At 13 years old, Varvara Hrushanina, a Ukrainian dancer from Dnipro, has found in DanceSport a space for personal growth and rebuilding. She left her hometown with her family during the early months of the war and settled in Deruta, in Italy, where she resumed her training and began a new stage in both her sporting development and her personal life.
Since late 2023, she has competed in the Junior II Latin category alongside her partner Massimo Menghinelli, representing Italy in official competitions. During this period, she has secured several international podiums, including victories in Montichiari and Zagreb, a second place in Rome, and a seventh-place finish at the Junior II World Championships in Sibiu.
Personal transition and adaptation in Italy
Arriving in a new country meant adapting to a different language and rebuilding daily routines, friendships, and personal reference points. Varvara notes that her school environment and those around her played a decisive role during the first months, particularly in learning the language and integrating into her new community. As she recalls, “the beginning was not easy, but I was surrounded by people who helped me at every step, both at the club and at school, and that allowed me to gradually feel safe.”
Dance played a central role in this transition. Daily training became a space of stability and continuity, helping her maintain clear objectives and build strong connections with others around her. Over time, dance evolved from being just another activity to becoming the foundation from which she rebuilt her life in Italy. In her words, “when I dance, I feel that everything comes together, as if the floor were the place where things make sense again.”
A connection built through guidance
Her coach, Uliana Fomenko, a former competitor and now an international judge licensed by the World DanceSport Federation —WDSF—, has been a key figure during this stage. They began working one-on-one due to the language barrier, allowing them to build trust and develop her training step by step.
Varvara highlights her coach’s ability to recognize both technique and inner motivation. She explains that this support helped her “feel confident, understood, and capable of moving forward” even during moments of uncertainty. The relationship between them has become a foundation of guidance both inside and outside the dance floor.
Dance as emotional language and pathway forward
Beyond competition, Varvara views dance as a form of personal expression. She aims to convey genuine emotion in each performance, sharing with the audience what she feels on the floor. She explains that “dance should not only be seen, but experienced from within.”
At the same time, she continues her studies at an art-focused secondary school, balancing academic education with daily training. Her trajectory now develops through clear technical and competitive goals, accompanied by personal growth that is reflected in how she dances and in the way she relates to the world around her.
