Russian ballerina danced Swan Lake in icy landscape

Dancer Ilmira Bagautdinova found herself in one of the most beautiful scenes in Russia, in the icy waters of the Gulf of Finland, as part of a dance-filled protest against a construction project that locals say threatens a unique natural habitat.

Defying polar temperatures, wearing her points and a white tutu, the beautiful ballerina was captured in the lens as she danced in the icy waters of Batareinaya Bay after reading reports that it is planned to build a silo for storing wheat there.

The Mariinsky Theater dancer posted the video online, adding music from Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake.” in a reference to swans living in the area, about 50 kilometers west of St. Petersburg.

“It is a uniquely natural and historic place, where swans make their nests in the spring, where families with children vacation in the summer, where hundreds of fishermen go out on the ice in the winter,” he wrote on Facebook.

«“All of this is threatened with disaster.”

The Russian news agency TASS reported last year that the Baltic Grain Terminal company plans to build a building, a terminal, worth 35 billion rubles ($ 477 million), in Batareinaya Bay.

The Leningrad regional authority told Reuters that has not issued any building permit in the area.

Ilmira Bagautinova called on the Russians to give a “present” to an online collection of signatures to President Vladimir Putin, to whom they will appeal to leave the bay in its natural state. The request has already garnered over 7,650 signatures.

«It was my cry, coming from my heart, to save a wonderful place, which has a special meaning for me“, Says the 29-year-old to Reuters.

As she explained, her family often visited the sandy beaches of the bay in the summer and slept there in the winter.

“It would be fantastic if, after my dance here, the construction work stopped and we could save this amazing natural landscape,” says the 29-year-old ballerina.

“I do not think, however, that it will be easy.”

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