pencilled in for a major strand in the 2022 festival, as part of the Future Reimagined UK/Ukraine Season of Culture, long before the outbreak of hostilities there. So this UK premiere of Chornobyldorf could hardly have been more poignantly timed.
A co-composition by Roman Grygoriv and Illia Razumeiko, it was premiered in October 2020 by Opera Aperta at Mystetskyi Arsenal, Ukraine’s flagship arts complex in Kyiv. Opera Aperta is a “contemporary opera laboratory” that works in partnership with Ukraine’s own proto produkciia and Musiktheatertage Wien.
The work’s libretto was compiled by the composers from four sources: Ivan Kotlyarevsky (1769-1838), the pioneer of modern Ukrainian literature; poet and novelist Yuriy Izdryk (who has a role in its videos); Ovid’s Metamorphoses and composer Razumeiko himself.
The composers also acted as their own set designers and cast themselves as Greek characters, plucking microtonal dulcimer and bandura, while directing the whole show.
The accidental disaster at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant in April 1986, when the core of one of its reactors melted, caused widespread soul-searching, not least in Ukraine itself. The recent Russian invasion has redoubled the anguish and underlined the wider existential threat.
Seven video-novels shown on two vast screens were shot in areas around Chornobyl as well as Zaporizhzhia, Europe’s largest nuclear plant (now shut down), and in abandoned churches, theatres and galleries, such as have become sadly apparent on every television worldwide.
Denuded forests, shapeless lakes and piles of rubble were sparsely populated by naked humans, often in foetal positions. Indeed, many of the cast appeared unclothed at various times, humankind stripped of protection or dignity. For the work is a post-apocalyptic fantasy that tries to discover “a world after the death of capitalism, opera and philosophy”.
The performance area in this spinning mill was broadly cruciform, with the audience within its arms, uncomfortably ‘inside’ the action. At one end of a central catwalk stood a scaffolding tower with what amounted to an altar beneath; at the opposite end was an apron stage.
Four instrumentalists lined the walls, one of them commanding a huge array of mainly home-designed percussion attributed to Evhen Bal. The screens behind were like scoreboards on a cricket ground, always there for reference for anyone losing their bearings.
The broad thematic canvas opened up a number of potential potholes, not least lack of focus. With texts in Ukrainian and Latin –and no surtitles – this seemed bound to happen. Oddly enough, it didn’t.
All seven ‘novels’, although self-contained, were clearly linked. The musical mood was largely sombre, forming a vast requiem for civilisation. Over an unbroken span of over two hours, this might have been tedious. That it was not owed everything to the commitment and energy running through the veins of every last one of the cast.
Electronic sounds and live instruments blended well and permeated everything. But what really hit home was the amplified thesaurus of human noises – chant, folk-song, choral speaking, recitative, operatic techniques, rock screams, even rap – all of which, in conjunction with the vivid, often national-style costumes (Katerina Markush) spoke of a distinctive local culture, proudly delivered, alongside a universal one.
Khrystyna Slobodianiuk, the choreographer for the whole show, played the title role in ‘Elektra’. Sophocles came to mind, so long as the Greek chorus lasted. But with a chanted duet from two circling dancers, it broke up, the first element of civilisation to dissolve.
‘Dramma per Musica’ brought us a wordless female trio, followed by a properly sung lament and a strong baritone in drag. But a Bach chorale struggled to survive within an ever-murkier soundtrack. Two excellent dancers in ‘Rhea’ became spasmodic, before yielding to a manic torch-dance, over rumbling, menacing percussion. This was dance in its death-throes.
Next under threat was music itself, as three ladies in ‘The Little Accordion Girl’ rattled the keys of their accordions before letting them flop open, allowing random squawks. Cymbals and metronomes were carried as offerings, against a Hebrew-style chant over a drone. The central accordion became a headdress.
With ‘Messe de Chornobyldorf’, we entered seriously religious territory. Two singers in national dress offered Orthodox chants, which speeded into disintegration when two vestal virgins, ever more frenzied like the drumming, dismantled the formal rite. A cello battled desperately to be heard above the tumult with the Agnus Dei from Bach’s Mass in B minor.
In ‘Orfeo ed Euridice’, the latter’s body was prepared for burial as a chorus slowly chanted, breaking up as the earlier baritone took over in a powerful lament. A nude Orfeo on the apron conducted jazzily decadent rhythms.
The concluding ‘Saturnalia’ was positively anarchic, with a minor-key version of something like ‘Frère Jacques’; it became increasingly operatic, accelerating as it was taken up by brass band.
