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First time in 20 years, Adelina Deli, a famous Ukrainian-Nigerian dancer and choreographer, received a call from her father from the Republic of the Congo. He was shocked that his daughter’s home was under Russia’s full-scale invasion. Shaken by Russia’s violence, the man offered his help.
More than nine months later, Adelina Deli still keeps in touch with her family in Africa, including her father she has never met in real life before.
“War is above any personal conflict and different outlooks on life. Suffering the state of war unites people, of all races and nationalities. War is pure evil that must be defeated by good,” she says.
Adelina Deli was born in Kyiv, to a mother from Zhytomyr, about 120 kilometers away from Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, and grandparents from the Donetsk region, the Eastern part of Ukraine. Adelina fell in love with dancing in early childhood, carving her way through various dance schools. By the age of 21, Deli participated in two seasons of Ukrainian “Dancing with the Stars”, was a choreographer for the Azerbaijani team at Eurovision 2021, worked with various Ukrainian artists, has been filmed in a large number of clips, and has appeared on many international stages, including Portugal, Estonia, Spain, Dubai, Cyprus, Slovakia, Azerbaijan, the Netherlands, Turkey, Egypt.
Deli believes that her success comes from her creativity, sense of rhythm, and immense talent for dancing – something she feels grateful to her father and attributes to African roots.
For the last five years, she’s been working with the leading Ukrainian female-singer NK, touring globally to perform. Adelina’s “life on a suitcase” changed in a matter of a day, on February 24th, when Russia invaded Ukraine. Deli’s husband lost his little brother and grandmother who died when they tried to escape the shelling.
“It was March, the Dnieper River was very cold, the boat capsized and they died. Nothing can take away this pain. Pain for innocent adults and especially children,” she said, noting war caused tremendous suffering to people around her. “Russia’s war against Ukraine is terrible. I wouldn’t wish it to an enemy. I think you can survive everything – crises, rallies. But war is something different”.
What has it been like growing up as an Afro-Ukrainian?
“Ukrainians are not just white-skinned, they are people of any skin color. In fact, people here speak different languages and have different faith and political beliefs, but that doesn’t stop us from forming meaningful relationships with each other. Ukrainians are not trying to build a “pure” nation with only white people. Instead, we open doors to diversity – in culture, background, choices, race, etc. Growing up as a black-skinned person in Ukraine, I’ve never felt discriminated against. My roots have actually helped me become who I am today.”
What are your career plans for the next 10 years?
“The nearest plans for 10 years are definitely self-development and self-realization. I want to devote myself as much as possible to my work: dancing and modeling. I want to try myself in the field of organizing events. I am open to experiments in terms of career, up to the point that I am ready to sing. But most importantly, I want to promote Ukraine and Nigeria all over the world. My goal is to show how much Ukrainians can give to the world – they are diverse and talented, with rich culture and history. I thrive to achieve that through my work. And plan to devote my whole career to this.”
Africa has a large number of malnourished children and a high poverty rate, do you plan to use your talent to raise awareness of the need to solve problems in Africa?
“I would very much like to achieve such a name in the world that many would listen to my words. One of my aspirations is to have finances to help starving children in Africa. I would very much like to be a Goodwill Ambassador. If God rewards me and this happens, I will be very happy, because there is nothing more important in life than to bring love and kindness to the world. When you have a significant voice, it becomes your responsibility to stand up against injustices like child poverty or war. It’s important to spread the truth about how African children are starving – and it’s equally important to let the world know that Ukrainian children are suffering too. Lots of them have lost parents, homes and even access to education due to the war. If we want our rights to be ensured, we should protect the rights of others. And to do it not just at home, but wherever it’s necessary, whether it’s Ukraine, Africa, Europe, or elsewhere. We could only fight authoritarianism if we resist its practice everywhere in the world.”
What’s your opinion on many Africans being neutral or supportive of the war?
“It’s something that I don’t get. For Africans and people with African roots skin color acts as a unifier. That’s how we find “brothers and sisters” across the world. We approach people, even if we don’t know them personally, and start a conversation. I think the story about me and my father is a perfect example – we still found each other, despite difficulties and many kilometers between us. So, I don’t understand, if Africans see that their “brothers and sisters” are suffering in Ukraine, why do they choose to turn their backs? Or even worth – support the full-scale invasion. And those who invade feed on neutrality – oppressors only become stronger if more countries claim neutrality in the face of injustice, instead of supporting the country fighting for its independence. No one person’s suffering is more or less worthy than another’s. And why would Africans turn a blind eye to Ukraine which has always contributed to the maintenance of peace on the African continent? In situations like Russian invasion of Ukraine even being neutral could be dangerous, because it feeds the oppressor and breaches global security. Today Ukraine is at anticolonial war against the Russian empire and if the aggressor is not stopped on time, any other place, including Africa, could be at risk.”
Do you think Russian propaganda plays a part here?
“I would like to convey to the African people that it is necessary to filter information. The aggressor creates lots of fake news to spread its own narrative. Something like – “Ukraine does not want peace, otherwise, it would give up territories”. Does it seem fair or just to grant the aggressor with any kind of concessions on the cost of the colony? Who but African people can understand better the absurdity of this idea? And when we see that Russia has chosen violence over diplomacy, to an extent that has not happened in Europe since WWII.
I believe that when someone is in trouble, all people must come together to defeat this evil. Ukraine needs help and every penny, every voice counts!”
Do you think about cooperation with colleagues in Africa and other continents?
“I am open to any career experiments. Unfortunately, at the moment, I do not have any connections in my industry with Africa, but I would very much like to fix this! It would be great to build bridges and work there, it would be a very cool experience for me. Ukrainians are very talented and creative musicians. And Afro-Ukrainians could bring to Africa the Ukrainian culture and vice versa. The result would be an exchange of talent and a solid basis for future cooperation.”
War changed Adelina Deli’s life as it did for millions of other Ukrainians. Her workload has been reduced by 90% because the war has affected every sector of the country, including culture. Many artists have gone to fight in the frontlines, some have died, while others turned their efforts to charity. In times of war, culture also becomes part of the resistance, through keeping the fighting spirit and joining efforts to gather necessary funds. Deli went to Spain with NK to hold charity concerts to gather donations for drones for the Ukrainian Armed Forces and plans to promote and participate in even more charity events.
“The strongest feeling is when you stand on the stage in Spain, in a foreign country, and Ukrainians gather in the hall holding the flags of your country when your artist sings “Oh, red viburnum” (the famous Ukrainian song – «Ой у лузі червона калина») and the whole hall is crying,” she said. Many have joined to support the message of resistance, including a well-known South African DJ The Kisffness whose video has more than 13M views on Youtube. Deli said moments like these are a reminder that the truth is on the side of Ukraine – the country fighting against the aggressor who has caused suffering of millions for its imperial ambitions. Ukraine will defeat the beast and live in peace.
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