World-renowned Veryovka begins three-month American tour (01/21/96)

World-renowned Veryovka begins three-month American tour

by Helen Smindak

NEW YORK - The Veryovka Ukrainian National Choral and Dance Co., a world-renowned ensemble of 80 artists, has began a three-month tour of the United States and Canada

The troupe of chorus, vocal soloists, folk orchestra and dancers never before seen in the United States made its U.S. debut on January 11 with two performances at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach, Fla. The company also appeared in Fort Lauderdale and Miami, and will give performances in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Del., and the Kennedy Center in Washington.

In the New York metropolitan area, the company is scheduled to give concerts at Long Island University's Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, Brookville, N.Y. (February 9), Lehman College Center for the Performing Arts in the Bronx and Chatham High School in Chatham, N.J. (both February 10), and Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts (February 11).

The company then swings northwest to Toronto for its only Canadian stop.

Continuing its cross-country tour, Veryovka will appear in Buffalo, N.Y., Cleveland, Cincinnati and Chicago before heading west to present concerts at the University of Las Vegas and Berkeley University and in San Diego.

The company's final concert of the tour will take place at the Cerritos Performing Arts Center in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

With a repertoire of historical ballads, Kozak and chumak songs and dances, scenic compositions, as well as music and dances associated with Ukrainian folk rites and holidays, Veryovka merges folk singing with academic choral art and folk dances from all regions of Ukraine.

According to tour manager Robert Beretta of Columbia Artists Management, the Veryovka company creates a fascinating experience with its combination of music, song and dance. ''Veryovka presents something unique, a theatrical program rather than just a concert of individual dances and songs," he said.

Although the tour program concentrates on Ukrainian music and dance, it includes (quite surprisingly) two melodies, "Dark Eyes" (Ochi Chorniya) and "Night Chimes" (Vechimyi Dzvon), both of which are Russian in slant to the names of people and places, for example, Ewgeny for Yevhen, Vasily for Vasyl, Pavel for Pavlo and Guzul for Hutsul. The Dnipro River is spelled Dneper, and composer Mykola Leontovych s first name is presented as Nikolai.

Founded in Kharkiv in 1943 by the composer and conductor Hryhoriy Veryovka, who aimed to combine the creative and artistic traditions of folk singing and dancing, with a contemporary style of performance and professional skill the troupe is now headed by artistic director Anatoly Avdievsky. Its chief choreographer is Alexei Gomom, and the orchestra conductor is Stanyslav Savchuk.

The Veryovka Ukrainian National Choral and Dance Co. has performed in republics of the former USSR, in many European and Asian countries, and in Canada, Mexico, South America, the Canary and Balearic Islands, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and Cuba.

| Home Page |