The Last Dance Floor in Chernobyl

Available for over a year

The story of a young couple getting married against the backdrop of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Serhiy first laid eyes on Iryna under the swirling lights of the best disco in town. He thought she was beautiful and couldn’t take his eyes off her. He wouldn’t work up the courage to ask Iryna out until a few days later, but once they started dating, Club Edison 2 became a favourite haunt and they looked forward to the weekly discos. The man behind the decks was DJ Alexander Demidov, a legend on the night life scene, known for his pioneering shows. Club Edison2 quickly became known as the best disco in Ukraine. It was 1986 and DJ Alexander had to have his playlist approved by the Soviet state. Often he would sneakily play banned foreign records that had been illegally smuggled in for a rapturous crowd hungry for anything from the West, from beyond the Iron Curtain, from outside the Soviet Union. It was risky, but a risk worth taking for this was no ordinary crowd. This was a dance floor full of the brightest and best from across all 15 Republics that made up the Soviet Union. This was a disco for the people of Pripyat, an ‘atom-grad’, or nuclear city, built especially for the scientists and workers at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. It was one of the best places to live in the Soviet Union: good jobs, full shops, beautiful scenery and great nightlife. It’s where Serhiy and Iryna planned their future together, in a city that seemed safe. They planned to get married on Saturday 26th April 1986. But the night before the wedding, they felt the ground shake and heard a booming sound. It came from the direction of the nuclear power plant. On the morning of the wedding, as Serhiy went to pick up his best man from the station, he found the streets full of soldiers wearing gas masks and washing the streets down. Rumours swirled that there had been an accident at the Nuclear reactor, but nothing official was said. They called the authorities who told them they must still hold their wedding. As engineers and firefighters battled an unfolding nuclear catastrophe, the city’s residents were told nothing. Iryna and Serhiy married, smiling for photographs, but stumbling during their much practiced waltz, as unease rippled through the room. By the end of the wedding reception, the celebration descended into chaos. Still in her wedding dress, Iryna ended up running barefoot through the streets as evacuation orders spread, leaving behind her home, her possessions, and the city where their love had begun. The Last Dance Floor in Chernobyl tells the story of Serhiy and Iryna and DJ Alexander and what happens to them after the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the worst nuclear accident the world has ever seen. Presenter: Jordan Dunbar Producers: Phoebe Keane, Neal Razzell Sound design and mix : James Beard Editor: Justine Lang Voice over actors; Hanna Komar, Oleksandr Begma, Anatolii Panchenko, Gregory Zhygalov The guests also feature in What Happened at Chernobyl, Directed by Paul Harris, Assistant Producer Ellie Jacobs, Director of Photography Jack Garland, Executive Producer Vara Szajkowski, Location producer Halyna Yakusko. It’s available to watch on BBC iPlayer