Canadian dance troupe performs at folklore festival in Brazil (01/11/98)

Canadian dance troupe performs at folklore festival in Brazil

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Thirty-six members of the Arkan Dance Company represented Canada and Ukraine in Brazil; the invitation was courtesy of Folklore Canada and the Community Folk Arts Council of Metropolitan Toronto. The Arkan Dance Company is the senior performing ensemble of The Ukrainian Academy of Dance, and this is their third international tour (1995 - Epcot Center, Orlando, and St. Petersburg, Fla.; 1996 - Lotung, I-Lan, Taiwan).

Arkan participated in two international festivals in Brazil during August 1997: the second International Folk Festival of the State of Mato Grosso, and the 36th Annual Parana Folk Festival, where they were honored guests of the festival and graciously hosted by local Ukrainian cultural ensembles.

The Mato Grosso Festival was held for the first week in the city of Caceres (population 200,000), about three hours from the state capital, Cuiaba. Here dancers lived on an army base, in communal barracks, with dancers from the other countries participating in the festival: Brazil, Russia, Yugoslavia, Spain, Portugal, Poland and Argentina. The dancers became accustomed to waking up at 6 a.m. to the sounds of a 40-soldier marching band in rehearsal, who would regularly escort them to the mess hall, along with an amorous llama and a very friendly ostrich (residents of the army base's petting zoo).

During their stay in Caceres, the dancers performed for over 25,000 people on the outdoor festival stage in the town square, in addition to daily afternoon performances and receptions in local elementary schools, universities, town halls and parades. In total, over 70,000 people came to watch "Ucrania" perform during their stay in Caceres. Arkan was clearly the most popular group, receiving standing ovations every night and inspiring crowds to scream "Ah! Eh to maluco!" for their spirited and vivacious Hopak and Samba finale.

Next it was on to Cuiaba, the capital of the state of Mato Grosso, and a big, bustling city comparable to Toronto. Here the dancers followed a similar schedule, performing at schools and universities during the day, with regular performances at the festival, which took place at a soccer stadium in the neighboring city of Varzea Grande. Over 6,000 spectators attended each evening performance, and Arkan was once again the most popular troupe to perform. Each dancer was regularly mobbed by fans, eager for Canadian souvenirs and autographs, and the group was followed everywhere by photoghapers and admiring locals.

Curitiba was the next stop on Arkan's Brazil Tour 1997. A large city on the south-east coast, Curitiba is recognized as being the "ethnic" capital of Brazil. There are strong Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Polish, German and Portuguese communities in this city of 2 million, and the Ukrainian community is noted as one of the largest and most prominent.

Arkan was hosted by the Ukrainian cultural ensembles Barvinok and Poltava, whose members graciously accommodated the dancers with city tours, lunches, dinners and receptions, and welcomed the dancers into their homes, where they had the chance to experience the day-to-day life of a Brazilian family. The Barvinok and Poltava ensembles were also the coordinators and sponsors of Arkan's independent concert for the Ukrainian community of Curitiba.

The Arkan Dance Company was founded in 1995 as the performing company associated with the 10-year-old Ukrainian Academy of Dance. Its goals are to perform dances of and authentic nature not only of the Ukrainian culture, but of other cultures, and to train in a variety of dance styles.