The Odesa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre has seen better days. The flagship performances of the Russian repertoire have disappeared from the bill, much to the regret of Odesa theater-going audiences, who used to love them. For the past two years, Russia has been excelling in a different style of nocturnal, aerial spectacle; one often performed directly above the magnificent 19^th-century baroque-style theater, which is located just 500 meters from the strategic Ukrainian Black Sea port. The near-daily, deadly "sound and light" show, made up of shrill whistles and explosions, is matched by the furious crackling of anti-aircraft guns, whose projectiles streak through the darkness.

Stanislav Skrinnik, 39, is probably the only person to perform both repertoires on a daily basis. A star dancer with Odesa's Ballet troupe, in the morning he switches from his ballet slippers to work boots. Then, he heads to a secret weapons workshop on the outskirts of the city, puts on his gloves and gets to work. His melancholy blue eyes, abundant black hair, neatly slicked back, and broad forehead were concealed beneath a safety mask. He grabbed a spray gun and applied a khaki tint to the frame of an anti-aircraft machine gun. "My dancer friends don't understand how I can do such a job. But I enjoy it," said the man, whom everyone in the weapons workshop simply calls "Stas."

His eight colleagues – welders, electricians, machinists and mechanics – have long since accepted him. Nevertheless, he would only have to take three elegant steps for them to become worlds apart. Skrinnik never loses his professional dancer's poise, whether on the concrete factory floor or when treading the boards onstage. He strides with his head held high among the oily machines, his athletic body moving gracefully, as if dancing through an incongruous theater set according to the instructions of a postmodern choreographer.

Odesa is his homeland

His second job, however, is far from glamorous; and Skrinnik makes no attempt to glamorize his unconventional career. As a Russian passport holder, Stas considers Odesa, where he was born and raised, to be his homeland. His talent for classical dance is what took him to Moscow and made him Russian. "I applied for a Russian passport because it was the only way for me to get free access to the Bolshoi [Ballet] Academy. My family couldn't afford it."

Stas passed the prestigious Russian school's entrance exam at the age of 13, completed its six-year curriculum, and then began his career in the depths of Siberia, at the Novosibirsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre. In 2013, he finally returned to his homeland when he was hired by the renowned Odesa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre. The dancer has been living in Ukraine on a residence permit for 11 years. His mother still lives in Moscow and he "never talks politics" with her.

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