After a brief appearance on video, Leonid Brezhnev was now spun upside down in effigy and trampled underfoot. Cue thunderous choral rejoicing that left everyone vibrating.
A mere catalogue of events does scant justice to the effect of this extraordinary work. Its potent weave of music and theatre, liberally laced with irony, had a riveting spontaneity. Rarely can so much determination, and presumably anger, have been channelled so devastatingly into a work of art.
We must applaud the festival’s initiative in scheduling the event, with sterling support from the British Council. It was due to enjoy a performance at Battersea Power Station. Not enough, not nearly enough. Everyone should have the chance to experience it. We are all Ukrainians now.
Review by Martin Dreyer
Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival continues until November 27: hcmf.co.uk
Bar Convent office manager Hannah Wilkinson with an origami dove
THE Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre is launching an appeal for origami peace doves to add to a symbolic installation this Christmas.
Maintaining the tradition of creating a meaningful, community-spirited festive display, the Bar Convent, in Blossom Street, York, is partnering with New Visuality, an award-winning York charity that seeks to advance the arts, culture and heritage.
Prompted by the outbreak of war in Ukraine, and countries still at war around the world, the partnership will design a display of origami doves – the universal symbol of peace and love – and is appealing for the public to participate by making their own.
Sister Ann Stafford, superior at the Bar Convent, says: “The world is in need of prayer, especially for peace. The Ukraine has been suffering since February and there are other countries at war too. This is not what God wants for our world.
Ails and Greg McGee: Co-directors of York charity New Visuality
“God sent the Angel Gabriel to ask a young girl called Mary to be the mother of a baby who would redeem the world. That is what we celebrate at Christmas: the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. Here the angels came to the shepherds and announced this special news. The message to the shepherds was one of ‘Peace on Earth’.
“This is why, this year, our Christmas theme will be the dove; an enduring and universal symbol of peace and love.”
Sister Ann continues: “We would like to create a meaningful display of origami doves to show our solidarity and support to those countries at war and encourage prayers for peace.
“We are asking for help to create the display, and we would love for schools, community groups, parishes and individuals to be a part of it by contributing their own origami doves.”
Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre. Picture: Gareth Buddo
New Visuality co-director Greg McGee says: “This is an opportunity for people to not only get creative but to see their creativity exhibited in a world-class space.
“We will display all the doves inside Bar Convent; we’ll get professional artists to provide neon designs to hang alongside; we’ll capture footage that will be projected as illuminations at a later date, and everyone who gets involved will be able to say, years from now, they were exhibiting artists at a game-changing art exhibition.”
Co-director Ails McGee concurs: “It’s a perfect moment for inclusivity. For too long, people have seen heritage as something you have to hurt your neck to look up to. This allows the young artists to take ownership of one of the city’s most exciting venues and visit with friends and family and know that they’re a part of it.”
Instructions and an accompanying video is available on the Bar Convent website at bar-convent.org.uk.
Origami doves should be sent in or dropped off by 5pm on Monday, November 21, to go on display from November 29.
One of Tom Wilson’s paintings at St Bede’s that was sold, raising £500 for helping the people of Ukraine
YORK punk expressionist artist Tom Wilson has donated £500 to aid the people of Ukraine now living in York from last month’s exhibition at St Bede’s, Blossom Street, York.
“We managed to sell more than £800 worth of art over the two days, which reached my target of making a substantial donation,” he says. “Once I took out my overheads, I was able to provide £500 towards helping them get on their feet after they get their own accommodation.
“I was really pleased with the footfall too. We even had a visit from Rachael Maskell [York Central MP], which was a real boost for everyone’s morale.”
York artist Tom Wilson with York Central MP Rachael Maskell at St Bede’s
Prompted by his friends’ urges “to do something” with all the artwork filling his small York bungalow, artist, playwright, theatre director and tutor Tom held his first exhibition in ten years on September 14 and 15.
“At least if I sell one or two paintings, I’ll be able to find my way in and out of the kitchen without risking life and limb,” said Tom ahead of the show. “It’ll definitely help with clearing out my bungalow.
“I got a new shed but filled that up within a day; I was going to try to use it as studio but that never came off! Instead, I just use whatever space I’ve got, the kitchen mainly, but it’s not ideal. Unless you’re moving work on, there’s no point doing new work as it just clutters the place up.”
Tom Wilson’s artgwork on show at St Bede’s
His dynamic abstract artwork is influenced by Kandinsky, Max Earnst, Otto Dix, Outsider art, German Expressionism and Rayonism (Russian Expressionism). “Rayonism was like a punk movement, breaking away, to try to paint ‘rays of light’, and I took my ideas from their freedom from convention,” says Tom.
