VOA新闻杂志2023--Ukrainian Ballerina Finds Temporary Home in US

Ukrainian Ballerina Finds Temporary Home in US

Kristina Kadashevych is a professional dancer from Ukraine. At the start of 2022, the ballerina never would have thought she would end the year in the American city of Richmond, Virginia.

She is there to perform as the sugarplum fairy and two other characters in Richmond Ballet's yearly¹ performances of The Nutcracker.

Last February, she was supposed to fly to Paris to join the traveling Kyiv City Ballet as a guest dancer. But, the day before she was to leave, Russian troops invaded² Ukraine. As a result, Kadashevych, her 2-year-old son and her parents had to flee their home in Kharkiv, in the eastern part of Ukraine. They traveled by train to the western part of the country where they thought it would be safe.

"It was dangerous," she said, "and we were scared."

They took shelter at the home of another ballet dancer. Kadashevych later made the difficult decision to leave her family and join the ballet company in Paris.

"I needed to work because I have no practice," she said. "I was just sitting and losing my profession."

Artistic³ director Stoner Winslett said Richmond Ballet dancers tried hard to keep dancing through the pandemic.

"Dancers are like Olympic athletes; if you lie around your apartment and don't train, you lose your skill," she said.

Kadashevych has been dancing since she was nine and professionally for the past 15 years. She never considered another career, saying that dancing brought her interesting experiences, travel and joy.

She left her family, thinking she would return soon. But, the continuing war prevented that from happening.

Kadashevych and the Kyiv City Ballet went on tour in France, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom and later the United States. They were warmly welcomed everywhere they went.

"In Europe, our performances were like a charity to help Ukraine," she said. "We felt we were doing important things and helping⁴ our country the way we can."

In between the performances, she went home to Ukraine for a month over the summer to visit her three-year-old son, Lev.

She ended up in Richmond through another Ukrainian who works⁵ with the company, Igor Antonov. He is an artistic associate with Richmond Ballet and director of Richmond Ballet II.

He texted Kadashevych and asked if she would like to join the Richmond Ballet temporarily.

"It was unexpected⁶ and very interesting for me," said Kadashevych. She came to Richmond while the rest of the Kyiv company returned to Europe.

Kadashevych is substituting⁷ for a Richmond Ballet dancer who is on leave. Winslett said bringing Kadashevych to the company would further the ballet's main goal "to awaken⁸, uplift and unite human spirits through the power of dance."

Kadashevych will remain with the company for the next two months, and perform in the ballet Firebird with Serenade in February.

She does not know what lies ahead for her after that. She hopes to return to Ukraine soon, perhaps after Christmas, for a short visit. She is not sure about anything else, including whether the war will end soon.

"We all hope that it will," she said, "but I'm not sure."

Words in This Story

professional — adj. relating to a job that requires special education, training, or skill

ballerina — n. a woman who is a ballet dancer

practice — v. to do something again and again in order to become better at it

apartment — n. a usually rented room or set of rooms that is part of a building and is used as a place to live

tour — n. a series of related⁹ performances, appearances, competitions, etc., that occur at different places over a period of time

charity — n. the act of giving money, food, or other kinds of help to people who are poor, sick, etc.

associate — n. a member of a group or organization who is at a level that is below the highest level

1 yearly   

adj.每年的，一年一度的；adv.一年一次地

参考例句：

• The flower show is a yearly event in our town.我们镇上的花展一年举行一次。
• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。

2 invaded   

v.侵入，侵略( invade的过去式和过去分词 )；涌入；侵袭；侵犯

参考例句：

• Troops invaded on August 9th that year. 军队是在那年的8月9日入侵的。
• The diseased tissue can be easily invaded by these microorganisms. 有病的组织容易被微生物侵袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

6 unexpected   

adj.想不到的，意外的

参考例句：

• I always keep some good wine in for unexpected guests.我总保存些好酒，用来招待不速之客。
• His promotion was unexpected.他的升迁出人意料。

7 substituting   

n.取代v.代替，替换，代用( substitute的现在分词 )；做…的代理人，接替

参考例句：

• He was substituting for the injured William Wales. 他替下了受伤的威廉·威尔士。 来自辞典例句
• They were substituting violence for dialogue. 他们在用暴力取代对话。 来自辞典例句

8 awaken   

vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起

参考例句：

• Old people awaken early in the morning.老年人早晨醒得早。
• Please awaken me at six.请于六点叫醒我。

9 related   

adj.有关系的，有关联的，叙述的，讲述的

参考例句：

• I am not related to him in any way.我和他无任何关系。
• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。