Following their evacuation to the island three months after
"We appreciate the people in Awaji for supporting us, and hopefully we can send a message of peace through our performances," Ivanova said after the
Following four performances of the show through
The 23-year-olds moved to the island on
"We could not dance for a month after the outbreak of the war. Rehearsals and live shows resumed but we had to go to a bomb shelter every time the air raid sirens went off," Shlikhter said. "It was difficult, psychologically, to keep dancing on the stage."
Hariyama says she wanted to help dancers in trouble, this time from
Hariyama asked
Nambu agreed and he also hired three other Ukrainian evacuees -- two ballet instructors and one dancer -- and
With two more Ukrainian dancers planning to move to the island, Hariyama is poised to increase the group's performances and enrich their contents by including elements of Japanese folktales.
"We would like to create shows featuring Lady Kaguyahime, the Crane of Gratitude, and Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters), for example, that could be appreciated globally," she said.
Hariyama also wants to expand her ballet classes -- which currently cater to children and adults from the island,
Awaji city officials have welcomed the Ukrainian evacuees, saying the ballet project will help revitalize the island, both culturally and economically, and raise its international profile.
For their part, local authorities are providing the evacuees with prefectural government-run accommodation for free. Ivanova and Shlikhter said they are living together comfortably in one such apartment.
"We, as the local administration, would like to extend as much support as possible to Ukrainian evacuees so they can live stably in
"Hosting them is a valuable experience for the city," he said. "Besides getting opportunities to see world-class ballet, we would like citizens, young people in particular, to learn the tragedy of war and understand the importance of settling disputes through peaceful means, not by force."
Including those in Awaji, about 2,100 Ukrainian evacuees are currently living in
Many of the evacuees had highly skilled jobs at home such as lawyers and information technology engineers, and those in the ballet industry are no exception, according to experts on foreign labor issues.
"Japanese society tends to see foreign workers as undertaking unskilled and low-paid jobs, but such perception does not apply to people from
"I hope that hosting Ukrainian evacuees will serve as a trigger for Japanese companies to properly assess skills foreign workers possess and make full use of their talent in joint efforts to develop more highly value-added products and services," Tamura said.
He also urged the central government and local authorities to boost assistance for foreign workers such as Japanese language training and counseling for life-related issues.
In that respect, Tamura hailed
In what will be the first show of the Awaji ballet project abroad, Hariyama's troupe plans to perform as a guest during the Dance World Cup finals starting
Shlikhter said she is so focused on her activity in Awaji that she is not sure if she wants to return home even after the war ends. Ivanova nodded and said, "We cannot say or promise anything about the future, but we would like to keep dancing here for now."
==Kyodo
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