stories
‘The balcony is not a real street’ How Russian children are coping with life under quarantine and continuing to do their favorite things. A special cam-recorded photo series.
Source: Meduza
Since Russia’s quarantine lockdown began, photographer Maria Ionova-Gribina has been taking people’s portraits by video. She has done nearly 90 of these shoots since the beginning of May alone. Meduza shares Ionova-Gribina’s latest photo series on how kids are continuing to play sports, make music, and pursue hobbies both old and new under quarantine.
Leia, age 8. At the beginning of March, Leia’s parents bought her a skateboard and arranged for a coach to come to their home twice a week. Then her mother Maria had a colleague get diagnosed with the coronavirus. The whole family was quarantined, and then Moscow declared a city-wide self-isolation regime. As a result, Leia has yet to go skateboarding out on the street. Now she is practicing online for 40 minutes, twice per week — her parents also bought her a balance board for training. Leia dreams of practicing with her coach Misha at the skatepark, where there are small jumps, and she can do different tricks.
Maria Ionova-Gribina
Kamilla, age 12. Kamilla has been doing rhythmic gymnastics since she was three years old. Her team often takes first place in competitions. She usually practices after her regular school classes five days a week, but on March 25 the sports school closed because of the pandemic. Now Kamilla’s gymnastics lessons, just like her regular classes, are taking place online — for four hours, six days per week. Naturally, it’s impossible to perform many of the “high throws” — the ceilings at home are too low. Now Kamilla hopes that she will be able to go outside in a few months, to meet with her friends and relatives. And that she’ll be able to go to training again too.
Maria Ionova-Gribina
Miron, age 11. Miron has been playing soccer since he was six years old, and also enjoys scootering. He usually trains with his soccer team five or six times a week. Three weeks ago his training was moved online. His team created a group chat on the messaging app Telegram, where the players are sent a daily exercise program. They have to respond to their coach with a video of the exercises they have completed. Miron doesn’t like online training: sometimes the connection is bad, and his parents (who are working from home) interfere with his exercises — so does the dog.
Maria Ionova-Gribina
Tanya, age 2 years and 4 months. Tanya has been doing ballet since she turned two. Her classes are now held online, for 45 minutes, twice a week. Tanya is her ballet teacher’s favorite student in her group. She takes her training very seriously — even online, and participates in the entire lesson from beginning to end.
Maria Ionova-Gribina
Kolya, age 9. Kolya has been playing soccer for four years. In March, his club stopped training, but then it started up again online. Online sessions, like regular training, take place twice a week. But one of them is a theoretical class focused on tactics, as well as analysis of the club’s games, and famous teams. Kolya is also getting his general schooling online, as well as piano lessons. Soon he will leave for the village and he’s glad, because he’ll be able to go walking again.
Maria Ionova-Gribina
Lev, age 6, and Yan, age 4. Lev has been practicing Taekwondo for four years and Yan has been practicing for two. Lev already has five belts; most recently he got his green belt. Usually, the two boys take lessons at a studio, but because of the coronavirus, their training has been moved online.
Maria Ionova-Gribina
Izabella, age 13. Izabella has been practicing ballet and other types of dance since she was five years old. She usually goes to the dance studio six times a week. Classes last two to four hours, and she also practices at home. A month ago the dance studio closed for quarantine — there were no online classes for the first two weeks, so Izabella practiced using YouTube videos. Now she’s taking her dance classes via Zoom — the students repeat the movements, and the teacher observes and corrects them, “right hip a little higher, lower your hands a little.”
Maria Ionova-Gribina
Pelageya, age 7. For a year and a half Pelageya has been practicing and performing jazz-modern dance. Now the children in her group are being sent their lessons on Instagram, their parents record a video as the students repeat all the movements, and then send it to the dance teacher, who responds with comments. Pelageya does not like this set up — she likes going to classies with her friends. Now she can only go for walks out on the balcony. She doesn’t like the balcony either, because it’s “not a real street.”
Maria Ionova-Gribina
![Polina, age 11. Polina has been practicing dance since she was three years old, and is in her second year of hip-hop. Now her classes are taking place online, but for Polina it’s easier to practice live — you can ask questions quickly and you don’t have to wait while “they turn on the sound [so they can] hear you.” Polina says that she is not afraid of catching the coronavirus herself, but is worried for her parents because “this virus has a stronger effect on older people.” Polina misses walking around Moscow, and has already told her parents that as soon as the quarantine ends, she is immediately going to go out for a six-hour walk.](/impro/8m4s0jGgtIrhIEuJxmNt9DlBPOkZZe-CeAhM3q2VOO0/resizing_type:fit/width:325/height:0/enlarge:1/quality:80/aHR0cHM6Ly9tZWR1/emEuaW8vaW1hZ2Uv/YXR0YWNobWVudHMv/aW1hZ2VzLzAwNS80/ODQvMzgzL29yaWdp/bmFsL1FPTFVOaWc1/SllBSzNqRmZWRVpB/NmcuanBn.jpg)
Polina, age 11. Polina has been practicing dance since she was three years old, and is in her second year of hip-hop. Now her classes are taking place online, but for Polina it’s easier to practice live — you can ask questions quickly and you don’t have to wait while “they turn on the sound [so they can] hear you.” Polina says that she is not afraid of catching the coronavirus herself, but is worried for her parents because “this virus has a stronger effect on older people.” Polina misses walking around Moscow, and has already told her parents that as soon as the quarantine ends, she is immediately going to go out for a six-hour walk.
Maria Ionova-Gribina
Nikola, age 7. Nikola has been dancing in a song and dance ensemble for the last year and a half. He has online classes three times a week, and also needs to do homework to learn new movements and dances. Nikola likes the online training, but likes going to the Pioneers Palace (the youth center for extracurriculars) more, because it’s more spacious. When the quarantine ends, Nikola wants to go to school right away, he misses it a lot.
Maria Ionova-Gribina
Alisa, age 7. Alisa has been practicing ballet since she was three years old. Now she has online classes twice a week and does ballet homework every day. At the beginning of April, Alisa had her birthday. She hopes that when the pandemic is over, she will be able to celebrate it with her friends at an adventure park.
Maria Ionova-Gribina
Translation by Eilish Hart