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Reuters

In the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, it is hard to escape the war with Russia.
On some days, when the wind blows in the right direction, residents of the historic city can hear the boom of artillery fire from the front line, some 30km (19 miles) away.
Most nights, Russian kamikaze drones packed with explosives buzz over apartment buildings as parents put their children to bed. Frequently – but unpredictably – a Russian ballistic missile will slam into the city.
Three years on from Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, many people in Kharkiv suffer a mental toll from the war with its unrelenting, inescapable proximity.
But there is a space in the city where – for a few fleeting hours – the war stops existing.


In the dark, brick-walled basement of the Kharkiv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, a dance company has created a space protected from drones and bombs where audiences can lose themselves in performances of classic ballets.
In April, the space was host to performances of Chopiniana, an early 20th-century ballet with music by Frédéric Chopin. Despite the makeshift setting, the ballet was performed with full classical pomp, complete with corps de ballet and orchestra.
That marked a milestone for Kharkiv’s cultural life because it was the first full performance of a classical ballet in the city since February 2022, when Russian troops invaded Ukraine.
“In spite of everything – the fact that bombs are flying, drones and everything else – we can give a gift of something wonderful to people,” said Antonina Radiievska, artistic director of Opera East, the ballet company that staged the performance.
“They can come and, even if it is just for an hour or two, completely immerse themselves in a different world.”



Despite Ukraine’s history of excellence in classical ballet, the art form seems far removed from the everyday lives of Ukrainians in wartime.
Daily routines are given over to checking apps for drone attack warnings, sleeping on metro station floors to escape air raids or seeking news of relatives on the front line. Pirouettes, pas-de-deux and chiffon tutus feel a world away.
Nevertheless, the journey of Kharkiv’s ballet through the war mirrors the ways Ukrainian society has adapted and evolved.
On February 23, 2022, the National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre put on a performance of the ballet Giselle. The following day, Russia launched its full-scale invasion. As Moscow’s troops reached the outskirts of Kharkiv and threatened to capture the city, the theatre closed its doors and many of the ballet troupe moved away.
Some of them reassembled in Slovakia and Lithuania, and began touring ballet productions outside Ukraine with help from European sponsors.



By 2023, the war was grinding on, but the situation in Kharkiv, in Ukraine’s northeast, had stabilised after Russian ground forces pulled back.
The realisation dawned on the city that this was a long game, a new, wartime reality. Local people started referring to the city – and themselves – using the Ukrainian word nezlamniy, meaning invincible.
It was that year that work began on converting the theatre basement into a performance space.
In October 2023, it began to be used as a rehearsal space. In spring the following year, the theatre was granted permission to bring in an audience, and it held small-scale ballet performances such as children’s concerts.
The revival of Chopiniana represents the next milestone in Kharkiv’s wartime cultural journey.
Staging a classical opera again sends a message that Ukraine is still standing, according to Igor Tuluzov, director-general of Opera East.
“We are demonstrating to the world that we really are a self-sufficient state, independent in all its aspects, including cultural independence,” he said.



The auditorium seats 400 people on stackable chairs, compared with 1,750 in the main theatre upstairs, where the plush mustard seats lie empty.
The stage downstairs is one-quarter the size of the main stage. The aesthetic is grey-painted brick, concrete floors, pipes and electricity ducting running along the walls – a contrast to the varnished hardwood and marble of the space upstairs. The acoustic qualities of the basement, say the performers, do not match the lofty expanses of the main theatre.
What matters to artistic director Radiievska, though, is that after a long hiatus, she and her troupe can once again perform at their best, in front of an audience.
“It means, you know, life,” she said. “An artist cannot exist without the stage, without creativity, without dance or song. It’s like a rebirth.”


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Ukraine’s ‘ballet in a basement’ sends a message from the war’s front lines

Ballerina Olena Shliahina, 38, poses for a picture after practising for the revival of Chopiniana, the first full performance of a classical ballet in the city of Kharkiv since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, in the underground area of Kharkiv’s National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, on April 27, 2025. Photo: Reuters

Ballet dancers practise for the revival of Chopiniana in the underground area of Kharkiv’s National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre. Photo: Reuters

A pianist plays as ballerinas practise for the revival of Chopiniana. Photo: Reuters

Ballerinas practise for the revival of Chopiniana. Photo: Reuters

The seats upstairs at Kharkiv’s National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre lie empty as the war rages just kilometres away. Photo: Reuters

Ballerinas prepare for practising the revival of Chopiniana. Photo: Reuters

A firefighter works amid ruins caused by a Russian drone strike in an industrial area of Kharkiv on March 27, 2025. Photo: Reuters

Ballet director Svitlana Kolyvanova Popesku, 85, watches as ballerinas practise for the revival of Chopiniana. Photo: Reuters

A ballerina prepares to practise for the revival of Chopiniana. Photo: Reuters

A ballerina practises for the revival of Chopiniana. Photo: Reuters

A ballet mistress helps ballerinas practise for the revival of Chopiniana. Photo: Reuters

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The staging of Chopiniana underneath Kharkiv’s musical theatre shows Ukraine’s resilience and cultural independence, opera director says


The staging of Chopiniana underneath Kharkiv’s musical theatre shows Ukraine’s resilience and cultural independence, opera director says.


Ballet

Ukraine

War and conflict

Ukraine’s ‘ballet in a basement’ sends a message from the war’s front lines

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The staging of Chopiniana underneath Kharkiv’s musical theatre shows Ukraine’s resilience and cultural independence, opera director says

The staging of Chopiniana underneath Kharkiv’s musical theatre shows Ukraine’s resilience and cultural independence, opera director says