Beryozka

Storyline

The story unfolds in the mid 1980s and centers on three dancers of the famous Russian folk dance ensemble Beryozka. A small town girl Varya lives in poverty with a sick father. She attends sewing school until one day she sees Beryozka's performance on TV and falls in love with dance. Every day Varya trains in her tiny apartment trying to master the 'floating step' technique on her own. The girl saves up some money and goes to Moscow to join the troupe. And Beryozka is ready to accept her... but only as a cleaner. However the purposeful girl doesn't give up and keeps training every day. Eventually the artistic director of the ensemble Nadezhda realizes that she has a real nugget washing the floors! As opposed to Varya, Lena has a perfect life. The girl from the Moscow professorial family dances all her life and is easily accepted into Beryozka. Lena's mother who always dreamt of being a dancer herself now actively pushes her daughter to choose career in dancing. But what does Lena dream about? The third girl, beautiful Edita lies to those around her that she is a daughter of wealthy parents, although she grew up in a remote village in Estonia. Edita was lucky enough to make it through the tough selection test and she will never spoil her chances for a new life. That's how the three heroines get into the same troupe and in the same dorm room also. Each of them will have to pave her own way to the big stage. In the meantime, the ensemble is going through hard times. Beryozka's manager will have to prove by hook or by crook that art has to be supported even during the economic crisis. Beryozka's artistic director Nadezha will have to defend her brainchild against the bureaucratic machine of the Ministry of Culture. At that moment she realizes how valuable is the support of her close friend Anatoliy, who has been in love with her for many years.