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CNN World Report

Ukrainian Children Dancers Perform in Spain

Aired May 20, 2001 - 14:48   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SHIHAB RATTANSI, CNN ANCHOR: The performing arts are proving to be an effective medicine for one group of Ukrainian children to became ill after the Chernobyl disaster.

ASIEH NAMDAR, CNN ANCHOR: Every year, the young dancers step away from normalities to take their act on the road. They travel and perform routines from all over the world. TV Galicia caught up with the dance troupe during their stay in Spain.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARIA XOSE LOPEZ, TELECINCO CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are children from Ukraine, playing happily far away from home. They are spending some days in northwest Spain. In their baggage, they carry their special heritage. Chernobyl radiation affected 500,000 children in the Ukraine. Now, 15 years after the catastrophe, they are still suffering the consequences.

IRENE LEON, CHOREOGRAPHER (through translator): They live in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. Kiev is only 85 kilometers away from Chernobyl power station, and it's impossible not to be affected by radiation, and being effected means cancer.

LOPEZ: Today, they were lucky. A married couple gave them some new toys and clothes, but even breathing or eating fresh food away from radiation is a gift. Ever more so, it's some medicine. That's why they try to travel abroad once a year.

LEON (through translator): Cultural interchanging is a solution they seek to get out of their country and recover at least one year of their lifetime. Throat cancer, leukemia, liver cancer. Doctors say that (UNINTELLIGIBLE), drinking fruit juice and iron can make their life one year longer, if they are invited to go out of their country once a year.

LOPEZ: On stage, they are professional dancers, performing pieces from all over the world. Some children cannot imagine their life away.

KATERINA BELITIVSKAYA, DANCER (through translator): I can't imagine my life out of this. I love traveling through different countries. I live among friends, and they are like my family. I sometimes feel sad. I miss my home, but I forget it quickly. I am feeling OK. ANA JMELEVA, DANCER: I prefer dance of the Spain and of the Ukraine.

LOPEZ: Now they are trying to achieve the government and the institution's help to find more performances in order to make their stay in Spain last at least one month.

This is Maria Xose Lopez from Telecinco for CNN WORLD REPORT.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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