Kharkiv's ballet dancers perform in defiance of invasion
The last time that dancers from the Kharkiv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre performed for a packed house in their usual venue above ground was on 23 February 2023.
Hours later Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and tried to seize Kharkiv.
Russian forces pummelled the city with heavy missiles during the early weeks of the war and though a large part of Kharkiv region was initially occupied, the city remained in Ukrainian hands.
As a precaution against Russian missile and drone strikes, the theatre's management decided to move rehearsals and performances a few floors underground at the venue.
In the early months of the war, the company's dancers also began performing ballet for the city's residents in city’s metro stations.
Those metro performances were a way to "cheer people up," Ihor Touluzov, the theatre's director, told RTÉ News.
"The first months were difficult. The city was under constant shelling," he said.
The theatre itself was badly damaged in early 2022 with more than 2,000 square metres of glass shattered in the building.
RTÉ News met the theatre's company as they rehearsed for a performance of the French ballet 'Giselle', the same ballet that they last performed in the theatre's main venue on the night of 23 February 2022, just hours before Russia launched its invasion.
"It's very important to keep performing because people need a chance for a miracle, a fairytale," said Antonina Radievskaya, lead soloist with the ballet company.
Ukrainian soldiers, she said, often attend their ballet performances, adding that it can give them "a chance to be distracted from the horror that is happening in our country".
Prior to the invasion, more than 90 ballerinas and danseurs (male ballet dancers) performed for the theatre.
The company now comprises about 35 regular dancers, supported by a chamber orchestra of local musicians.
Many of their former colleagues perform for touring ballet groups across Europe.
Below ground, electric heaters push out some warmth in the large rehearsal rooms as the ballerinas and ballerinos gracefully practice their steps.
Daily Russian attacks this winter have caused power and heating outages through the city and wider region.
The ballet group rehearses six days per week ahead of performances, a gruelling schedule for the fittest of athletes.
But they take a deep pride in their artform.
"We show with our spirit that no matter what, we will continue doing our job for the audience, for the city, generally for the arts," said another of the ballerinas, Olga Sharikova.
"We all hope that it will not be permanent and that at some point there will be a peaceful time and we will come back to our big stage."
As the dancers emerged above ground after their five-hour rehearsal, an air raid siren blared through the district, as it does many times a day.
