The critics comment (07/26/98)

The critics comment

The Virsky Ukrainian National Dance Company has always enthralled critics, and this time around was no exception. Below are excerpts from some of the reviews.

"For all the lovingly crafted folk costumes and deftly deployed props, it's still the dancing that astounds. It alternates between formal, geometric line or circle dances, performed with a combination of practiced charm and military precision - this is the women's specialty - and bouyant, energetic free-for-alls in which the men try to outdo one another in mind-boggling processions of bent-kneed athleticism." - Sylviane Gold, Long Island Newsday.
"The (Virsky) company founded in Kiev [sic] in 1937 is made up of professional dancers with ballet training; hence the larger-than-life plasticity of the men, whose deep pliés, flips and spins in the air and loose-hipped kicks are executed with a lightness that makes their bravura all the more astonishing. Effort is concealed; power is redefined ... The women's lyricisms does not preclude speed and precision while moving with swivel-smooth grace into a mosaic of changing patterns." - Anna Kisselgoff, The New York Times.
"The sheer physical beauty and technical brilliance of these balletically trained folk dance performers is astonishing. On top of this, they infuse the stage with a genuine sense of joyfulness and mischief." - Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times.
"Breathtaking technical acuity and remarkably tight corps work, particularly for a troupe of its size. A unique blend of classical and Ukrainian folk technique and a lucid, lyrical style that are incomparable." - Laurel Greszler, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
"Call it the Ukrainian 'Riverdance.' Especially liked the Toulouse Lautrec portion, where the men did the impossible, dancing on their butts with thighs extended." - Rita Zekas, The Toronto Star.
"One would be hard-pressed to find a flaw in Virsky's show, one performance after another true perfection in Ukrainian dance, placement and movement of the dancers, solid harmony, never an unsmiling face in dance that cheers." - Susan Hickman, The Ottawa Citizen.