Updated info on Talents of Ukraine tour

The itinerary and other details of the Honored Academic Song and Dance Company of Ukraine "Donbas" 2011 Canadian tour are now available at the Boen Performing Arts website.

You can find an overview of the group and a video in

Talents of Ukraine – 2011 Canadian Tour

Boen Performing Arts is bringing another fabulous Ukrainian act to Canada this fall.

Just got word of it and waiting to get details from Ken Kachmar of Boen Arts ... this story is so new it it wasn't even posted on their website the last time I checked!

Here's what is known so far:

The show tour, dedicated to the 120th anniversary of Ukrainians in Canada, will feature The Honored Academic Song and Dance Company of Ukraine "Donbas."

The group began its creative activity in 1937 in the city of Donetsk, Ukraine and since then has enchanted audiences with the bright spectacle of the song and dance of their native land.

Many well known choreographers  have worked in this Dance Company, including Pavlo Virsky, Oleksiy Homon, and Valentyn Mykhailow.

Donbas has performed in Poland, Romania, Germany, Spain, France, Greece, Portugal and other European venues. During the last decade, under the direction of Valentyn Kichik and artistic direction of Oleksander Prokopenko, they performed in the USA, China, Syria and three times in Brazil.

I couldn't find a website for them but did come across this delightful YouTube video of a group by that name. If it's the same group then Canadian audiences are in for a real treat!



Featured soloists are violinist Innesa Tymochko and singers Svitlana Sasu and Yevhen Vaskin.

Innesa Tymochko has performed at concerts, banquets, festivals, on television, radio, and in theaters throughout Europe, including Belgium, Spain, France, Netherlands, Portugal, Austria, Serbia, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Germany, Russia and Chernohirja. In 2005 she was a featured performer at the internationally acclaimed Eurovision Awards, Europe's answer to America's Grammy Awards, held in Kyiv.

Yevhen Vaskin has a charming tenor voice and a varied repertoire ranging from folk songs to contemporary arrangements of original compositions. He has performed extensively on the international scene and has won several all-Ukrainian vocal competitions.

Svitlana Sasu is a Ukrainian actress and singer, originally from Moldova, who currently lives and works in Kyiv. She has won many awards, including the International vocal competition "Baltic Trembita" in Tallin, Estonia (2005), the International competition "Perlyna" (Pearl) in Tyraspil, Moldova (2007), an international competition of Ukrainian songs "Hilka Kalyny" (Rasberry branch) in Rome, Italy (2010, and in 2011, she was the winner of the International singing competition of Ukrainian Romance in Lviv, Ukraine, honouring the beloved Ukrainian American singer, the late Kvitka Cisyk.

So far this is where The Talents of Ukraine 2011 Canadian Tour is booked to perform:

Vancouver on Tuesday, October 11 at The Centre For Performing Arts, 777 Homer St. (Tickets)

Vernon on Wednesday, October 12 at the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre (Tickets)
 
Edmonton on  Friday, October 14 at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, 11455 — 87 Avenue (Tickets)

More details as I get them. Stay tuned!

New York Ukrainian Polka band Hrim releases new album

Hrim is a Ukrainian band based out of New York City which just released their self-titled debut album in May 2011.

Since its inception in 2005, Hrim has performed at festivals, weddings, zabavas, and other functions throughout North America in cities including New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Buffalo, Washington D.C., Toronto, Montreal, and many more.

The band recently performed at the Hopak in the Park festival in Melbourne, Australia along with a sold-out zabava there.

The band continues to perform non-stop and hopes to explore other areas of the Ukrainian diaspora with their music.

Their sound is a mix of traditional music styles – polkas, tangos, and waltzes fused with more modern rock, ska, and punk styles. It is a distinctly Ukrainian sound, yet absolutely unique to the group.

Hrim consists of Roman Palylyk (bass and vocals), Peter Drobenko (accordion), Will Wyatt (guitar), Peter Kolinsky (vocals), and John Drobenko (drums).

The band was fortunate to collaborate with other talented musicians on the album including Slau Halatyn (backing vocals and guitar), Andrij Stasiw (piano and composer), and Olenka Dolak (cello).

You can find out more about Hrim at their MySpace page.You can also follow them on Twitter and Facebook. To purchase the album, visit their CD Baby page where you can either download mp3s or buy a physical CD. Hrim will be releasing the album on iTunes as well.

You’ll be able to hear Hrim on Nash Holos Ukrainian Roots Radio in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, here’s a sneak preview from a couple of years ago at the Toronto Ukrainian Festival.

Enjoy!

See Veselka Ukrainian Dancers at Victoria Multicultural Festival

Victoria`s Heritage DanceFest will be celebrating its 5th anniversay, in no small part thanks to Veselka Ukrainian Dancers.

In the wake of the cancellation of the hugely popular FolkFest, Veselka (which means `rainbow`) realized that the city`s diverse ethnic cultural ensembles were in dire need of a public venue to strut their stuff.

