DATELINE NEW YORK: Ukrainian dance at Times Square (01/09/00)

DATELINE NEW YORK: Ukrainian dance at Times Square

by Helen Smindak

As the world celebrated the coming of a new year and a new millennium - country by country - on December 31, 1999, New York City observed the occasion with 329 public events - the largest of them a spectacle in Times Square billed as "The Global Celebration of the World."

The all-day, all-night festival of music and entertainment by 1,000 musicians, actors, dancers, puppeteers and other performers, working from a stage on Seventh Avenue between 45th and 46th streets, included a Ukrainian dance choreographer by the esteemed Ukrainian choreographer and dance teacher Roma Pryma Bohachevsky.

The dance was performed during a 5 p.m. stage program by six dancers from the Parsons Dance Foundation and one member of Mrs. Bohachevsky's Syzokryli Ukrainian dancers of New York, professional dancer Andrij Cybyk, who was invited to replace an alling Parsons dancer. All seven were atired in Ukrainian costumes of the Poltava region borrowed from the Syzokryli wardrobe.

World-renowned choreographer David Parsons, who was commissioned by the city to coordinate the entire pageant, was very impressed by a video of the Syzokryli dancers and wanted to include the ensemble in a live presentation titled "Ancient Lands." Due to time limitations, it was decided that Parsons Dancers would perform a three-and-a-half-minute Hopak choreographed by Mrs. Bohachevsky.

The Hopak performers spent close to 10 hours of intensive rehearsal with Mrs. Bohachevsky and Mr. Cybyk that included an introduction to Ukrainian folk-dance style posture and basic steps, and a session on how to put on and wear Ukrainian costumes.

Mrs. Bohachevsky says the dancers were "very enthusiastic" about Ukrainian dance - "they essentially had a whole new style to work with, and they found it to be a challenge. It was a pleasure to work with such disciplined, professional dancers."

Ken Maldonado, the foundation's development director, says the Hopak - which he described as "very physical, high-action dancing" - was the final number in the festival's most favorite dance hour, which also included African dance, whirling dervishes and an Israeli dance.

Cable channels New York 1, Metro 16, 70 and 74, and the Home Shopping Network were among the channels that telecast the performance.

Angels we have seen on high

Clusters of white-winged angels and groups of staunch Kozaks and UPA soldiers, along with bright-eyed maidens and young men in colorful regional costumes, filled the halls and classrooms of St. George Academy ona Saturday afternoon in December. Prince Volodymyr the Great and Princess Olha, ceremonially robed, were there as well, for this was the day of the annual Christmas pageant presented by the students of St. George Ukrainian Catholic School under the direction of school principal Sister Gabriel.

The tenor in the air, for the most part, was serious, some pre-performance tension, as students ran through their lines, rehearsed choral segments with Sister Monica, or submitted patiently to the ministrations of mothers who put finishing touches to hairdos or adjusted attire. A couple of frisky Kozaks managed to steal a few moments of gleeful play around a doorway before the call came to line up for the stage entrance.

This was the scene when "Dateline" stopped by during a ramble through the East Village, getting the feel of the Ukrainian community's last holiday celebrations of the millennium. Stops had been made earlier at The Ukrainian Museum, for the holiday bazaar, and the building of the Organization for the Defense of Four Freedoms for Ukraine (ODFFU) on Second Avenue, where Ukrainian Catholic War Veterans Post 401 was enjoying a Christmas party.

As in previous years, museum volunteers and staff members offered a tempting array of goodies for gift-giving and enjoyment - paintings, embroidered items, books, ornaments for the tree, jewelry and, of course, cakes and preserves. Museum trustee Tania Tershakovec and staffer Lydia Haiduczok presided over the selection of lottery winners, assisted by Anastasia and Anna Hrabovsky, granddaughters of Dr. Ilarion and Svitlana Cholhan of Brooklyn.

St. George Ukrainian Catholic War Veterans Post 401, which will be celebrating its 55th anniversary this year, drew some 100 members and friends to its Christmas gathering. Post Commander Harry Polche extended season's greetings to the festive throng, which included the post chaplain, the Rev. Bernard Panchuk; the Rev. Patrick Paschak, pastor of St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church; the Rev. Christopher Wojtyna, pastor of Holy Cross Ukrainian Catholic Church in Astoria, Queens; Stephen Shevchuk, national commander of the Ukrainian American Veterans; and event chairman Oleh Lopatynsky.

At the nearby Veselka Restaurant, which touts the slogan "Traditional Ukrainian Cooking in an Untraditional Setting," the menu listed Christmas borsch with dumplings by the cup or bowl (as well as by the quart, to take home), pierogis [sic] and Ukrainian poppyseed cake.

Around the corner at the Plast boutique tended by Nina Samokish, "Dateline" learned that the shop's embroidered Ukrainian blouses have become extremely popular with young new Yorkers since Vogue supermodel Amber Valeta came in some months ago "just to browse" and left with a Borschiv embroidered blouse and a handful of bright woven sashes. Located on East Ninth Street just east of Second Avenue, the shop is stocked with ceramics, Easter eggs, books, greeting cards, enameled boxes and a large variety of moderately priced jewelry. Nearby shops such as Fialka, owned by Luba Firkalo, which offers designer clothes, and Maria M. run by Maria Moroz, featuring glittering evening bags and jewelry, were doing great business.

There were more angels to be seen the following weekend when "Dateline" dropped in at two institutions celebrating the age-old tradition of St. Nicholas. At the Ukrainian School run by the Taras Chuprynka branch of the Ukrainian American Youth Association (SUM) several winged but firmly grounded angels assisted a venerable, white-bearded. St. Nicholas in distributing gifts to babies in parents' arms and toys to a raft of youngsters, some running up excitedly to accept a package, others sidling up a bit warily. Gift-giving was preceded by a student presentation of recitations and carols, and greetings from school director Paulina Andriyenko-Danchuk.

