In one Ukrainian city, ballet in a bomb shelter is an escape from the horrors of war

By SAMYA KULLAB
Associated Press

KHARKIV, Ukraine (AP) — A dance studio that doubles as a bomb shelter is an escape from the horrors of war for about 20 young girls in Ukraine’s city of Kharkiv. The Princess Ballet Studio is a spartan, windowless room, but practicing underground means they can dance through the almost hourly air raid alerts. Owner Yulia Voitina is trying to rebuild a sense of normalcy for herself and her students near the front lines after returning from her refuge in western Ukraine. She says that “there is nothing for kids in Kharkiv, no school or kindergartens, kids are online all the time.”