DATELINE NEW YORK: "Hopak" returns with Moiseyev (01/24/99)

DATELINE NEW YORK: "Hopak" returns with Moiseyev

by Helen Smindak

The Ukrainian national folk dance "Hopak" has been part of the Moiseyev Dance Company's repertoire since this Russian ensemble was founded by Igor Moiseyev in 1937. The Russians know a good thing when they see it. Mr. Moiseyev, as a choreographer who has cast folk material in a theatrical light, certainly does.

In 1958 impresario Sol Hurok brought the Moiseyev troupe to New York's old Metropolitan Opera House on 39th Street, and Ed Sullivan introduced the dancers on his Sunday night CBS show "Toast of the Town." That event was recalled in a New York Times' feature story of May 11, 1997, in which Steven D. Stark described an era in American life when Ed Sullivan was the country's leading TV impresario for 23 years. The story, "When Sullivan Was Master of the Big Show," was accompanied by a four-column photo showing Sullivan on stage with the dancers, in Ukrainian costumes, poised to spring into the "Hopak."

Honored by the Russian government with the title State Academic Ensemble of Popular Dance, the group began to cover all continents when the Cold War first eased in 1955 - taking its ever-growing repertoire of dance and the "Hopak" around the world. The company has made eight visits to the U.S. since its initial visit in 1958.

Last in New York in 1991, the Moiseyev ensemble hit Carnegie Hall on January 13 and 14 with a program that climaxed with the "Hopak." The troupe also gave performances at Tilles Center in Brookville, Long Island (January 15 and 16) and at the Lehman Concert Hall in the Bronx (January 17) before setting out on a cross-country tour.

Reviewing the Carnegie Hall performance, Times dance critic Anna Kisselgoff pointed to outstanding old favorites, including the comic "Old City Quadrille" showing 19th century urban couples flirting within the confines of a formal dance, the fantastic "Partisans" number with its simulated horseback-riding guerrillas, the sumo-style wrestling match "Two Boys in a Fight," where she praised Alexander Matous-Martchuk for his wit and acute timing, and the "Gopak," which closed "a vibrant program."

Ms. Kisselgoff pointed out that the "Gopak" is known in Ukraine as "Hopak." As a dance critic, she has probably seen the "Hopak" before, or she gleaned this information from the printed program, which described the Ukrainian dance as "the best known and most popular of all Russian folk dances" and pointed it out as "the contribution of the [sic] Ukraine." ICM Artists, which is presenting the Moiseyev tour (and supposedly provided the program info) clings to the outdated article "the" - and still refers to the "Hopak" as a Russian dance!

Although Ms. Kisselgoff wrote about the company's "ever-stunning virtuosity" and technique "matched by visible artistry," she commented that the "Partisans" number with its theatrical image of anti-Nazi resistance had "lost some depth."

It's a phrase that could also be used to describe the company's interpretation of the "Hopak." This whirlwind dance, highlighted by the male dancers' spectacular knee-bends, leg stretches and high jumps, excited the near-capacity audience, but disappointed a Ukrainian reporter accustomed to the national spirit of Ukrainian dance ensembles. In addition, the women's costumes, with their rather skimpy jackets over shirts that featured elbow-length puffed sleeves, were too stylized to be truly attractive.

New dances included "Seven Beauties," a mysterious women's dance from Bashkiria; "Egyptian Dance," with seven women swiveling their hips in Near Eastern style; a "Sicilian Tarantella" with a festive cart and human horses, and "Jewish Suite: Family Joys," a dramatic vignette depicting a village wedding of the past. The program also included folk dances from Romania, Belarus and Moldova.

Program notes for "Jewish Suite" revealed that Mr. Moiseyev choreographed the warm family celebration and its collection of colorful characters by drawing on the impressions of a childhood spent in Ukraine. Notes on the artists disclosed that Igor Alexandrovich Moiseyev was born "of Ukrainian parentage" in Kyiv in 1906. Although the boy spent the first seven years of his life in Paris, the family returned to the Soviet Union when he was 8 and lived for a time in Poltava, before settling in Moscow, where Moiseyev joined the Bolshoi Ballet at age 18.

