Ukraine's Kyiv City Ballet visits Gillingham School

When Ukraine was invaded, the Kyiv City Ballet was in Paris - and the company has been on their 'infinity tour' ever since.

Gillingham School has a number of Ukrainian students and a Ukrainian maths teacher, and this event gave them the opportunity to celebrate and reconnect with their culture.

The events in school were attended by Ukrainian families, Gillingham School students and their friends.

Ballet company director Ivan Kozlov and his wife Katya, who is the artistic director, hosted an assembly outlining their background, why they do what they do, what it means to them and how they have made the best of a hugely challenging situation.

During this time, there was an opportunity to see costumes, pointe shoes, stretching, and a small piece of ballet, followed by a question and answer session.

In the afternoon Ukrainian students, some of their invited friends and students with an interest in dance attended an interactive dance workshop in which students participated in warm-up exercises, movement to music, and tried some positions; first position, tendu, plie, releve, bourre turn, try a pirouette, a small jete and Barre.

A spokesperson for the school said: "Many thanks to the Shaftesbury Refugee Group and Kyiv City Ballet for facilitating this event."

The week-long visit of members of Kyiv City Ballet to North Dorset was planned to support schools, local dancers and the Ukrainian community displaced by the escalation of the war against Ukraine.