“There’s a lot of happy accidents with my stuff. Some of it is manipulated experiments, like putting paint on one canvas, then putting another canvas on top of that and then pulling them apart like layers of skin.
“Sometimes it’s about ‘unlearning’ something that you loved or remembered in a painting and just going for it.”
Sold! Another Tom Wilson artwork that raised funds to support Ukrainian people in York
Tom makes a surprising assertion: “I can’t paint! My art looks like an explosion. I’ll be honest, I think I’m a chancer, not a natural-born painter. I can’t even draw. I’ll draw a dog and it looks like a dinosaur…an angry dog!” he says.
“But it’s important to have that freedom. Art isn’t a competition; it’s the way you articulate something. That’s the essence of creativity. Painting is like a voyage of discovery for me.
“Maybe other artists start with a painting they loved, maybe a seascape, but I’ll start without a plan. I’ll start with a mood, then make a shape, maybe a curve, and start following it, like jazz musicians improvising. It’s about the vibe, just as it is with jazz.
“My artwork looks like an explosion,” says Tom Wilson
“Again, rather like music, I can do ten paintings to arrive at the one I want, so those ten paintings are like a rehearsal to get to where I need to be. You don’t show people the departure point; you show them the arrival.”
He makes a further comparison with the jazz world. “Ask Ornette Coleman or Thelonious Monk what they’re going to play, and they’d say, ‘I don’t know’ and then start playing. It’s the same with one of my paintings,” says Tom.
“On top of that, I think it’s about expressing an anarchic humour, like John Lennon, Salvador Dali, Picasso. What happens is you go into an inner-child mentality, almost like writing with the opposite hand, and you find an area to explore and then the adult takes over to say, ‘right, we’ll take it this final point’.”
“My art looks like an explosion,” says York artist Tom Wilson
PROMPTED by his friends’ urges “to do something” with all that artwork filling his small York bungalow, Tom Wilson is to hold his first exhibition in ten years in aid of the people of Ukraine.
From 10.30am to 6.30pm tomorrow (15/9/2022) and Friday, myriad riots of colour by artist, playwright, theatre director and tutor Tom will be on display and for sale at St Bede’s, 21 Blossom Street, York, with free admission.
“I wish to thank the very kind and supportive staff at St Bede’s Pastoral Centre and the Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre,” says Tom. “They’ve been so accommodating. Just wonderful!
“There’ll be food and drinks available for all the visitors we’re expecting, and for those who’ll be disappointed they can’t make the exhibition, there’s still an opportunity to browse the work and purchase paintings online at https://north.art/directory/artist/tom-wilson/.”
In the frame: York artist Tom Wilson with two of his artworks
Originally from Salford, polymath Tom has lived in York for more than 16 years and started painting in 1996 after the loss of a good friend to cancer while living in Roehampton.
“I found it a comforting therapy and a kind of a healing activity,” says Tom, who has held three previous shows, the last one taking place in 2012 at the Friends’ Meeting House, in Friargate, to raise funds for the Haiti Earthquake Foundation.
“Starting to paint helped me to process losing this friend, who died very quickly, at only 50 years old. I did this painting, The Night Form, which was like an apparition, or typically what a kid would think of. Adults can think of things that are scary, but children’s minds go to places where there’s no structure, it’s just endless, so their experience is darker.
“But once you articulate something, get it on to a page or a canvas, it becomes less terrifying. More manageable. That’s how I felt.”
Embroiled, by Tom Wilson
Linking his painting past to his present, The Night Form will be on show at St Bede’s among the newer works.
“After living in London for more than 20 years, York gives me incredible peace of mind,” he says. Peace of mind that leads to Tom’s artistic expression both as an artist and playwright, as witnessed in August last year when council chaos and Covid clashed in his timely anarchic farce The Local Authority, presented by the Naloxone Theatre Ensemble at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre.
He is delighted to be mounting his first exhibition in a decade. “At least if I sell one or two paintings, I’ll be able to find my way in and out of the kitchen without risking life and limb,” says Tom, who is disabled and lives alone with his cat, Pendle. “I’m hoping to sell enough to make a difference by sending proceeds to support the people of Ukraine.
“It’ll definitely help with clearing out my bungalow. I got a new shed but filled that up within a day; I was going to try to use it as studio but that never came off! So I just use whatever space I’ve got, the kitchen mainly, but it’s not ideal. Unless you’re moving work on, there’s no point doing new work as it just clutters the place up.”
The poster for Tom Wilson’s anarchic farce, The Local Authority, premiered at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, in August 2021
His dynamic abstract artwork is influenced by Kandinsky, Max Earnst, Otto Dix, Outsider art, German Expressionism and Rayonism (Russian Expressionism). “Rayonism was like a punk movement, breaking away, to try to paint ‘rays of light’, and I took my ideas from their freedom from convention.
