He story of the lumière dance club in Burgdorf began almost by accident. One day, one of her colleagues shared with Yulia Koliniuk that she was looking for an activity that would help her daughter have fun and integrate. Yulia had been dancing professionally since childhood, and even after entering university, she never stopped doing what she loved. So that very day, she decided to set up a dance club for children from the city and the surrounding area.
The lumière club started its work in September 2024. ‘On average, I have twenty children dancing with me. Since the beginning of 2025, I have split the group into two. So one of them attends dances once a week, and the other twice a week,’ says Yulia Koliniuk, the Club's director.
Yulia works at a factory, where the main load is physical. This requires recuperation. Yulia decided to get it from her favourite activity, as dancing has been with her all her life. ‘It's important for me to put my creative potential into something. Classes with children give me incredible energy, and I come home from classes full of energy,’ says Yulia.
It's not just development for the children - the tutor also develops her skills alongside the students. ‘It's very interesting to see the children's eyes light up when we start the lessons. The integration component is also important: children get to know their peers, communicate and make friends. And an extremely important aspect is that we speak Ukrainian in the classroom, which allows the children to retain it,’ adds Yulia.
On Christmas Eve, the children performed for the first time in front of their parents and invited guests at a concert organised by the Ukraine Switzerland Bern Association in Burgdorf. The parents of the young dancers noted that such an experience helps them to socialise. ‘Some of the children were very shy because they didn't know the others. After a month, I noticed a wonderful result: all the children communicate well with each other,’ Yulia recalls.
Other Ukrainians continue to move to Burgdorf. Their children, who have recently arrived in Switzerland, are not familiar with the local nuances. Therefore, it is at the Dance Club that they find new friends, communicate with like-minded people, and integrate in a new country. Together with their mentor, the children also start their own traditions: they celebrate birthdays together and treat each other to goodies.
‘We came into the new year with a lot of potential,’ says Yulia, ’and also with plans. First of all, we found children who want to develop their choreography in depth. We work with ballet machines, and they learn the terminology.’ And to make it more interesting for the kids, the Club's leader has come up with something new for them - from now on, they will dance .... fairy tales. So the dancers will turn into bees, fairies and robbers. In this way, Yulia and the kids will create ‘magic’ that they will show to their parents and everyone else. They are already dreaming about the next concert, where the children will demonstrate their talents
