NUCLEAR ACCIDENT CAUSES DANCER TO CANCEL TRIP

The nuclear disaster at Chernobyl in the Soviet Union has forced San Diego ballerina Denise Dabrowski postpone plans to study at two of the world’s greatest schools of classical dance.

After years of negotiating, Dabrowski and her mentor, California Ballet director Maxine Mahon, were finally given permission to take classes at the Bolshoi in Moscow and the Kirov in Leningrad--venerable Soviet institutions that have long been synonymous with the best in classical ballet.

The women were packed and ready to leave, despite news about the disaster. But on Tuesday night, just hours before their scheduled departure, a nuclear expert and friend of the ballet company warned them against entering Moscow in the wake of the nuclear accident.

“I was devastated,” Dabrowski said. “Maxine and I talked and talked and talked about it all night long, and we both knew it was foolhardy (to risk going). But neither of us could bring ourselves to say we should back out. I was so disappointed. It was something I’ve been dreaming about all my life.”

Mahon was more philosophical about accepting the inevitable.

“I’ve had a funny feeling about it from the beginning. It was just weird that I had this feeling that something is not letting me go to Moscow now,” she said. “But as far as we’re concerned, the trip is definitely not canceled. It’s just postponed. . . . I have no doubt in my mind that we can set this up another time.”

Dabrowski feels shaken, but she’s not giving up on her dream.

“I just know I’ll get there. I don’t know when, but some day.”