Japanese ballet dancer Haruka Takemi, 20, poses on an obsevation deck with a panoramic view of the city in Nizhny Novgorod on May 17, 2026. En pointe, demi-pointe, entrechat -- for Jotaro and Haruka, two Japanese dancers based in Nizhny Novgorod, one of Russia's historic ballet cities, life revolves entirely around their art, even as the war in Ukraine occasionally interrupts their daily routine. (Photo by Igor IVANKO / AFP)