Mr. Moiseyev, who turned 93 on January 21, continues to take a curtain call after every performance.

As one of the greatest choreographers in 20th century dance, Mr. Moiseyev can be added to the list of prominent artistic personalities who consider their homeland to be Ukraine.

Skoryk scores at UIA

Myroslav Skoryk, the Lviv-born composer of contemporary music who has written scores for some 40 films, including the beautiful Hutsul background music for the film "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors," has been celebrating his 60th birthday during the past year with a series of concerts in Australia, Germany, Ukraine and the United States.

His latest concert, part of the Music at the Institute series, was held December 12, 1998, at the Ukrainian Institute of America, where the MATI Chamber Orchestra and the Vanguard Chamber Players presented several Skoryk compositions.

Virko Baley, another 60th birthday celebrant, conducted the orchestra in a performance of the 1965 work Partita No. 1 for String Orchestra, a piece whose second (Toccata) movement brought forth a unique interchange of quick notes between instruments before moving on to a dirge-like Fugue and a haunting Recitative. The chamber players performed the 1975 work Partita No. 3 for Two Violins, Viola and Cello, giving this sometimes pastoral, sometimes melancholy piece its first North American airing.

Following intermission, the world premiere of a new work unfolded before the rapt audience with Partita No. 7 for Wind Quintet. Commissioned by music publishers Oles and Olya Kuzyszyn of Woodbridge, N.J., at the request of MATI, the 1998 work includes four movements - Prelude, Dance, Elegy and Finale.

Describing the work during a post-concert reception, Mr. Kuzyszyn referred to it as "an electric piece that has a lot of musical humor." He amplified that statement by adding: "Partita No. 7 is a technically demanding work, with a great deal of lightheartedness built into it." Indeed, the concerto begins with a lovely melody, goes into a skip-temp dance followed by a contemplative elegy, and ends with a merry, lively finale.

Mr. Kuzyszyn's company, Duma Inc., has published other Skoryk compositions since its establishment in 1985, and plans to publish Partita No. 7 in the near future.

For the evening's final performance, Concerto No. 3 for Piano, String Orchestra and Drum, a 1998 work receiving its New York premiere, Mr. Skoryk joined the orchestra at the piano.

Depicting the essential elements of human existence - Prayer, Dream and Life - the chamber concerto began with strong, forceful chords, a lyrical passage and rippling music followed by an introspective section as it interpreted prayer. Limpid, liquid piano notes that floated with the orchestra translated the dream sequence. Life came into focus with nightmarish, jangling music, a jazz tempo and drum beating, the piano tinkling as orchestra strings were struck in discordant sync, then piano and orchestra soared to a crescendo before concluding on a quieter note.

Mr. Skoryk also has written music for nearly 30 stage productions, including Lesia Ukrayinka's "The Stone Host," writes jazz and popular music, and is a respected musicologist as well as the author of numerous articles and two books. He holds a music festival in Lviv every spring and devotes a good portion of his time to reviving, editing and orchestrating works from the Ukrainian musical heritage of the 16th to the 20th centuries. Small wonder, then, that he is a winner of the prestigious Shevchenko Prize and has been awarded the title People's Artist of Ukraine.

The news in brief

Faced with an extended Christmas season because Ukrainians celebrate two Christmases - according to the Gregorian and the Julian calendars - Ukrainian organizations schedule a good many events in November and December. This, combined with other arts and entertainment happenings, makes for a merry pre-holiday season for most people, but creates a reporter's roadblock. To get around it, here's some news in capsule form.

