Off the Record: Dance is life for Nastya - Ukrainian artist has made her new home in Limerick

A YEAR ago, Nastya Lapko was dancing in Kyiv, Ukraine. At the time, she didn’t know she would have to leave her country because of the war, and didn’t believe such terrible things could happen in the world.

After February 24, 2022 life changed and dancing became something that was not that important. In Limerick, Nastya has found a “return of meanings,” and the dance choreographer has started to re-explore her creativity.

In September, Nastya moved to Limerick with her cat, Martin. “We like it here, it’s a pretty nice city,” she smiles. Now, the dance choreographer is ready to re-explore her creativity and wants to get involved with the cultural activities in the city.

“I love movies, and here in Ireland, there is a big film industry. With my friend, we travelled, visited Dublin and Galway, and just fell in love with Ireland. I started to learn about its history and I found a lot of similar things with Ukrainian history, I was very interested to learn more,” she notes.

For Nastya, dance became a habit, as she has been dancing since she was seven years old. “My mom found an art school with a choreographer. I found myself doing contemporary dance because I feel more free, and without limits.”

Originally from Dnipro, a city south east of the Ukrainian capital, Nastya decided to live in Kyiv before the war. “At the start of the war, I didn’t dance. For 10 months, I felt like there was no sense in it. Before the war, I was thinking about immigration. But at the start of 2022, I decided to stay in Kyiv because I love the city so much, there are a lot of opportunities there,” she recalls.

Sometimes, she finds it hard, emotionally. “Ukrainians, we have emotional waves, and we can’t understand this story about the war, it’s like a bad dream,” she says softly. “When you feel like a guest everywhere, you feel like you’ve lost something. Sometimes, you sit there, and you can’t understand what’s happening – so, you just sit in silence.”

What brings her joy is creating. “With video, you can cut movements. It’s not only music, it’s your body, it’s editing, and intuition works better for me. I can regroup with people that have the same interests, and we can make something together. The social aspect brings people together.”

Nastya would like to create something important for Ukrainians.

“Sometimes, I feel like someone who needs to get over a path, and go home in the end. I hope all these stories with war, and refugees’ stories will make for more scripts in the future. It’s interesting, because there are a lot of people from Ukraine in the cinema industry,” she notes.

In Ireland, she has met other Ukrainians, who have been living here for a decade. “It’s very interesting to see how they changed, and became more like Irish people,” she laughs.

As she searches for her words, Nastya says she loves English, but wants to improve. “I understand I need to improve it. I can learn, but I need more stable time,” she says.

According to the dance choreographer, it’s easy to see people are tired of hearing about the war and the Ukrainians.

“I know Irish people have their own problems, about electricity, apartments, and I don’t understand how Ireland can help Ukrainians, but I appreciate it. I try to tell people about the war in Ukraine without getting emotional.”

Speaking of Limerick, she points out it’s a very cool city. “I like this city. I found my favourite coffee shops, I went to the Hunt Museum, and the Art Gallery.”

Recently, she even featured in a video clip for the band, To The Roots, which was filmed in the Hunt Museum. As people tend to say here, onwards and upwards.