The Ozark Ballet Theater has started a fundraising effort to help five Ukrainian ballet dancers who were in the United States when the war in their home country began.
The dancers are part of Russia-based ballet company RBTheatre's touring performance of "Swan Lake." Their show will close April 9 in San Diego.
The war in Ukraine will prevent the dancers from going home, so they need a place to stay, said David Sanders, executive director of the ballet company. They need money to support themselves and their families back in Ukraine.
"They have nowhere to go," Sanders said. "And their families are still in a dangerous place."
Sanders has posted a fundraising effort on NWA Gives. He hopes the campaign will raise $2,000 a month for each dancer to live for 10 months as well as send money to their families.
Mount Sequoyah Center in Fayetteville has offered housing for 10 months, as needed, Sanders said. The dancers will use the Ozark Ballet studio at the center to continue to train.
"All the guys from Ukraine are trying to find a job in the USA in order to be able to help their relatives who stayed in Ukraine and support themselves," dancer Kirill Kruglov said Tuesday afternoon via Facebook Messenger.
Kruglov, 27, comes from Kyiv and his family remains in that city.
The dancers are looking for jobs as ballet artists or classical dance teachers, Kruglov said.
Sanders said the dancers -- like professional athletes -- must train for at least three hours a day to stay in shape, which might not match a traditional work schedule. He added most theater seasons are winding down for summer, so dancing jobs are scarce.
"This summer, they need to support themselves and stay in shape to be ready to dance when the next season starts in September," Sanders said.
"For me in general, this time is difficult because every day I worry about my loved ones," Kruglov wrote. "We are in touch with them every day. It's hard to live in the city now. The city is not very calm now."
He reported constant air raids and rockets flying into some houses.
"It is recommended not to go outside," he said.
No one in Kruglov's family has been hurt. He said they have food, medicine and everything they need, but he wants to help them financially as prices rise during the conflict.
Kruglov explained his mother, father, grandmother and sister live in an apartment in Kyiv, and that's where they plan to stay.
Martial law has been imposed in Ukraine, and men are not allowed to leave the country, Kruglov said. His mother also does not want to go without his father.
"There are many civilians left in Kyiv; they do not want to leave their homes or cannot for various reasons," Kruglov said.
Sanders' wife, Katie Stasse, trained for five years in Orlando, Fla., with the Fedotov family of Ukrainian dancers, Sanders' NWA Gives post states. Both Stasse and Sanders have danced with Ukrainian artists during their careers.
"Without the knowledge, kindness and patience of these dancers, Ozark Ballet Theater would simply not exist," Sanders wrote.
When the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, Sanders contacted RBTheatre, offering help for dancers. He was contacted by five, he said.
Sanders said he secured a job in Dallas for one. Another will dance in May in Ozark Ballet Theater's performance of "The Firebird."
The Fayetteville theater is in the initial stages of planning a gala performance, with money raised going to the dancers and their families, Sanders said.
Hannah Lee of Canopy Northwest Arkansas said the organization currently is not working with any refugees from Ukraine.
"But we certainly would provide any Ukrainian refugee family with the same warm welcome as we provide to all refugee families," Lee said Tuesday afternoon in a text message.
Patty Henson Sullivan, executive director of Ozark Literacy Council, said the agency has worked about four years with Vitaliy Demidov, a former factory worker in Ukraine, and his wife. They came to the United States in the early 2000s as part of a Rotary International program, with a focus on peace, Sullivan said.
The couple was living part of the year in Ukraine and part in the United States, but they are here full time now, she said.
Sullivan reported one of the Demidov sons is an engineering student at the University of Arkansas, but another is fighting in the war.
Their daughter-in-law and grandchild are in a refugee center in Slovakia.