So they spearheaded the now equally popular Heritage DanceFest which this year takes place Saturday, June 18, 2011 at Cameron Bandshell, Beacon Hill Park.

Take in continuous dance performances by dancers from the Chinese, Norwegian, Punjabi, Ukrainian, Irish communities, and more. Welcome Ceremony at 12 noon features a First Nations blessing, VIP speakers, and a traditional Welcome dance by the Veselka Ukrainian Dancers.


The best part is that admission to this fabulous family event is absolutely free!

If you haven`t yet seen Veselka perform, or didn`t catch this video on YouTube or my earlier post on Veselka, here`s a delightful little sneak preview for you:

Ukrainian Dancers wow audience and panelists on Australia's Got Talent

Can't help wondering how Simon Cowell would react but the Ozzies certainly appreciate good music and good dancing!

Of course who in their right mind doesn't love Ukrainian dancing when they see it? LOL

This Australian bunch of Ukrainian dancers is fantastic.

Enjoy!

Shumka Ukrainian Dancers to kick off 50th anniversary celebration in Kelowna

The Toronto Star calls them a National Treasure – Canada’s professional Ukrainian Dance Company celebrates 50 years of dance tradition in a whirlwind of colour, power and grace.

Veselka to celebrate 40 years of Ukrainian dance on Vancouver Island

On May 21 and 22 Victoria's Veselka Ukrainian Dancers will host two events to celebrate their 40th anniversary.

Veselka (meaning Rainbow) entertains audiences sev eral times throughout the year at various local events, including

Missing BC's annual Ukrainian cultural festival

There's something for everyone at the annual BC Ukrainian Cultural Festival ... non-stop dance competitions by dancers from all over British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest, fabulous Ukrainian cuisine (usually provided by Judy Hrynenko of Prairie Cottage Perogies), live music by roving musicians, and all kinds of Ukrainian arts, crafts, and cultural displays.

Stories lost, history suppressed

Choreographed by Lori Hamar. Featuring dance artists Brandy Baybutt, Jung-ah Chung, Nicole McSkimming and composer Dave Chokroun.

Blood Line photo by Miles Lowry



Blood Line is a new contemporary dance work by Victoria dancer and choreographer, Lori Hamer.

It is the first section of a three part work she plans to have completed and premiered in 2012.  The final phase will see the work expanded into a full-length dance theatre production (45-60 minutes) featuring live music and an exploration of Lori’s personal ties to the Ukrainian culture and the impact of specific historical events on the culture.

Nissan's newest car is Ukrainian?

OK ... this "ad" has got to be one of the funniest things I've ever seen:


.
Only two strikes against it.

Virsky in Vancouver

This was a most amazing show! So glad I had the opportunity to see these outstanding performers.

They're still touring Canada, so if your town is one they're slated to visit, make sure not to miss this show!

In the meantime, enjoy these clips of the Vancouver performance.

These Ukrainians definitely can dance!

Virsky, Ukraine's National Dance Company, will kick off their 2010 Canadian concert tour October 7 in Vancouver!

The Vancouver concert happens at the Vancouver Centre for Performing Arts, 777 Homer Street, Vancouver. Showtime is 7:30 pm.

Tickets on sale now at Ticketmaster or call 604-280-4444. (Or, tune in to Nash Holos for ticket giveaways.)

You don't want to miss this performance! Here's a sneak preview:

Nash Holos audio archives updated to Sept 26, 2010

On last night's show we got a fab audio "sneak preview" of the upcoming concert and tour of the Virsky National Dancers of Ukraine.

Also, two lucky listeners won free tickets to Virsky's October 7 concert in Vancouver. The Vancouver concert kicks off their 2010 Canada tour. I just popped the tickets in the mail today, and will be giving away one last pair of tickets to another lucky listener on Nash Holos next Sunday.

Here are yesterday's show highlights:

• Interview with Bohdan Tkachyshyn, of Boen Arts. You can listen to it here. (Also my colleague Stan Nastenko interviewed him (in Ukrainian) on his show yesterday morning. Catch his podcast here.)
• On his Kultural Capsule, Vasyl Pawlowsky features Ukrainian Canadian Victoria Cross recipient Filip Konowal. (Listen to it here.) 
• Marina Lewycka's newest book, We are all Made of Glue, is the focus of Irena Bell's Чи знали ви? (Did Your Know?) feature.
• Proverb of the week, upcoming events in Vancouver's Ukrainian community, and plenty of great Ukrainian music!

Enjoy!

Ride Cossack Ride

I want to see this show on my next trip to Ukraine!

FootLoose & fancy-free Kolomeyka

I remember how much I enjoyed this movie when it came out, but I can't believe that it never occured to me at the time how much this scene resembled an Americanized Hollywood version of the kolomeyka:



Now here's the real thing:



I have no idea who Stephen and Lilly are, but obviously they are (were) Ukrainian dancers...



Love that human pyramid the guys do!



The gals can give the guys a run for their money ...



Looks like this is the last one they posted. The wedding must have been a blast!