In the drab, windowless basement of an apartment complex that serves as a bomb shelter in the middle of Kharkiv, in Northeast Ukraine, pink tutus worn by pirouetting 9-year-olds feel like an odd placement.
This is especially true amid a wartorn neighborhood where missile rubble every other block is the usual sight, however, the Princess Ballet Studio owned by Owner Yulia Voitina persists nonetheless, AP News reports.
Ukraine's Princess Ballet Studio
The dance studio offers its 20-some pupils a brief reprieve from the horrors of war that play out daily in Kharkiv by offering the kids a place to freely and peacefully practice; somewhere they can ignore the constantly roaring air raid alerts and instead focus on listening to the timing of the classical backing track.
Aesthetically, Voitina does what she can to lighten up the mood of the space itself, hanging a pair of pink ballet slippers on a doorknob or placing bean bags for the waiting parents to lounge on as their children work on moves.
This intuition was built by Voitina through her experience of running a chain of ballet studios, all of which had to be closed down as she sought shelter in Western Ukraine in light of Moscow's invasion of the country.
In March last year, Voitina decided to come home amid the raging Russian-Ukraine conflict along a 620-mile-long frontline that cut across Kharkiv and even had hoped to open a dance studio again.
Despite this, her dwindling resources and lack of students made it difficult to do so, and yet, she persevered even if it meant taking in virtually no profit. In the past, she had served over 300 students, but after the war, she now focuses on just 20 pupils.
In a statement to AP News, Voitina said: "There is nothing for kids in Kharkiv, no school or kindergartens, kids are online all the time," adding that the kids need to "apply their energy somewhere" to feel emotionally content and saying that ballet can provide that avenue for them.
See the Princess Ballet Studio's activities for yourself and visit their official Instagram account by clicking here.