The scene was repeated that same day at the Plast center just a few doors away, with a predominantly teenage crowd - and more angels. Here, "Dateline" was delighted to speak with Volodymyr Kornaha of Astoria, a Plast scoutmaster recently honored by the Plast Foundation for his long and dedicated service - 45 years - to the Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization. Mr. Kornaha, you may recall, is the person responsible for the Ukrainian Christmas greeting that appears on the International Christmas greeting sign outside the main post office in Flushing, Queens. He's also a longtime member of the Dumka Chorus and will appear with the ensemble when it presents its annual Christmas carol concerts at St. Vladimir Orthodox Church on January 16 and St. George's Church on January 23.

Though "Dateline" didn't manage to get uptown that day, Alex Redko of St. Vladimir's Church reports that angels accompanied St. Nicholas when he paid a visit to the parish school on West 82nd Street. As the Rev. Ivan Lyszyk and rapt parishioners watched, 16 youngsters - all but two of them newcomers to this land - who attend St. Vladimir's school of music, singing and religion, gave a short concert of carols and poems, with teacher Anastasia Antoniv directing and Ella Romanyshyn providing accompaniment.

It was also an important weekend for the Women's Association for the Defense of Four Freedoms for Ukraine, who held their holiday bazaar on December 18, 1999, in the ODFFU building.

Fifteen pre-schoolers who attend the playschool directed by dance teacher Daria Genza under the sponsorship of Branch 83 of the Ukrainian National Women's League of America were excited to greet St. Nicholas and receive Christmas presents, too. The weekend also saw New York-New Jersey area members of the Ukrainian Engineers' Society of America and the Ukrainian Medical Association of North America enjoying their joint "Yalynka" party at the Ukrainian Institute of America, with the Prolisok girls' choir providing an enchanting program of Ukrainian carols.

As in the past 33 years, members and friends of the UNWLA Regional Council, currently headed by Lesia Kirshak, came together for an evening of caroling. There was a special treat - music and songs by bandurist Halyna Demchuk of Hempstead, N.Y. - and a charitable donation to help the council's work in aiding orphans in Ukraine, as Bohdan Kekish, president of the Selfreliance Ukrainian Credit Union in New York, presented a $3,000 check to Mrs. Kirshak on behalf of the credit union. This year's program, hosted by Olha Hayetsky, was held at the museum beside the glittering tree decorated by museum staffers.

Zig-zagging around the East Village that weekend of December 18-19, "Dateline" also visited the East Village Meat Market (owned by Julian Baczynsky) and the Kurowycky Meat Market (owned by Jerry Kurowycky Jr.), as well as First Avenue Pierogi and Deli Co.

Next came a stop at Surma's emporium on Seventh Street where we bought a sheaf of wheat. While Winnipeg's Hoosli Ukrainian Folk Ensemble enlivened the premises with songs from its Christmas tape "Rejoice," Surma owner Myron Surmach took time away from customers to point out a few excellent gift ideas: a box of 21 Christmas-tree ornaments decorated with Ukrainian symbols and a Christmas cookbook, "Ukrainian Christmas: Traditional Folk Customs and Recipes," compiled by Mary Ann Woloch Vaugh. It was pleasing to learn that a store window decorated by Mr. Surmach's daughter, Daria, had caught the eye of a New York Daily News photographer and subsequently appeared in the newspaper.

In view of the bitterly cold weather, we opted for coffee and an apple square at the little-known but cheery cafe run by the ladies of St. George's Church in the basement at 33 E. Seventh St. before calling it a day. Open only on weekends (from Friday afternoon to Sunday evening), the cafe supplies varenyky, holubtsi and borsch in single portions, as well as in large quantities to take home (bring your own container for borsch).

Honors for the folksiest and most enchanting party of the holiday season must surely go to the evening presented by the Ukrayinska Rodyna (Ukrainian Family) choral ensemble directed by Oksana Lykhovyd of Brooklyn. Held by candlelight at the Mayana Gallery, it featured the magic of folklore, folk songs and customs as they were observed in the old country during the December holiday known as Andrii Kalyta - the eve of St. Andrew's feast day, an evening when, as Ms. Lykhovyd explained, people came to hear their fortunes told. Mayana director Slava Geruluk pointed to art work on the walls that had been chosen to suit the occasion - exuberant Petrykivka florals and paintings by Ukrainian artists (there were angels here, too, seen in a black-and-while print by Vitaliy Lytvyn) and household utensils and a facsimile "pich" (white-washed clay oven) selected to create a home atmosphere.

Named after Andrii Pervozvannyi (St. Andrew the First-Called Apostle) the Kalyta festival revolves around young men (just as the Kupalo festival centers around young unmarried women) and refers to a time when Ukrainians worshipped the sun. Guests sat at small tables as bandurist Lavrentiya Turkewycz sang ancient airs and Ms. Lykhovyd directed the ensemble in an enactment of traditional Kalyta rituals. In one of these, the women were seated in a circle as the men took turns jumping up to take a bite out of the "kalyta," a special round bread hung from the ceiling by a red ribbon. As each man succeeded in biting the kalyta, his sweetheart rushed over to kiss him and led him away. All participants and guests received a piece of the kalyta in order to share in the blessing of the sun.

Later, following a tasty repast of meatless pyrizhky baked by Halyna Cigash, potato salad, bread and pastries, guests joined the ensemble in a delightful hour of fortune-telling pouring melted beeswax into a bowl and guessing one's fate from the shape of the hardened wax, or burning paper and telling a fortune from the shadow cast by the ashes on the wall.

| Home Page |