An exhibition of graphic works by Alexander Archipenko and oil paintings, watercolors and drawings by Alexis Gritchenko (Oleksa Hryschenko) opened with a festive champagne reception at The Ukrainian Museum on December 6, 1998. Acquired "under very generous conditions" from the private collection of Olena and Zenon Feszczak, 15 works of the two Ukrainian-born artists are now part of the museum's fine art holdings. Mrs. Feszczak has also donated to the museum one of Gritchenko's beautiful paintings "Les Chataignes" (Chestnuts). The exhibit was supplemented with other works by these renowned artists, either purchased earlier by the museum or received as gifts from Bohdan and Oksana Rak, Dr. Zenon Karatnytsky and the Plast sorority Pershi Stezhi. The exhibit will run through the end of February. Mr. Feszczak, who worked in Philadelphia at the Civic Center Museum and then at the Port of History Museum, served on The Ukrainian Museum's board from 1977 until his death in 1993.
A clipping from The New York Times in 1952, reporting that "noted cancer specialist Dr. Zinovij Shtokalko was among 1,267 displaced persons who arrived in New York aboard the Navy transport carrier, Gen. Harry Taylor," was included in memorabilia displayed at the Mayana Gallery during an evening commemorating the late Dr. Shtokalko, a master bandurist who composed songs and ballads, improved bandura-playing techniques and developed his own distinct style of interpretation. He also arranged over 300 songs, dumy and ballads. The Times mentioned that Dr. Shtokalko, who had fled Ukraine in 1944 when the Soviet army advanced and completed his studies at Munich University, was accompanied by his wife, Ruth, a German actress. During the event Levko Maistrenko of Staten Island reminisced about his dear friend's intense humanitarian nature and artistic genius, and bandurists Julian Kytasty and Michael Andrec played songs they had learned from Shtokalko recordings and improvised on his composition Atonal Etude No. 2. Mr. Andrec also offered an excerpt from one of the ancient bylyny that Dr. Shtokalko was determined to revive.
Members of Lydia Krushelnytsky's Art Studio, stepping forth solo or in duos and groups on the stage of the Ukrainian National Home before Christmas, presented an afternoon of humor called "In a Crooked Mirror" to benefit The Ukrainian Museum. Their Ukrainian readings of anecdotes by Edward Kozak (Eko) and Vasyl Sofroniv Levytsky brought down the house. Supposedly typical of immigrant life, the hilarious anecdotes included "A Letter to the Old Country," describing the housewife who washed dishes in a Jewish restaurant so she can buy a dishwasher; "Household Instructions," a lengthy note from a wife giving her spouse explicit instructions about what to eat for lunch (and problems to avoid); and "Englishmen from Kolomyia," portraying two immigrants on a bus conversing in heavily accented English and puzzled about why everyone around them is laughing. The readers, clad simply in black, included Lesyk Kmeta, Mrs. Krushenytsky, Ivan Makar, Xenia Piaseckyj, Sofia Zielyk, Melanie Sonevytsky and Yaroslav Szul.
In another pre-Christmas event, the Ukrainian director Roman Viktuk brought his ensemble of Ukrainian actors from Moscow to perform Jean Cocteau's "Sacred Beast" at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center in Manhattan. Two performances were given, both in Russian. Acquaintances of Mr. Viktuk say the director hopes to return soon to New York with his troupe to present a Ukrainian production.
Winnipeg native Tannis Kowalchuk, a skilled experimental theater actress, relived the story of an unexpected and life-changing encounter with a huge cockroach in a production titled "The Passion According to G.H." She gave her solo performances at the 35-seat House of Candles on Stanton Street from November 9 to December 16, 1998, under the aegis of the North American Cultural Company. Ms. Kowalchuk, whose performance was described as "powerful, engaging and idiosyncratic," is now making her home in New York (she's married to New Yorker Brad Krumholz) and is currently assisting with administrative duties at the La Mama Experimental Theater. She's looking forward to doing a new theater project at La Mama in April.
For the end of the millennium, the Boym Design Studio of Manhattan has come up with limited-edition knickknacks that duplicate structures linked to famous tragedies. Available only through Boym catalogues, the "Buildings of Disaster" line includes a $95, 1.5-pound replica of the Chornobyl reactor. Constantin Boym, the firm's co-director, who describes the souvenirs as "an artistic project," says the silvery-grey, six-inch high reactor, made of bonded nickel, is "one of the most sought-after pieces." Mr. Boym believes that souvenirs are important cultural objects "that store and communicate memories and reactions."

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