THE UPCOMING PERFORMANCES of Swan Lake by St Petersburg Ballet Theatre at the Board Gáis Energy Theatre have been cancelled.

Announcing the cancellation, the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre said it “stands firmly behind the people and nation of Ukraine”.

These shows were scheduled to take place from 29 March to 3 April.

Shows in Limerick, Cork and Wexford have also been cancelled by organisers.

“We hope for a diplomatic, swift and more peaceful resolution to this tragic attack,” Board Gáis Energy Theatre said in a statement.

“We will be in touch with customers in the coming days with more information and we appreciate your patience at this time.”

Bord Gáis Energy Theatre statement regarding St Petersburg Ballet Theatre performances of Swan Lake. pic.twitter.com/IpKwYgfsGS

— Bord Gáis Energy Theatre (@BGETheatre) February 26, 2022

This evening’s scheduled performance of the Royal Moscow Ballet at the National Opera House has also been cancelled.

“In view of this week’s developments in Ukraine the National Opera House wishes to advise that this evening’s scheduled performance by the Royal Moscow Ballet has been cancelled,” the National Opera House tweeted.

“All patrons will be contacted and refunds will be arranged for tickets purchased as soon as possible,” it said.

Another show – the Royal Moscow Ballet’s Swan Lake – has also been cancelled by University of Limerick and University Concern Hall in Limerick and by Cork Opera House. 

The decision to cancel performance was made by UL and UCH to “signal our absolute condemnation” of the invasion.

These cancellations come after the Helix Theatre cancelled yesterday’s performance of the Royal Moscow Ballet’s Swan Lake “in solidarity with Ukraine”.

Responding to the Helix’s cancellation, the Royal Moscow Ballet said it is not carrying any political message on its current tour in Ireland.

A spokesperson for the ballet company said it is in no way funded or sponsored by the Russian government.

“The Royal Moscow Ballet is a multi-national touring ballet company who have been coming to Ireland annually for over 10 years now and always look forward to their annual tour of Ireland,” the spokesperson said.

“The company is and has always been made up of different nationalities and on the 2022 tour we have Russian nationals, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Uzbekistan nationals, Japanese, Irish and Polish cast and crew, side by side, who have travelled, worked and lived together for years.

We are young artists who just want to perform the art form we love and have done since childhood and bear no political leanings whatsoever and remain united as a group and as friends and wish only to spread the joy of our art form and culture throughout Ireland we have done for the last 10 years.

The spokesperson added: “We hope this email helps to clarify the diversity of our ballet company and that we don’t carry any political message on this tour. We simply dance for peace.”

With reporting by Ian Curran and Eoghan Dalton