“However, it’s also important to find your own voice and your own style,” he says, after being excited and motivated by seeing multiple visceral and dramatic pieces of art.
“I tend to use lots or orange and green in my work, and I think it’s all about the volume, not as in ‘amount’, but as in ‘turning up the amp’, like Jimi Hendrix did with his guitar, so the volume goes up.”
To achieve that Hendrix hum in his art, Tom favours painting on black boards, applying orange, Irish green and turquoise, mystical colours that “conjure up a feeling of vibrations”.
“There’s a lot of happy accidents with my stuff,” says Tom Wilson
“I’ve been using Sennelier crayons, oil crayons rather than wax ones, that are very soft, almost like lipstick, and not easy to work with. Picasso first commissioned them; they were made just for him, when he was struggling to find exactly what he wanted.
“A studio said to him, ‘you tell us what you want, we’ll make it for you’, and if it was good enough for Pablo Picasso, then it’ll do for me!”
Describing his artistic style, Tom says: “There’s a lot of happy accidents with my stuff. Some of it is manipulated experiments, like putting paint on one canvas, then putting another canvas on top of that and then pulling them apart like layers of skin.
“Sometimes it’s about ‘unlearning’ something that you loved or remembered in a painting and just going for it.”
“It’s all about the volume, not as in ‘amount’, but as in ‘turning up the amp’, like Jimi Hendrix did with his guitar,” says Tom Wilson of his painting style
In a moment of sudden candour, Tom says: “I can’t paint! My art looks like an explosion. I’ll be honest, I think I’m a chancer, not a natural-born painter. I can’t even draw. I’ll draw a dog and it looks like a dinosaur…an angry dog!
“But it’s important to have that freedom. Art isn’t a competition; it’s the way you articulate something. That’s the essence of creativity.
“Painting is like a voyage of discovery for me. Maybe other artists start with a painting they loved, maybe a seascape, but I’ll start without a plan. I’ll start with a mood, then make a shape, maybe a curve, and start following it, like jazz musicians improvising. It’s about the vibe, just as it is with jazz.
“Again, rather like music, I can do ten paintings to arrive at the one I want, so those ten paintings are like a rehearsal to get to where I need to be. You don’t show people the departure point; you show them the arrival.”
“I start with a mood, then make a shape, maybe a curve, and start following it, like jazz musicians improvising,” says Tom Wilson
He makes a further comparison with the jazz world. “Ask Ornette Coleman or Thelonious Monk what they’re going to play, and they’d say, ‘I don’t know’ and then start playing. It’s the same with one of my paintings,” says Tom.
“On top of that, I think it’s about expressing an anarchic humour, like John Lennon, Salvador Dali, Picasso.
“What happens is you go into an inner-child mentality, almost like writing with the opposite hand, and you find an area to explore and then the adult takes over to say, ‘right, we’ll take it this final point’.”
Tom loves applying boldness in his work; he can go four days without painting then suddenly have a flurry of six in two days, rampant with all those orange and green outbursts, and even applying Tippex, but not to correct faults! “No, it’s because it’s always ultra-white, almost like false teeth, whereas white paint can go grey,” he clarifies.
A profusion of orange, green and turquoise bursts out of a Tom Wilson artwork
The challenge with each painting is “knowing when to stop, that cut-off point”. “That’s one of those lessons I’m still learning. Don’t keep going back to it. Don’t be the ‘Tinker Man’, like Claudio Ranieri!” says Tom.
As for size, in the absence of a studio, in the confines of his kitchen, he tends to use A3 or A4. “But I’d love to be like Rothko, lobbing paint around a big studio!”
In the meantime, Tom’s rather more compact jazzy paintings at St Bede’s will be priced from £60 to £400. “But for those who can’t afford some of the artwork, there’s an alternative way to support the plight of the people in the Ukraine, by buying one of the T-shirts on sale,” he says. “They feature images of my art and very fine they look too.”
The banner for Tom Wilson’s exhibition at St Bede’s, York
Poised:Kyiv City Ballet are heading to York Theatre Royal for one night
KYIV City Ballet’s first British performance since Ukraine came under attack from Russia at York Theatre Royal on June 14 has sold out.
One hundred per cent of ticket sale proceeds will be donated to UNICEF’s Ukraine Appeal from the two-and-a-half-hour special performance that will be split into two parts under the direction of Ivan Kozlov and Ekaterina Kozlova. A class from the Kyiv City Ballet company will be followed by excerpts from ballets such as Swan Lake and The Nutcracker.
