Odesa Opera House Resumes Full Season Amid Drone Alerts

The Odesa opera and ballet theatre has reopened its doors for its 217th season, presenting a full repertoire of classical and contemporary works despite ongoing military threats. The building, which has served as a landmark in the Black Sea port city since 1810, resumed regular performances four months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022. A notice posted on the company's website that day announced an indefinite suspension of shows due to martial law, a message that now sits far down the news feed as the theater operates with near-normal regularity.

Olesya Shliakhtych, a 31-year-old director, choreographer, and dancer, describes the current period as a renaissance for the company. The theater dropped several traditional Russian ballets, including Swan Lake and the Nutcracker, in 2022. Shliakhtych says the troupe now focuses on creating new works rooted in Ukrainian culture. She calls it a golden time for performing arts, noting that the company is producing content that is distinctly Ukrainian for the first time in 150 years.

The season includes standard European operas by composers such as Verdi, Puccini, and Bizet, alongside modern ballets inspired by Ukrainian literature. Shliakhtych recently premiered her ballet Snow in Florence, based on a 1987 dramatic poem by Lina Kostenko. She notes that all aspects of these productions, from scenery to music and costumes, are created by Ukrainian artists. While the works are not explicitly about war, she explains that the conflict influences the subtle movements and colors on stage.

The performance schedule adjusts to the local threat environment. The company continues rehearsals and shows during yellow alerts, which signal a drone threat. Performances are suspended during red alerts, indicating a risk from ballistic or cruise missiles. Principal dancer Stanislav Skrynnik, 36, explains that the cast and audience move to separate bomb shelters during these pauses. If a red alert lasts longer than 90 minutes, the show is cancelled; otherwise, performers restart after the all-clear.

Skryknik says the forced interruptions are physically and emotionally demanding. Dancers often have only five to seven minutes to warm up after returning from shelter. Dozens of staff and performers have left the theater since 2022, some moving abroad or to safer areas of Ukraine, while others joined the military. Dancer Rostyslav Yanchyshen was killed in combat. Skrynnik, who worked in a body armor workshop at the start of the war, now mentors younger performers.

The theater reports strong audience turnout, with full houses of 1,500 people, particularly on weekends. Shliakhtych says she never considered leaving wartime Ukraine, arguing that the local context provides the necessary inspiration for meaningful artistic creation. She states that the presence of pain helps define the thematic direction of their work.