Year Long Immersion Program 2017-2018. Volyn State Academic Folk Choir rehearsal. | Ukrainian Dance World

UKRAINE’S MOST FAMOUS BARD TAKES TO THE STAGE

UKRAINE’S MOST FAMOUS BARD TAKES TO THE STAGE

It’s not very often that groups in the Ukrainian dance scene create brand new full-scale productions, largely because of the massive costs associated with such an endeavor. Shumka, however, has done just that with Kobzar – a moving tribute to Ukraine’s own Taras Shevchenko. Edmonton’s Shumka dancers are no strangers to audiences throughout North America. Tackling emotive stories, fairytales, and fables through the art of Ukrainian dance, their Travelling Chumaky, Katrusia, an

SHEVCHENKO. A POET. AN ARTIST. A PROPHET. A DANCER?

SHEVCHENKO. A POET. AN ARTIST. A PROPHET. A DANCER?

Poet, writer, artist, prophet – this is all about Taras Shevchenko. What about Shevchenko and dance? How does Taras Shevchenko relate to Ukrainian folk dance? Has Ukrainian dance influenced the poet’s creativity and vice versa? Ukrainian art is famous for its treasury of folk songs and dances. The first Ukrainian dance theorist Vasyl Verkhovynets wrote that "song and dance are like brother and sister". The same way folk symbols, jokes, hardships and happiness live through son