Olena Shoptenko is looking for a job in Vienna

At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukrainian dancer Olena Shoptenko left for Austria to visit her cousins. There she taught choreography remotely in Ukraine, but now she has begun to actively look for work in Vienna.

“I sent my resume to local universities of culture. Of course, I’ll have to have my diplomas certified, but if I can get a teaching job, we could set up a student exchange. Vienna is the cultural center of Europe, and you can gain an extraordinary experience here,” commented Olena Shoptenko.

In addition, the dancer teaches online classes at the Department of Ballroom Choreography at the Kyiv University of Culture. This year will be its fourth edition.

“This is very important to me because students were extremely demotivated at the beginning of the war. And I want to show by my example that art can be used to convey important messages, that our “dances,” as some call them, are very important,” emphasized Shoptenko.

Author: Daria Skotchenko

Photo: personal archive