As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, many people are looking for ways they can help out the citizens caught up in the fighting. Russian Ballet Orlando is offering an option that's a damn sight better than changing the name of a cocktail or salad dressing. The company is throwing a fundraiser on Saturday, March 12 to raise donations for the people of Ukraine.
The event at Osphere on Lake Eola will include silent auctions and clothing for sale, including an "Orlando for Ukraine" t-shirt. 100% of proceeds from sales of Shirl Clark clothing will be donated. In addition, Osphere is donating 30% of restaurant sales to the fund.
The fundraiser is the brainchild of the ballet's Artistic Director Katerina Fetodova. Fetodova is a Russian who was born and raised in Kyiv. In spite of this, and the complete disconnect between geopolitical events and a ballet company in Central Florida, Fetodova says they have received many threats since the outbreak of war in Ukraine. In an interview with Orlando Weekly, Fetodova pointed out the absurdity of the situation.
“I’m from... I was born and raised in Ukraine," she said. "This is my country that is getting bombed. My people are dying.”
Still, Fetodova says she has had to deal with threats to burn down their studio, angry phone calls telling her to go back to Russia and a campaign of online harassment.
"I had to turn off our Facebook comments," she said. "I contact Google every day to remove negative reviews."
Fetodova said that the pressure became too much for her sister, who runs another dance school in Florida. She changed the name of her academy to remove the word Russian after receiving threats.
“The good thing is it was not coming from our community. It was coming randomly from people from other cities, other states,” Fetodova said of the threats against Russian Ballet Orlando.
In addition to the fundraiser on Saturday, Russian Ballet Orlando is donating all proceeds from six upcoming stagings of Romeo & Juliet. Fetodova estimates that more than $100,000 will be donated through this initiative. She has already raised over $14,000 in donations through fundraising emails to the ballet's patrons.
Fetodova wants people to know that the Russian Ballet has a community attached to it, built over 22 years. She warned any would-be threatmakers that the ultimate harm would land with students and performers were the ballet forced to close.
"Russian Ballet is not just a dance school. When people do anything negative to affect it, it doesn’t just affect me. It affects 300 students that we have at our studio," she said. "We also have a professional company, dancers who come from around the world… If this goes away we kill a lot of opportunities for so many young, innocent talents."
The "Ukraine for Orlando" fundraiser takes place on Sat. March 12 from 4 to 7 p.m. at Osphere Neighborhood Grill and Bar. It's free to attend.
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