Alexei Ratmansky, With Family in Kyiv, Leaves His Ballet in Moscow

The New York-based choreographer, who was working on a new ballet for the Bolshoi, said he doubted he would return to Russia to work “if Putin is still president.”

The choreographer Alexei Ratmansky, the former artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet who is now artist in residence at American Ballet Theater, was preparing a new ballet at the Bolshoi in Moscow when President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia made his announcement, early Thursday morning, that he had launched an invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

Mr. Ratmansky, who grew up in Kyiv and danced there early in his career, immediately decided to leave Moscow, and with the help of the Bolshoi, made arrangements to travel home to New York via Warsaw, along with the rest of his international creative team.

“It was as if we were on a fast-moving train, rushing toward the finish,” Mr. Ratmansky said of the rehearsal period, in an interview on Saturday. “The news was bad, but I was absolutely torn between creation, love and desperation — all these words. I thought, if actual military action begins, I won’t be able to continue, but until then, I’ll try to ignore the news and be professional and just do my work.”