Kyiv Teen Dances 3 Minutes Alone at Prom After War Took His Date
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jun 30
Kyiv Teen Dances 3 Minutes Alone at Prom After War Took His Date
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jun 30
Summary
Three minutes into a choreographed waltz in Kyiv, 15-year-old Yehor Holodryha danced alone, holding up his hand to an empty space where his date, Masha Polska, should have been.
Hundreds of rehearsals had prepared ninth graders for prom day, but Yehor had to perform solo while classmates entered in pairs and families watched in the June heat.
Prom carried unusual weight for Masha and her classmates because Russia's war had already fractured their school lives, sending friends abroad and drawing parents to the front line.
Kyiv's celebration went ahead under the strain of constant air raid sirens and attacks, turning a familiar school ritual into a marker of what the war has taken from Ukrainian teenagers.