Ukrainian Dance Camp participants display talents at Verkhovyna resort (09/05/99)

Ukrainian Dance Camp participants display talents at Verkhovyna resort

by W. Bruce Potter

GLEN SPEY, N.Y. - What a delight it is to spend a leisurely summer afternoon up in the mountains of New York state, enjoying the sunshine, warm breezes and bugs, mosquitoes and spiders.

No, I'm not kidding.

On Saturday, August 7, the ensemble presentation of "Mukha - The Fly" premiered here at the Verkhovyna Resort, under the inspired artistic direction of Roma Pryma Bohachevsky.

Once again, Ms. Bohachevsky took traditional Ukrainian folklore themes and molded them into an exhilarating ballet that allowed young Ukrainian dancers to demonstrate their practiced technique, while showcasing the exquisite classic skill of the principal dancers.

Coming from New York, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Texas, Connecticut, Ohio and as far away as California, the young participants of this year's Ukrainian Dance Camp prepared themselves for long hours at the ballet bar and in practicing intricate footwork and hand movements. Two weeks of hard work culminated in the performance that family and friends had traveled far to see. What resulted was a joy to experience.

The first act was a wonderful pastiche with a magical midsummer night's glow that told of a world of insects, all celebrating the name's day of Mukha who, along with her friends, the ladybugs, caterpillars, beetles, ants, moths, cockroaches, butterflies; experienced an adventure of romance and spidery malevolence that could only be expressed through the storytelling of ballet. Special recognition goes to Boris Bohachevsky, who wrote the story and selected the music.

Using an ensemble of over 70 young dancers, various bugs revealed the story of the young heroine's attraction to the evil spider and his web, her hypnotic capture via beautiful silks and the eventual heroic battle to release her. A plot worthy of Shakespeare with a Ukrainian flavor, the story was a perfect plot to enable the various ballet skill levels of the students to express their accomplishments in dance.

The four principal dancers - Mr. Bohachevsky as the beetle that tangos; Andrij Cybyk as the heroic Komar, the green-eyed mosquito; Adrienne Gawron as Mukha; and Orlando Pagan, the evil black spider - brought great professional style to their roles. Through their dance "language" they conveyed a fully developed understanding of what their characters represented in the play. By including traditional Ukrainian dance steps, their performances set the tone for a Carpathian folktale.

Messrs. Bohachevsky, Cybyk and Pagan, Ms. Gawron and Christina Izak were the camp's instructors.

While all were magnificent in their performances, several highlights are memorable. Particularly moving was the nervous, though courageous re-enactment of the capture of Mukha for the brave Komar by the fluttering moth. Mr. Pagan's spider was wonderful. His portrayal of an evil force in the bug kingdom put many in the audience in awe of his controlled malevolence, even cheering for him during the final battle. The narcotic mood of the silks bringing in Mukha was captivating.

A special note also must be made of the costumes and music. Dancers were festooned with magnificent outfits and the colors of the various insects they represented. The flowing wings of the butterflies, the multi-colored silk banners of the worms, the mushroom-capped young dancers and cute ladybugs all created the fantasy images for the performance. Again, Mr. Bohachevsky scored the dance with music that fit the plot. From Beethoven to Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, the instrumental music chosen for each of the scenes, though eclectic, tended to blend, rather than distract from the story.

After a brief intermission, the ensemble re-convened to demonstrate its skills in traditional Ukrainian folk dance. Five separate pieces were presented, each using traditional music and themes, some with interesting interpretation through choreographic innovation.

In the first one, "Hutsulka," two country bumpkins try to capture beautiful fish, only to be outsmarted. In "Volynianka," "By the River" and "Flirtation Dance from the Lemko Region," the performers took traditional dance themes from various regions of Ukraine and used them to highlight the skills learned during many hours of camp training. The "Hopak" finale allowed all the participants to demonstrate their athletic precision and artistic discipline.

Behind the scenes, but working just as diligently were Ada Helbig as the practice accompanist and Marusia Darmohraj-Mulyk, the camp director.

* * *

Finally the hours of sweat were over, the performance was complete. The camp slowly began to wind down, as young people gave one last hug to their friends and one last thank-you to their counselors. Automobiles trunks were packed with sheets and towels; one last run down the hill to the lake to catch a frog was squeezed in.

As parents drove tired young people from that mountain resort in New York, it seems sad that so much effort was expended for only one performance. Yet maybe it was the discipline, the cultural experience, the participation in what it means to be a Ukrainian that made these two weeks important. Thank you, Ms. Bohachevsky, for keeping this tradition alive and well.

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