Sawt Falasteen - Between ballet and war: Japanese dancers pursue dreams in Russia

Jotaro Kanazasi, 32, chose to settle in Russia 14 years ago, the country known for Moscow's Bolshoi and St Petersburg's Mariinsky theatres, to fulfil himself "fully as a dancer," as he puts it in halting Russian.

Some foreign dancers chose to leave Russia after it sent troops to Ukraine in 2022, but Kanazasi decided to stay.

The villainous sorcerer Rothbart in Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, Albrecht in Adolphe Adam's Giselle -- Kanazasi moves from role to role as a principal dancer at the Nizhny Novgorod Opera and Ballet Theatre, some 400 kilometres (250 miles) east of Moscow.

"I love Russian ballet and always wanted to become a dancer, but there is no national ballet school in Japan, so I chose Russia," says his compatriot Haruka Takemi, 20, who has lived in Russia for six years.

Absorbed in their lives as professional dancers, Takemi and Kanazasi admit they follow the news only loosely, including the war Moscow has been waging in Ukraine since February 2022.

- 'Staying in touch' -

"My mother constantly sends me articles about Russia, about current events, about what is happening here, so that I stay informed," says Takemi.

Russia has introduced huge censorship, unseen since Soviet times, during its military campaign.

Her home country Japan has backed Ukraine since the start of the Russian offensive and joined Western sanctions against Moscow.

"I am either at the theatre or at home, then back at the theatre again. I work all the time and concentrate only on ballet," she said, adding that it is her family who "worries" about her.

In response to near-daily Russian bombardments, Ukraine regularly strikes Russian territory, saying it hits military and energy sites to degrade Moscow's capacity to fund its offensive.

Nizhny Novgorod, though located more than 800 kilometres (500 miles) from Ukraine, has not been spared. A nearby refinery of Russian energy giant Lukoil in Kstovo has been targeted by Ukrainian strikes in recent weeks.

"There are also difficulties with the internet -- you have to use a VPN as apps are sometimes blocked. But I need to stay in touch with my family so they know I am safe," Takemi adds.

Russia has imposed sweeping digital restrictions in recent months, limiting access to mobile internet in particular.

"There are quite a few Japanese dancers in Russia, who are graduates of the most prestigious Russian schools such as the Moscow State Academy of Choreography, the Vaganova Academy in St Petersburg and the Perm school," says Valeri Konkov, director of the Nizhny Novgorod ballet company.

Making a career as a classical dancer in Japan is difficult, the dancers say -- and, despite difficulties linked to the war, Kanazasi is determined to stay, saying:

"As long as I can dance, I will stay here."

A.AlHaj--SF-PST