DATELINE NEW YORK: Syzokryli, Cheres raise the roof at Town Hall (02/09/03)

DATELINE NEW YORK: Syzokryli, Cheres raise the roof at Town Hall

by Helen Smindak

In a stunning program replete with high-flying leaps, sword play, graceful twirling and spirited Carpathian mountain music, the incomparable Syzokryli Ukrainian Dancers and the Cheres Ukrainian Folk Ensemble raised the roof at Town Hall during a twin-bill concert a week ago.

Bold and vigorous "prysidky," the squat-kick movements performed by male dancers, and the women's dainty, graceful stepping and breathtaking pirouettes stole viewers' hearts. Mountain melodies tossed off by the six-member Cheres ensemble, often at mind-boggling speeds, set toes tapping. Together, the dancing and the music brought down the house, and an enthusiastic audience showed its pleasure with sustained applause and bravos, often clapping in time with the music.

This combo could easily win plaudits at Radio City Music Hall or other large New York concert venues. With live music instead of recorded sound accompanying the dancers and picturesque Hutsul costumes for the Cheres musicians in place of the dark outfits worn at this concert, it could rival big-time stage shows like Riverdance.

Dance diva Roma Pryma Bohachevsky, Syzokryli's artistic director and choreographer, and clarinetist and master flutist Andriy Milavsky, founder of the Cheres ensemble, deserve medals of honor for creative and dedicated work with their companies.

Ms. Bohachevsky, known to her students as Pani Roma, has been teaching folk dance classes for over 30 years, inspiring hundreds of Ukrainian youngsters to carry on the beautiful traditions of Ukrainian folk dance. Classes are held in Manhattan and Astoria, Queens, as well as in Albany, N.Y., and four New Jersey centers. There are workshops and summer camp sessions as well.

Since founding the Syzokryli (Shimmering Wings) ensemble in the mid-1970s, Ms. Bohachevsky has accompanied the troupe on extensive performances throughout the United States and a highly successful tour of Ukraine in 1992.

Mr. Milavsky, who at age 5 played in his grandfather's band at weddings in western Ukraine, founded the Cheres ensemble in Kyiv in 1990 and brought it to the U.S. a short time later. Based in New York City and New Paltz, N.Y., the band has been playing sold-out engagements at New York nightclubs and concerts, and has made frequent appearances on network and cable TV channels and radio.

Both directors came on stage at the finale to take bows with the entire company of dancers and musicians. Ms. Bohachevsky, elegant in a black gown with jewel-trimmed neckline and a black fur hat, accepted several bouquets of flowers from admirers.

Among those taking bows was George Tomov, president of Folk Dance Festival Inc., which arranged the event as well as a preview earlier in the day for elementary school children from New York City's five boroughs. During the preview, 1,600 youngsters listened to an educational talk that included facts about Ukraine, its people and customs. Some of the children were invited on stage to learn a few Ukrainian dance steps.

Syzokryli sizzle

Precise footwork, excellent partnering and fine synchronization throughout the Syzokryli program bespoke rigorous training and discipline. Radiant faces and smiles communicated more - a love for Ukrainian folk dance that transcended the discomforts of long rehearsals and arduous dance exercises. And heads held high proclaimed "We're proud to be Ukrainian!"

Dances from the Hutsul, Bukovyna, Transcarpathia and central regions of Ukraine, performed in the colorful garb common to each region, vied for attention throughout the evening.

For the opening and closing numbers - the courtly "Pryvit" (Welcome dance) and the rousing "Hopak" finale - the national costume of Ukraine provided the right touch of distinction and formality. Tall, willowy Michelle Soroka made an entrance to stage front during the "Pryvit" number to offer the traditional symbol of a warm Ukrainian welcome, bread and salt on an embroidered ritual cloth.

Head-bobbing movements and subtle syncopated footwork marked the "Bukovynian Couples Dance," while toe-tapping was a characteristic feature of "Tropotianka," a boisterous Transcarpathian romp. In a flirtatious variant of "Kozachok," a dance from central and eastern Ukraine, three young women outsmarted three lads and ended up with their tambourines.

Depicting springtime in Transcarpathia, couples celebrated a time of May poles, courtship and weddings in "Bereznianka" with sprightly verve and a hearty "Hey, hop!"

