Ballet School Removes Russia From Name: 'They Just Keep Bombing'

BRADENTON, FL — The moment they learned that Russia invaded Ukraine, their native country, the owners of The School of Russian Ballet in Bradenton knew they needed to rebrand.

That same day, they decided to change the dance studio’s name to International Ballet of Florida, removing any mention of the country attacking their homeland.

“On Feb. 24, the first day of the war,” said Sergiy Mykhaylov.

“As soon as we opened the news that day,” added Darya Fedotova, his wife and the studio’s co-owner.

The couple, who were friends and peers first, met at Kyiv State Choreographic College in Ukraine's capital in the late 1980s. There they learned the popular Vaganova Method, a style of ballet developed by Russian ballet dancer Agrippina Vaganova.

“That’s why we call our school (the) School of Russian Ballet,” said Mykhaylov. “It’s because of our training. It was Soviet Union at the time. Everything was Russian at the time. Now, it’s all fall apart.”

His wife added, “It was very recognizable. Everybody knows Russian ballet methods. We still teach it, and we still feel like it’s one of the best ones and we continue to teach the same way. We just cannot have the name.”

Operating in the University Town Center area since 2010, the couple first considered changing the dance studio’s name in 2014, when Russia invaded and annexed Crimea from Ukraine. They gave up on the idea when they realized exactly how much work it would take.

“It’s such a big process, such a hard thing to do,” said Mykhaylov.

With the recent invasion of Ukraine, though, they couldn’t put it off again.

“It’s not easy to make that change,” Fedotova said. “But it’s so important. It’s so embarrassing to have that (old) name. It’s so hard to say it out loud.”

With the name change of an established business comes major updates to social media and their website. They also need to review all contracts they entered under their old name.

And then there’s the advertising for upcoming events. The flyers for their April 3 performance of “Giselle” at the Venice Performing Arts Center had already been printed with their studio's former name.

The name change is a symbolic gesture for them as they watch the war from afar, talking daily to friends and family at home about the horrors of the relentless military assault and reading the news.

“It’s hard to watch and hard to see the bombs and everything that they’re doing to the apartments and the people there,” Fedotova said. “All of these bombs with kids and women. They just keep bombing.”

She added, “It’s just unbelievable. Unbelievable. I never cried as much in my life, and I never see my husband crying that much. Every day we are on the news, every second, and on our phones with our friends.”

There’s about a six-hour time difference between Kyiv and Florida, she said. The calls from their friends and family usually start coming in around midnight.

“That’s when they start to wake up,” Fedotova said. “We stay up with them for hours, sometimes to 6 o'clock (in the morning.) Then, a couple hours of sleeping and then we come here (to the studio) and it’s the same thing the next day.”

While her parents live in Orlando, her husband’s mother and father are still in Kyiv. They have no plans to abandon their home, she said. “They’re old and they don’t want to leave. It’s hard for them to leave.”

Many of their friends have left Kyiv, though, she added. “Some have already moved to Poland,” while others are currently waiting in place in western Ukraine with thousands of other refugees.

Unofficial estimates on Tuesday said that 2 million Ukrainians have left their homes to escape bombardments; some have relocated to western Ukraine, and many others are fleeing to Poland and other neighboring countries.

The refugees are stuck there without basic necessities, she said. “They don’t have that much while waiting there.”

At the same time, some people they know have stayed behind to fight the Russians, including Mykhaylov’s best friend, who leads a civilian militia. They send him money when they can.

The couple is also collecting donations for those leaving Ukraine, everything from clothing to personal hygiene items. Each day, people show up with bags of donated items that pile up in the dance studio’s lobby. Every few days, the ballet school’s staff ships them overseas to those who need them.

“This is all we can do,” Fedotova said. “We are here. There is nothing else to do. We pray the bombing stops. And we’re praying they close the skies over Ukraine.”

Despite the bloodshed and violence, there is one bright spot, the couple said. They’re amazed by the support they’ve seen pouring in for Ukraine.

Their students wear the colors of the Ukrainian flag pinned to their clothing and in their hair. And the dance community locally and across the globe continues to check in on them. They’re also touched by the world’s support for their home.

“We want to thank the whole world for helping,” Mykhaylov said.