Kyra Laubacher
April 10, 2025
Pointe
In August 2022, six months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Adrenaline Films producer Julie Meyer found herself standing next to National Ballet of Ukraine stage director Oleg Tokar, looking at a photo on his phone. They, along with Meyer’s fellow film-crew members, Tokar’s artistic colleagues, and National Ballet of Ukraine company dancers, had gathered in Orlando, Florida, for a fundraiser performance, with proceeds benefitting the Ukrainian cause. (Adrenaline Films was hired to film the production, which also featured Orlando Ballet Company and School dancers, for a capture that later aired on PBS.) The image on Tokar’s screen, Meyer tells Pointe, was of him and one of his former ballet students in military fatigues, holding rifles. The photo had been taken just three weeks prior to the performance in Orlando. “It was story after story of artists who had suddenly become soldiers,” says Meyer.
Tokar is one of many Ukrainian ballet artists who have taken up arms in the fight against Russia. Continuing to work for National Ballet of Ukraine by day, he volunteers as unit commander of the Territorial Defense Forces by night. But military service isn’t the only way dancers are continuing to fight for Ukraine and its culture—others have continued to perform at the Kyiv Opera House, one of the last standing performance spaces in the city, amid the constant threat of bombings and frequent air raids. And those who have fled the country to protect their families are performing elsewhere to help spread awareness and raise funds for the cause.
Onstage, in deep red lighting with a pitch black background, two dancers perform onstage in military-esque costumes. A woman lies on the ground, shrouded by fog, as a man stands behind her, arms raised with fists as he looks to the sky in agony.
Now, a new arthouse documentary from Adrenaline Films, The Sky Was on Fire: Ballet and War in Ukraine, follows Tokar and two other ballet artists who have made the difficult decision to stay and perform, fight, or flee. Conceived by co-director Jonathan Maricle, with additional direction by Joan Finn Adkison, the 95-minute film was produced by Meyer and Adrenaline Films founder Michael Murray. It had an exclusive premiere at the National Opera House of Ukraine earlier this month and will debut at the Florida Film Festival on April 16, with a second screening on April 20.
Meyer explains that Maricle’s idea for The Sky Was on Fire reflected discussions they’d had at the 2022 fundraiser in Orlando, where she first met Tokar. Murray and his film team connected with film investor, ballet patron, and Ukraine supporter Alfred Hagen to discuss their vision, and by April 2023 the project was underway. Meyer, Maricle, and Murray traveled to Ukraine twice—once for three weeks in August 2023, and again in April 2024 for three and a half—and
worked with a local film crew there to collect footage in real time, including the period between visits. They acquired Ukrainian media passes, which Meyer says made the process much smoother: “They let border patrol know that we’d been vetted, and it gave us the ability to stay out after curfew [midnight]. It’s unfortunately under the cover of night when many things happen in the air.”
Meyer recalls following Tokar after he’d worked a matinee performance at the opera house; he went on duty that evening for an overnight mission, leading a small team of Ukrainian volunteers to defend the Kyiv perimeter in their sector. “Oleg ended up being sent to the front lines, but that’s not on film because we had finished our story by that point,” says Meyer. “Eventually, when he returned safely, he said, ‘I’m glad that we are no longer filming, because nobody needed to see that.’ “
National Ballet of Ukraine principal Khrystyna Shyshpor, who has continued to perform in Kyiv, is one of the other artists featured in The Sky Was on Fire. “Every time, I remind myself that I don’t have the right to give up, that I’m on the cultural frontline, and the children need me,” she says in the film. “As an artist, the least I can do is dance freely for the people and in support of our country. If everyone leaves, what will be left? Who will be left?”
In one scene, Shyshpor dances The Dying Swan among the ruins of a former children’s hospital. Meyer explains that despite the hard, uneven ground, the rain, and the freezing temperature, Shyshpor was determined to dance the piece, which to her is now particularly poignant: “The bird was flying along, beautiful, stunning, and some person, or hunter, or whoever was hunting this bird, just wanted to kill it. For me, I drew this parallel with our country.”
Since the invasion, Shyshpor and her fellow National Ballet of Ukraine dancers have not performed a single work created by Russian artists, including anything with music by Tchaikovsky. “His music is so ingrained in the ballet canon,” says Meyer. “They’re removing that from their vernacular, and in some ways they’re reinventing or reshaping how classical stories are told.”
Meyer hopes that the film will help spread awareness of the Ukrainian cause, and what its people continue to face every day. She and the team are currently seeking a distribution deal so that even more viewers can watch. “Art isn’t just entertainment,” she says. “It’s a lifeline for these people. Ballet in this case becomes a form of resistance. It’s a form of healing. Identity. It’s how they find joy and meaning in the hardest moments.”
Kyra Laubacher was originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Kyra is the digital editor for Dance Media and oversees Pointe’s news column. In 2020, she was inducted to Phi Beta Kappa and graduated summa cum laude from Butler University with a BFA in Dance Performance and a BA in English Literature. Following graduation, she danced with Eugene Ballet and #instaballet in Eugene, Oregon. Kyra began working for Dance Media as Pointe‘s 2020 summer intern, continuing as a contributing writer before joining the editorial team in 2022. She currently studies manuscript and developmental editing at the University of Chicago. Contact her at: klaubacher@dancemedia.com