York Theatre Royal chief executive Tom Bird personally invited Kyiv City Ballet to perform in York after learning of the company being stranded in France, where they were on tour as the war broke out in Ukraine. The dancers have stayed there ever since, given that it is too unsafe for them to return home to Ukraine.
“We are proud that York is able to stand in solidarity with Kyiv,” says York Theatre Royal chief executive Tom Bird, who has invited Kyiv City Ballet to the Yorkshire city
“It’s a huge honour to be hosting Kyiv City Ballet at York Theatre Royal,” says Bird. “This is the company’s first UK appearance since their city came under attack, and we are proud that York is able to stand in solidarity with Kyiv by supporting these extraordinary dancers for this one-off visit.”
City partners in York have come together to make this fundraising performance a reality. Make It York, City of York Council and York BID are all supporting the Theatre Royal with organisation and logistics to bring Kyiv City Ballet to the city.
Eurostar and LNER have stepped in to arrange the company’s return travel from France to York; Visit York members Elmbank Hotel, Malmaison, Middletons, Sandburn Hall, The Grand, The Principal and York Marriott have offered to accommodate the company and crew during their stay, while City Cruises and Bettys will be providing additional hospitality. A Civic welcome awaits at Mansion House.
Class act: Kyiv City Ballet will combine a dance class with excerpts from Swan Lake and The Nutcracker in June 14’s fundraising show
First Bus will support on the visa costs to bring the company to York; remaining costs and company fees for the performance will be covered through corporate sponsorship.
Sarah Loftus, managing director of Make It York, says: “We are so proud of our city pulling together to bring the Kyiv City Ballet to York. This is a special opportunity to celebrate world-class performers, while raising vital funds for the people of Ukraine. The generosity of businesses and residents in York has made this possible.”
Councillor Darryl Smalley, executive member for culture, leisure and communities, says: “In what are incredibly dark times, it has been heartening to see York’s response as the city has come together to show our support and solidarity with our Ukrainian friends here in York and in Ukraine.
“Art has a unique way of uniting people and that’s certainly what we need more now than ever ,” says Councillor Darryl Smalley as he welcomes Kyiv City Ballet to York
“From donations and heart-warming signs of solidarity to housing refugees, it’s clear that we as a city are united and ready to do all we can to stand with Ukraine and its people.
“Art has a unique way of uniting people and that’s certainly what we need more now than ever. I’m grateful to all those involved for their support in setting up this amazing event. It will certainly be an emotional and wonderful evening for a crucial cause.”
Andrew Lowson, executive director of York BID, says: “It is always good to hear of high-quality cultural offerings coming to York, but for our city to attract the Kyiv City Ballet will feel really special.
“We are so proud of our city pulling together to bring the Kyiv City Ballet to York,” says Sarah Loftus, Make It York’s managing director
“Many of us feel helpless on how we can support Ukraine, but I know residents and businesses will want to show support and solidarity, as well as celebrate the visit of a world-renowned group of performers.”
Adam Wardale, chair of Hospitality Association York (HAY) and general manager at Middletons Hotel, said: “The members of HAY are incredibly proud to be able to offer Ukraine’s Kyiv City Ballet performers accommodation throughout their stay in York.
“This is a fantastic opportunity to support Ukraine, showing solidarity while also celebrating the arts.”
Kyiv City Ballet: York to host first UK appearance since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
IS the French snow leopard documentary La Panthere Des Neiges (The Velvet Queen) the moist pretentious nature film of all time?
Two Big Egos In A Small Car culture podcasters Graham Chalmers and Charles Hutchinson pass judgement in Episode 90.
What else is on their mind? Bono and The Edge go underground in Ukraine. What happens when critics change their mind on second acquaintance? Messums Gallery closes in Harrogate. Charm’s homecoming Karl Culley gig for the Harrogate Theatre restoration appeal.
Purchaser Paul Martin and Pyramid Gallery owner with Don Lodge’s fundraising painting Impressions Of The Rally In York
YORK resident Paul Martin has bought Don Lodge’s painting Impressions Of The Rally In York. All proceeds will go to York City of Sanctuary to support refugees arriving from Ukraine.
The £500 oil on canvas captures a scene from a Ukraine rally held in York in March. All key individuals in the painting have given their consent for their images to be used for publicity for this cause. More details on York City of Sanctuary can be found at york.cos.org.uk.
Mr Martin is pictured, left, with Pyramid Gallery owner Terry Brett surrounded by paintings from Danny Barbour’s Unearthed exhibition, on show at the Stonegate gallery until April 24.
