GREENSBORO, N.C. — Ukrainians who have fled their home country and are slowly rebuilding their lives in North Carolina. As the war continues, two Ukrainian families’ children are using dance as a way to change their lives.

Yelizaveta Bondarenko is 11 and Matviy Skaskiv is 12. They started dancing at 3 and 6 years old, aiming to follow in their parents' footsteps and become professional ballroom dancers. They currently practice at the Fred Astaire Studios in Greensboro.

“It feels easier when you dance. Because I love what I do, it's like not a hobby. It's like a part of my life right now,” Bondarenko said.

But over the last year, their lives were turned upside down. They’ve had to navigate their love for dance and practicing for competitions while moving away from their home because of war.

“I woke up at 4 a.m. and I opened my eyes and the window just cracked because one kilometer from me, like half of a mile, was tanks that were fighting each other. Ukrainian and Russian tanks like one kilometer. And all my house was shaking,” Bondarenko said.

They’re Ukrainian refugees from Kharkiv. Their parents moved them from Ukraine to Europe for safety and to allow them to focus on their passion. Bondarenko's parents say the reason for continuing in competitions was to keep their minds from the stressors of home.

Bondarenko and Skaskiv won first place in their category at the Junior Blackpool Dance Festival in Blackpool, England, one of the biggest and most prestigious dance stages. They’re national dance competition winners, winning every competition they’ve entered.

“You just got into it and you like it and you feel the whole body and you put the whole body in this process and you try to make something out of it,“ Bondarenko said.

Both say they still dance with memories of their home in their mind.

Greensboro Fred Astaire Dance Studios has a new nonprofit that offers scholarships for kids who are refugees and has a speciality in sports or the arts.