How times change. This parish of March turned his back on his new home in St. Petersburg. He and his Russian wife, dancer Anastasia Demidova, fled the country in protest at the invasion of Ukraine in February. On November 12, Parish was to take a further position. The 36-year-old assembled a unique company of top ballet dancers with links to Ukraine and Russia to perform Reunited in Dance. A special performance staged in Costa Mesa, California, was to mark both the grief and solidarity of the exiled dancers on stage. “My wife and I left because we don’t support the invasion,” Parish told the Observer, “but this weekend we’re all celebrating the dance together, with other dancers trained in the Russian ballet tradition, which we still love. It is one of the richest things that Russia has and I still believe in it.” In designing the show’s program, he combined some of his favorite pieces of Russian and Western choreography. “I wanted to bring us all together, so I could reunite us in our love of dance,” she said. “The whole bunch of us are so grateful to be back at work again.” Like Parish, many of the other performers have left prominent Russian ballet companies, including the Bolshoi, the Mikhailovsky Ballet and the Stanislavsky Theater, in response to the invasion. Their joint appearance at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Orange County has been supported by the Segerstrom family, California arts philanthropists. Paris said he is grateful to them, and all participating dancers, when personal circumstances make that decision risky. Xander Parish and Iana Salenko in La Bayadere at the Theater Royal, Drury Lane in September 2022. Photo: Tristram Kenton/The Observer “There is a lot of pressure on the Russian dancers to condemn what is happening, understandably, but it is difficult. I’m in a unique position to speak, really, as a Westerner coming out of Russia,” he said. “I can see both sides of that picture. I also see how difficult it is to strike the right balance. “On the one hand, you wouldn’t want to find yourself employing someone in favor of invading a neighboring country. On the other hand, you know that the arts must maintain some degree of separation from politics. It’s a good balance for dancers too, if we want artistic freedom, because you also don’t want to find yourself performing next to someone who stands for things you don’t agree with. “A lot of people don’t want to talk if they have family in Russia. This must be faced by their own conscience. Our show is for those of us who left the country and still want to play.” After fleeing to Estonia, Paris missed his regular stage performances. “I had to go through a long period of not dancing which was extremely frustrating and difficult. In the same way that racehorses must fight, dancers must dance. Anything other than that isn’t great, although you can train wherever you can. Performance creates a self-fulfilling, virtuous cycle. It maintains your skills and your stamina.” The dancer, who was born in North Ferriby and first danced in Hull before winning a coveted place at the Royal Ballet School, said his decision to leave Russia was not immediate. “When the invasion started it was not clear exactly what was going on as Russia had been playing territorial games for a while. It became more apparent when flights from Europe were suddenly canceled and it was wise to get to the other side of the border.” Other dancers have since shared horror stories of escape with Parish. “Although we were quite safe, it was difficult for my wife and I in Estonia. We were not allowed backstage at some theaters simply because we came from Russia, even though we left because we disagreed.” In September Parish joined the Norwegian National Ballet in Oslo. The artistic director there, Ingrid Lorentsen, had followed his career and invited him to join them. He has no regrets about his initial decision to travel to Russia 12 years ago. “I had the most amazing adventure of the kind I could never have guessed,” he said. “I expected to stay for about six months, maybe even a year, to get some experience with a different kind of teaching and delivery. I wanted to know. My only desire was to improve myself as a dancer and then return to London.” Now Parish said goodbye to a town that had become home. “I can’t go back anytime soon. Of course, I miss the Russian countryside and culture. There are a million things I love,” she said. Selections from La Bayadère, Swan Lake and Le Corsaire were chosen for the programme, as well as Paquita, a Russian staple, and Christopher Wheeldon’s After the Rain. Parish has also choreographed a piece on Tchaikovsky’s Children’s Album. “This is a great reunion for us to have that sense of camaraderie and bring us back together to play as a family again,” he said.
