Cheremosh Ukrainian Dance Company

Cheremosh Tour Recap May 19 – 22

Cheremosh Dancer — Thu, 23 May 2013 07:36:58 +0000

The last few days have been a whirlwind for Cheremosh, with some dancers totalling 15 hours of sleep in the last three nights. Today most of the Cheremosh dancers finally got to sleep in and rest, for almost the first time since the start of the trip. Here is a quick recap of the last few days, as well as links to the media attention we have received!

After two workshops at the Virsky studio and two nine-dance performances on May 18 and 19, the dancers were feeling tired but mostly thrilled by the very warm response by the audience in Kyiv, recapped by Video 1.

Celebrations took place, followed by another early morning to see the sites of Kyiv. That evening Cheremosh travelled by overnight train to Lviv. After a slightly less the ideal sleep on the train, dancers were free to enjoy Lviv on May 21 before heading to the theatre for the Cheremosh Dance Battle (Cheremosh Lviv and Cheremosh Edmonton), as seen in Video 2 , Video 3, and Video 4!

Without stopping for a rest after the show in Lviv, Cheremosh continued their tour onto the next city, Ivano-Frankivsk that same evening, arriving at 3 am May 22. Seven hours later, dancers found themselves warming up at the Hutsulia studio for a workshop run by the director and a dancer of the Hutsulia Song and Dance Ensemble. The workshop was fun and enlightening. The best part was seeing from backstage the Hutsulia Ensemble perform (in between Cheremosh dances) at the joint show that evening. Hutsulia is a strong, passionately Ukrainian, and invigorating group to watch and we were honored to share the stage with them.

Although the past two shows were challenging, the fantastic energetic response from the audience made it all worth it! At the end of Cheremosh’s Hopak, when the audiences give you a standing ovation while clapping and chanting “Molodtsi!, molodtsi!, molodtsi!..” you can’t help but feel extremely proud to be a Ukrainian-Canadian dancer, grateful to have been given the chance to perform for Ukraine, and just overwhelmed with the spirit, excitement and love of Ukrainian dance all around!

We’ll rest when we get home :)

Zorya

A Great Day in Kyiv!

Cheremosh Dancer — Sun, 19 May 2013 21:03:28 +0000

Sitting in the dressing room, here at the theatre in Kyiv, down the hall from the reception hosted by the Canadian embassy, and I am overwhelmed with emotion. Overall this trip has been emotionally charged and I believe it will continue to be as we tour Ukraine; something most of us aspired to do as young dancers.

Today we finished our workshops with Virsky; which was a dream come true for many of us. Tonight we had the rare opportunity to perform for Myroslav Vantuch. Following the show, Mykola told us that he is very proud of us, that we stole the show emotionally, choreographically and with costuming, but mostly with the heart that we have for Ukrainian dance, and finally that Kyiv is ours. We all cried of course.

We cheer and applaud those who were involved in getting us here but were not able to come with us. Cheremosh as a company has been well received and I am very happy and very proud to be a part of this wonderful group! We keep you all in our hearts and thoughts and we wish you could be here with us.

Shereen

Photos from Our Workshops

Cheremosh Dancer — Sun, 19 May 2013 05:53:06 +0000

Hi all,

My mum has been snapping away with her camera when she’s not fixing our costumes or backstage with us.

Here are some photos from our workshops.

Enjoy!

Shereen

My Birthday with Virsky

Cheremosh Dancer — Sat, 18 May 2013 21:53:20 +0000

Today is my birthday. Hurray! I didn’t get a cake with candles or a night on the town but I did get something way better. I got to dance in Virsky Studios and learn choreography from Berezianka and We are Ukraine. In my humble opinion, it was the best birthday ever. We walked into Virsky Studios like children walking into Disneyland. We took pictures of everything from the traveling cases to the framed picture of Pavlo Virsky. We met our instructor and learned that not only was she Myroslav Vantukh’s daughter but she was also “The Doll”. If you go on YouTube and search “Virsky’s Doll dance” you will watch her! We also met the composer of our Kuban music and jammed out to his improvisation on the accordion during breaks. At the beginning of our workshop we had the privilege to meet Vantukh himself! After four inspiring hours learning from the greats of Ukrainian dance it was our turn to perform. We performed with Serge Lifar Kyiv Municipal Ukrainian Dance Academy. I was able to watch their Hopak at the end and they are amazing! It’s hard to believe that we get the opportunity to perform with these very talented dancers. We are all sweaty, tired and inspired. It’s only the third day and this has been the trip of a lifetime. I can now tell my grandchildren that not only did I dance in Virsky Studios; I danced there on my birthday. Thank you Cheremosh for giving me the best birthday present any dancer could dream of.

Emily Belke