ON THE ARTS: Yara Arts Group marks 10 years (01/11/98)

ON THE ARTS: Yara Arts Group marks 10 years

by Ksenia Kyzyk

NEW YORK - The Yara Arts Group celebrated the publication of "Ten Years of Poetry from Yara Theatre Workshops at Harvard" at the Ukrainian Institute of America last November.

The program featured bilingual poetry readings, music and the sale of the commemorative anthology of contemporary Ukrainian poetry translated by the group's director, Virlana Tkacz, and Wanda Phipps.

Among the works read were: Taras Shevchenko's "The Sky's Unwashed" (1989), Pavlo Tychyna's "Rhythm" (1990), Oksana Zabuzhko's "Despite It All It Was You I Loved" (1992), Ludmyla Taran's "India Ink" (1996), Victor Neborak's "Flying Head" (1993), and Victoria Stakh's "Ode To The Brain" (1993).

The readings presented an intertwining of two cultures through the use of two languages - Ukrainian and English. Yet this duality was unified by well-crafted translations and performance techniques resulting in an almost simultaneous blending of the languages phonetically. In addition, music composed by Roman Hurko, Genji Ito and Julian Kytasty, and the use of the traditional medium of the Ukrainian bandura performed by Mr. Kytasty, offered a fresh perspective on the poetry and allowed for various interpretations by the audience.

While tapping into the musical tradition of the kobzars, the instrumental and vocal compositions were often avant-garde in nature, encouraging improvisation on the part of the performers. The actors delivered strong, yet subtle and moving performances, expressing their inner selves, as well as the poets' intentions through the use of word and song.

Among performers at the poetry evening were: Cecilia Arana, Melasia Bonacorsa, Marc Gwinn, Natalka Honcharenko, Vera Kaminskyj, Stefka Nazarkewicz, Xenia Piaseckyj, Jeffrey Ricketts, Boris Shnayder, Olena Siyanko, Katie Takahashi and Shona Tucker; with Carmen Pujols, design.

Through her translations and direction, Ms. Tkacz has successfully challenged traditional views and performance techniques of Ukrainian poetry by incorporating a modern multicultural approach to their interpretation and presentation. Over the last 10 years the Yara Arts Group has united two worlds into one through the universal language of poetry.

"Every presentation of Yara's theater workshop ... has been a revelation - a revelation of the creative spirit of Ukrainian literature, a revelation of how theater artists, professional and student, through voice, gesture, set and costumes, expand and enhance one's understanding of the written word, a revelation of how in the interplay between the original Ukrainian and exquisite English translation and in the interpretation of artists of every nationality and cultural background, Ukrainian poetry is universalized," wrote Lubomyr Hajda, director of the Harvard Ukrainian Summer School (1994-1995), in "Ten Years of Poetry From The Yara Theater Workshops At Harvard."

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Individuals interested in getting involved with the Yara Arts Group should contact: Yara Arts Group, 306 East 11th St. No. 3B, New York, NY 10003; tel/fax; (212) 475-6474; e-mail, [email protected]