Ukraine’s displaced dancers alight on Swan Lake

Less than a year ago, Ukrainian ballerinas Anastasiia and Iryna were already well on their way to establishing successful careers. But that was before the war.

Anastasiia Mirraslavaska, left, and Iryna Khutorianska of the United Ukrainian Ballet in Sydney on Thursday. Picture: John Feder

For Anastasiia and Iryna, dancing has become an act of defiance.

Less than a year ago, the two Ukrainian ballerinas were already well on their way to establishing successful careers, having trained at the Kyiv State Ballet School and debuted in the US and parts of Europe.

But that was before the war, and before they were forced to leave their homes and families to join the fledgling United Ukrainian Ballet to continue dancing.

The Dutch-based company – established to support exiled Ukrainian artists, as well as protect the country’s cultural heritage in wartime – has become a refuge for more than 50 dancers and is set to open its production of Swan Lake in Sydney on Friday, after performances in Melbourne.

“I never dreamt I’d be in Australia, so far away from home and family, at this age, performing while my country is at war,” said 20-year-old Iryna Khutorianska, who joined the UUB shortly after Russian bombs began falling outside her home in Kyiv in late ­February.

“I was hiding with my family in a cellar for weeks in Kyiv, but when soldiers came into the city, my parents wanted me to return to Lviv, where I was working in the ballet company.”

Three months later, Khutorianska had moved to The Netherlands and joined dozens of other displaced dancers.

Fellow dancer Anastasiia Mirraslavska, whose family lives close to the Ukrainian-Russian border in Kharkiv, was also living in Kyiv when war broke out. “I was living alone when the first attacks started, and then I went home to live with my parents for a month before I decided I would go to The Netherlands,” the 24-year-old said. After four months with the company, both say any sense of guilt about leaving their family and homeland has vanished.

“I think dancing and performing together has become a way for us to fight for our home in a different way,” Ms Khutorianska said.

The staging of Tchaikovsky’s romantic classic makes the Australian performances especially significant, according to the two dancers, who say Swan Lake has become a powerful symbol of protest against Russian aggression.

The UUB will perform Swan Lake at the International Convention Centre in Sydney from October 28-30 and Adelaide’s Festival Centre from November 9-13.