A badly jet-lagged Solomia Vozniak had only been in Australia for three days when she found herself at a dance rehearsal.
She was still grappling with the trauma of leaving her grandparents, friends and dog in her now war-torn country,
"I wouldn't say that I was eager to do [dance practice]," Ms Vozniak said.
"But I had nothing to do. I was literally just sitting at home scrolling the news."
With no job or studies, the 22-year-old now law graduate decided to keep going to the folk dance classes.
"And the longer I stayed here, the cooler it became, because really at that time it was the only thing that kept me doing something."
Dance had been a "huge part" of Ms Vozniak's life in Ukraine, where she did ballroom dancing.
"Beforehand, I honestly wasn't really interested in Ukrainian dancing, because obviously, I lived in Ukraine," she said.
But Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24 last year changed that.
"When things started happening, obviously, I understood that I had to emphasise my cultural identity.
"And dancing is one of the main ways [I can do that], because I love dancing. And I think dancing represents a lot of elements of your culture: movement, music, costumes, overall emotions," she said.
Surge in group enrolments
The influx of young Ukrainians to Australia has "rejuvenated" the Ukrainian community, according to the Ukrainian Youth Association, with many of them contributing to an approximate 25 per cent increase in enrolments in the dance ensemble which rehearses in the northern Melbourne suburb of Essendon.
"I don't think I've ever seen any group of people become so patriotic in one hit," said Juliana Moravski, the ensemble's artistic director.
"As much as I hate to say it, the war really put us on the map, and people see the resilience, they see the fight, they see the passion from us, [the Ukrainian community].
"They want to embrace it and celebrate it with us."
Ms Moravski said the dance group had helped many new arrivals feel part of a community here.
"Dancing is almost that universal language that they can all do together and make them feel a little bit more like a community and that they're not just on their own.
"This is their way of feeling connected."
Last year, the ensemble performed a dance which was called, roughly in English, Good evening. We're from Ukraine.
"It's kind of like a stamp, since the war, just to say 'Good evening. We're from Ukraine'.
"So it is that level of defiance. It's celebrating our pride in being Ukrainian, regardless of whether we're born there or not. And we get to celebrate that. We're awesome, quite frankly."
Young Ukrainian speed skater 'proud' to be in dance group
Dance, albeit hip hop and modern dance, had also been part of Alexandra Cherkasova's life in Ukraine.
The 15-year-old, a talented speed skater who represented Ukraine in January at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Italy, says she loves the folk dance ensemble because it's a "completely new experience".
With translation help from Ms Vozniak, Ms Cherkasova told the ABC the best thing about performing was "that it preserves her culture and she feels proud about that".
She fled Kharkiv with her 25-year-old sister as the city was under Russian attack in February 2022.
Their parents put them on a train to Lviv and they survived a precarious journey to western Ukraine.
The sisters now live together in Melbourne.
"Alexandra says she's just extremely appreciative and grateful for what the community did for all of us," said Ms Vozniak.
"The way they didn't let anyone down when we arrived here, when we were desperate for help."
Since February 23, 2022, the Home Affairs Department has granted more than 10,000 mostly temporary, non-humanitarian visas to Ukrainians in Ukraine, and 5,000 temporary humanitarian stay visas.
'It just lifts the roof with its energy'
The ensemble, known as Verchovyna, has delighted audiences across Australia and the world for 57 years, performing a repertoire of folk dances from different regions of Ukraine in traditional costumes.
"So the region will [inform] the costumes and the style of dancing," Ms Moravski said.
"In central Ukraine, near the capital, you'll have very bright colours, reds and greens, blues, all that kind of stuff. Very, very floral.
"It's a very 'flowy' kind of dancing. Lots of turns. The main dance … comes from that region, which is your celebration dance.
"It just lifts the roof with its energy."
Showcasing those traditions is important, particularly at this time, said Julie Tkaczuk, cultural director of the Ukrainian Youth Association.
"A lot of the [new arrivals] still have family and friends in Ukraine. There's horror stories. And this is their way of forgetting for a while and not trawling through … news.
"Instead, they're making friends. And, more than anything, they are upholding Ukrainian values."
The wellbeing of family and friends back in Ukraine is constantly at the forefront of everyone's minds, including Ms Vozniak, who travelled to Australia with her mother Natalia and 12-year-old sister Mariana.
The decision to leave was extremely difficult, said Natalia, adding it was made so her children would be safe and live a normal life.
It came after a distressing experience where Natalia, who had worked as a police detective in Ukraine for 20 years, was ordered to put on her uniform, get her gun and go to the streets to "maintain order and public security".
"My younger daughter, she was saying 'mama, please stay home'.
"She was crying, but it was my duty. I had to go to my job.
"She didn't eat for two weeks. I couldn't control her. She always sitting under the stairs.
"It is awful and terrible when children learn what war is."
While Ms Vozniak is unsure what the future holds for her country, she hopes that people won't forget about Ukraine.
"At the beginning, everyone was supporting it and everyone was involved but over time it kind of fades away and this is understandable," she said.
"But it's really important for people not to forget … [because] the hardest parts will still happen."
