The graduation party of the ninth grade students of the Kyiv Lyceum No. 237 was held in the capital of Ukraine, which became a symbol of the memory of 15-year-old Maria Polska, who died as a result of a Russian missile strike on a residential building. Her classmates decided not to cancel the holiday, but to dedicate it to their friend.
This was reported by The New York Times.
Maria had been dreaming about her graduation since last year. Together with her mother, she chose a restaurant for the celebration, planned the menu, looked for a dress and was most looking forward to the traditional school waltz. The girl had been dancing since the age of five, helped her classmates during rehearsals, suggested the song Love Story by the French singer Indila for the dance and performed the central role in the production.
Rehearsals began in December. Despite constant air raids, attacks on energy infrastructure, and difficult wartime conditions, the students practiced the dance almost every day. Maria’s partner was her friend Yegor Golodryha, and several other pairs of classmates were preparing for the performance with them.
The day before the first rehearsal in the assembly hall, on May 13, Maria agreed with her friend Vlad Peretyat to go to the shopping mall after school to finally buy a dress for her graduation.
On the night of May 14, Russia launched a massive attack with drones and missiles on Ukraine. One of the munitions hit the multi-story building where Maria lived with her family. She, her parents, and her grandmother were buried under the rubble.
Classmates and teachers gathered at the scene of the tragedy, hoping for a miracle. Maria’s mother was saved alive, but rescuers later found her father, grandmother, and the girl herself dead. Maria became one of three girls who died that day in this house.
After the tragedy, the students created a memorial near the impact site, brought photos and soft toys, and also attended the funeral. At the same time, they decided to complete preparations for the graduation, which Maria was so looking forward to.
Maria's dance partner, Yegor Golodryga, announced that he would perform alone. Despite the offer to find another partner, he refused, explaining that dancing with someone else would be a betrayal of his friend's memory for him.
Before the graduation ball, the students also prepared a separate dance in honor of Maria. It was performed on the last day of school before school. The girl's mother was present at the performance.
During the graduation itself, a video rehearsal recorded during Maria's lifetime was shown on the screen behind the participants. On stage, Yegor performed all the elements of the dance himself, as if his partner were staying nearby. During the performance, he only looked into the hall once, seeing that Maria’s mother was crying.
After the dance, the hall greeted the performance with applause. Maria’s mother quietly left the hall, and the other students continued the graduation party.
After the festivities, the classmates went to the Crimean restaurant, which Maria herself had chosen for the celebration even before the tragedy. There they had dinner, chatted, took pictures, and remembered their friend.
“We danced the way Masha would have wanted,” said Yegor Golodryga after the performance.
Photo: The New York Times
Author: Danylo Pievchev