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Dance was Alina’s life-saving therapy

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By Natalya Krasnenkova

If you were in Kyiv before the war and were thinking about where to spend your Friday evening, you probably thought about going to the 'Variety Royale' show.

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This is a well-known music and dance show, which is very much loved by Kyiv residents and tourists. In this variety show, you would definitely pay attention to a bright dancer with long blonde hair.

Then you would see her again on stage with famous Ukrainian show business stars. In the evening, if you turned on the TV you'd see the blonde dancer again in talent shows and dance shows. Alina Maslak is 29-years-old from Kyiv, who has been living in Killarney for six months. She performed at the Independence Day of Ukraine at the ANAM Cultural Centre, and at the dance classes she held in Killarney.

Alina cannot live without dance, this is the whole meaning of her life. In Kyiv she trained a lot to achieve high results, took part in many shows and taught hip hop and heel dancing. Since the beginning of the war, the young dancer moved to a friend's house where they hid from shelling. 18 people lived in one house; they were cut off from the world and could only watch the rockets flying over the field, and shuddered from the explosions. Friends hid in the basement which served as a bomb shelter. Alina and her friends did not have enough water, only basic food, and the house was not heated or the lights turned on. People were scared and depressed. Alina saved her friends by holding yoga classes. She believed that relaxing the body and brain is very necessary to maintain psycho-emotional health. Alina herself continued to dance. This was her life-saving therapy. Imagine the sounds of explosions, an old house, and a dancer dancing in complete darkness.

MOVING TO KILLARNEY

After a month of living under shelling, Alina decided to leave. Together with her sister, they arrived in Dublin.

"There are many opportunities for my professional development as a dancer and dance teacher," thought Alina. But no housing was found in Dublin and the sisters were sent to Killarney. Despite the fact that hip hop or pop dance are not common here, Alina decided to develop this direction on her own.

"If fate brought me here, then it makes sense. If I can't develop here professionally as a dancer, then I will develop as a teacher or look for new professions," Alina said to herself.

She has since conducted several classes. Local women who attended her classes enjoyed hip hop and dancing on heels. If Alina manages to find a dance class, she will continue teaching dance in Killarney.

Alina also conducts yoga classes online. This is how she wants to support Ukrainians who do not have access to sports or dancing. But often she continues to dance for herself. Now, instead of a dance class, she has either a corridor or a children's room. Alina lives in a hotel with her sister and now her mother - who was transferred to Ireland in July. Before that, she lived in the small town of Slavutych.

When Alina heard about the preparation of the concert for the Independence Day of Ukraine, she wanted to perform a dance number with her students from Killarney. But time was short. Then Alina performed a solo number in which she told her story.

"Dance for me is not just movements," she says. "This is my way of conveying emotions, telling the world a story. Each of the numbers contains meanings that everyone can understand."

Today you can meet Alina at Kerry College in Tralee where she enrolled to study as a personal trainer and nutritionist. Mastering new skills, acting effectively under any circumstances, not complaining about life and never giving up - these are Alina's basic settings. She continues to move forward with them.

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Massive Park Road housing development given green light

A private developer has been given planning permission to build 249 new residential units at Upper Park Road. The development, which will be built on a recently cleared site near […]

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A private developer has been given planning permission to build 249 new residential units at Upper Park Road.

The development, which will be built on a recently cleared site near An Post’s sorting office, will include a variety of properties from five-bed houses to single apartments, along with a crèche and over 500 car spaces and over 300 bike spaces.

The development has been welcomed by local councillor Martin Grady.

“Killarney has a massive housing shortage so this is very positive. It will retain young families in the area, stimulating economic growth,” he said. “After 17 years of different planning applications it’s finally coming to fruition.”

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Ballydribeen residents living in fear due to anti-social behaviour

Residents in the Ballydribeen are living in fear as a result of increased anti-social behaviour in the estate. Several serious incidents in the estate have resulted in several Garda visits […]

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Residents in the Ballydribeen are living in fear as a result of increased anti-social behaviour in the estate.

Several serious incidents in the estate have resulted in several Garda visits in the last week.

Local councillor Martin Grady told the Killarney Advertiser that residents are “living in fear” as a result of very serious incidents in the last week alone.

One house in the estate was badly damaged when fire crackers were placed inside a letter box.

Another house had its windows smashed in over the weekend.

“It’s a major problem,” added Grady after meeting residents there earlier this week.

One of the most serious incidents occurred on Tuesday night.

A passing motorists had rocks thrown at his car while driving along the bypass whch is adjacent to the estate.
Taking to social media, local primary-school teacher Pádraig O’Sullivan posted:

“Travelling home tonight, at 11.05pm on the Killarney side of the bypass our car was hit by a rock – not a pebble – from the Ballydribben side , which hit the passenger door.

“It was centimetres away from hitting the window where my father, who is visually impaired, was sitting.

“This could have caused catastrophic permanent injury to him.

“The Killarney Garda were on the scene within three minutes.

“They can’t be patrolling the bypass all night.

“It comes down to parenting. You should know where your children are at this hour and be able to teach them what’s funny and what ruin a person’s life or cause a fatal crash.“

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