Volodymyr Batischev used to serve in the military. Ballroom dance was his favorite hobby. In his mid-50s, he received a second degree in it and made the hobby his work. Apart from ordinary dance classes, he has special ones – for the blind. There are four adults whom Volodymyr teaches for free. I attended a class with Serhiy who lost his sight because of diabetes.
I met Volodymyr and Serhiy near a metro station. Volodymyr was explaining to his student how to get to the new location of the Dance Center studio – its main trainers Yuriy and Yana Vasyutyak gave an opportunity to use their dance rooms for Volodymyr’s lessons. Despite the snow and intensive traffic, the men move quite fast. Later Serhiy explained: it is the dance lessons which helped him to feel more confident on the street – to hold his balance and to walk faster.
We got to the class where sports couples were training. Volodymyr takes a place for him and Serhiy and starts to warm up. Every movement has its own logic:
