DATELINE NEW YORK: Music hath charms - and so hath dance (11/28/99)

DATELINE NEW YORK: Music hath charms - and so hath dance

by Helen Smindak

The exceptional talents of Ukrainian composers, bandurists, opera stars and folk singers brought a wealth of great music to the Big Apple in recent weeks. Add to that the thrilling sight of beautifully trained and taut bodies moving gracefully in dance - what more could one wish for in the way of cultural delight?

The talents belonged to composers Dmitry Polischuk and ballet soloist Maxim Belotserkovsky and Irina Dvorovenko, bandurists Roman Hrynkiv, Julian Kytasty, Michael Andrec and Jurij Fedynsky and folk singers Alexis Kochan and Maryana Sadovska.

Mr. Polischuk and the two ballet dancers showed their mettle in the American Ballet Theater's two-week fall season at the City Center last month, in particular during the October 28 program that saw the world premiere of Robert Hill's new ballet "Baroque Game." Mr. Belotserkovsky was one of the featured soloists in "Baroque Game," for which Mr. Polischuk composed the score, and he and Ms. Dvorovenko appeared as soloists in Robert Joffrey's period piece "Pas des Déesses."

Though Mr. Polischuk has collaborated with Mr. Hill on two previous ballets - "Post No Scriptum" and "Pulsar" - both for the ABT Studio Company, "Baroque Game" was the first work commissioned for ABT itself. It was a tremendous hit with the audience and critics, in particular The New York Times' reviewer Anna Kisselgoff, who described the music as "a sly score ... music and dance come blissfully together with wit and sophistication ... The game in "Baroque Game" is embodied in Mr. Polischuk's playfulness. At one point the orchestra, conducted by Charles Barker, appears to be warming up, and there is more than one bang on the piano."

Mr. Polischuk's music, which embraces a dance energy and a sophisticated approach to historical dance forms, is held in high regard by Mr. Hill, yet the young composer likes to emphasize that "Robert's taste, integrity and musicality and Mr. Barker's "great job with the orchestra" are what made the ballet such a success. Composer and choreographer have already collaborated on another new ballet, tentatively called "Broadway Bound," which will receive its premiere in February by the Minnesota Dance Theater in Minneapolis.

Mr. Belotserkovsky, lean and handsome, was the most impressive of the four male dancers in "Baroque Game," leaping and spinning with great virtuosity. In "Pas des Déesses," he partnered ballerinas Ashley Tuttle, Oksana Konobeyeva and Ms. Dvorovenko through frolicsome nocturnes, rondos and waltzes as the female soloists competed for his attention. His performance received great applause, as did his sensuous duet with Ms. Dvorovenko (in real life, the two are husband and wife; they were soloists of the Kyiv Opera Ballet before joining ABT ranks a few years ago).

During the ABT regular season last spring, Mr. Belotserkovsky and Ms. Dvorovenko received excellent notices for their performances in "Giselle." "Études," "The Merry Widow," "Sleeping Beauty" and "Sinfonietta," and made their debuts in the leading roles of "Don Quixote."

From American Ballet Theater, take a giant leap to the Ukrainian Institute of America where a weekendlong "Harvest: Ukrainian Folk Song Today" (November 13-14) included a Saturday afternoon workshop in Ukrainian folk singing led by Canadian singer and culture-maker Alexis Kochan, that attracted 35 participants, many of whom described it as "a fantastic experience." That evening, Ms. Kochan, whose recordings "Czarivna," "Paris to Kiev" and "Paris to Kyiv: Variances" have brought together musicians from different worlds to explore the deepest layers of Ukrainian musical tradition, joined third-generation professional bandurist Julian Kytasty in a sentimental reprise of many of the songs they have performed as a duet and with their ensemble for festival programs and concert series in Germany, Canada and the United States. Mr. Kytasty provided flute and bandura accompaniment as they sang. For their encore, workshop participants seated in the audience chimed in, providing a moving rendition of the old Ukrainian folk song "Oy, Hilia."

The Kochan-Kytasty combo was preceded by a song presentation from Maryana Sadovska, actor and musical director of the Gardzienice Experimental Theater in Poland. The Lviv native, who has been organizing expeditions to collect Ukrainian folk songs since 1991, brought out songs, stories and rituals documented during travel last summer throughout Polissa and the Poltava, Hutsul and Lemko regions. Her bright voice and outstanding dramatic ability added remarkable verve to her presentation.

One of Ukraine's leading contemporary bandura performers took the stage on Sunday evening, fingers deftly plucking the strings of his gloriously mellow and resonant bandura. Roman Hrynkiv, a laureate of Ukrainian and international competitions who has been awarded the title of Merited Artist of Ukraine, drew from his bandura the sounds of a spinet as he played his "Fantasy in Baroque Style" and a four-part "Suite" that combined high notes, heavy chords and liquid-like glissandos that melted into one another in quick succession.

From "Kolomyika," centered around a Hutsul dance melody, came the sound of the drymba (jew's harp). "Virtuosic Piece," a meditative piece with Oriental overtones, had Mr. Hrynkiv using his fingers like a guitar pick, then splaying out the fingers of both hands to produce cascades of music in ascending and descending chords.

The Experimental Bandura Trio (EBT), combining the artistry of Mr. Kytasty and two of his former students - Michael Andrec of New Jersey and Jurij Fedynsky of North Carolina, revealed its ideas of extending bandura music into new territory. Mr. Kytasty's adaptation of Ostap Veresai's "Duma/Dance" and his imitation of new bandura sounds produced by the late Dr. Zynoviy Shtokalko (this piece was quixotially named "Dr. Shtok Makes House Calls") opened and closed the EBT session; in between came Mr. Andrec's "Canticle," Mr. Fedynsky's "A Night in Emlenton," which seemed to emulate the sound of the wind sweeping through a stand of pines, and a take-off on a traditional Macedonian melody called "Osogovsko Oro."

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