Women took the spotlight in "Holubka" (Dove), a dance from Kolomyia, gliding on stage with arms held back gracefully to imitate the wings of doves. In "Arkan," male dancers took over with an exciting Carpathian circle dance that built up in tempo and climaxed in a three-man-high tower of dancers. Circles of dancers rotating in opposite directions translated the Carpathian dance of social dancing and revelry "Koly Kola Krutylys" (When Circles Turned).

Andrij Cybyk, Syzokryli's assistant artistic director, performed awe-inspiring midair turns and prysidky in the solo piece "Ostap's Variation," a reference to the Ukrainian opera "Taras Bulba," in which Bulba's youngest son Ostap must prove that he has reached manhood. For the bold, thigh-slapping dance "Chuzhi" (Strangers), Mr. Cybyk was joined by outstanding Syzokryli dancers Lev Ivashko and Roman Lewkowicz.

Mr. Cybyk dances professionally with the Connecticut Ballet, Brighton Ballet Theater, Michael Mao Dance, the All Nations Dance Company and other groups. (Three other professionals in the company are Markian Kopystiansky of the Atlanta Ballet, Orlando Pagan of the Dance Theater of Harlem and Stephan Kalka, a professional dance school graduate now auditioning for a permanent dance home.)

Three brothers from one family - Andrij, Danylo and Yaroslav Dobriansky - strengthened the company's male roster.

Longtime Syzokryli members who make up the women's corps included Tania Blahitka, Dora Hapij, Molly Gamble, Krissy Izak, Rebecca Maxymiuk, and Christine and Lidia Rajsz.

The majority of the dances were choreographed by Ms. Bohachevsky. Mr. Cybyk choreographed the "Chuzhi" and "Koly Kola Krutylys" dances, and adapted two numbers, "Ostap's Variations" and "Bereznianka."

The full company came on stage for the signature to Ukrainian dance performances - the Hopak, the national dance of Ukraine. As the women went spinning across the stage, the men performed acrobatic feats, outdoing one another in daring and expertise. The show ended in a maelstrom of color, twirling ribbons and prysidky.

Cheers for Cheres

The music of the Carpathian Ukrainians is fiery, energetic and boisterous, and the musicians of the Cheres Ukrainian Folk Ensemble gave it everything they've got. Their performance of Hutsul and Bukovynian melodies - with a Hungarian czardas and a Romanian hora thrown in for good measure - drew exultant cheers from Town Hall spectators.

With Andriy Milavsky in the lead, the ensemble performed between Syzokryli appearances, frolicking through three sets of music during the evening. First off came a Hutsul medley, a Hutsul spring song that featured the tylynka (a primitive flute without finger holes), and a Hungarian czardas that opened with a slow, melancholy air and quickened to a lively tempo.

Other sets included a spirited piece from the steppes of eastern Ukraine, as well as a wedding march and a boisterous string of wedding themes traditional to the Bukovyna region. With the kolomyiky, the traditional Hutsul dance-songs, the ensemble added lusty voices to dance-tempo music.

In the Hutsul spring song, Mr. Milavsky, whose musical talents are formidable, played a tiny instrument called a drymba (jaw harp), holding the horseshoe-shaped metallic instrument between his teeth as he twanged a metallic inner strip with his finger.

Mr. Milavsky is a master of woodwind instruments that are native to the Carpathian region of Ukraine - the 12-foot long trembita (shepherd's pipe), a variety of flutes, including a double flute - and the zozulka (ocarina). Though the trembita was not in sight at this outing, the clarinet and several flutes were given furious workouts whenever the Cheres troupe appeared on stage.

As the band progressed from one tumultuous number to another, Mr. Milavsky switched smoothly from clarinet to flute work, nonchalantly pulling one flute or another from inside his wide metal-studded leather belt, the Hutsul belt called the cheres.

Virtuoso work on violin and tsymbaly (hammered dulcimer) came from George Cheremush and Alexander Fedoriouk, respectively. Adding their fine talents to the group effort were Victor Chobotar, accordionist, Ihor Makar, double bass, and Lila Dlaboha, drums.

Called "the best purveyor of authentic Ukrainian folk music in the United States" by Joseph Hickerson, retired head of the Archive of Folk Culture at the Library of Congress in Washington, Cheres headlined the Peace Corps' 40th anniverary celebration at the Capitol. The ensemble recently appeared as a show band for the WNYC program "The Next Big Thing," broadcast from Joe's Pub in Manhattan.

WNYC continues to play cuts from the latest Cheres CD "From the Mountains to the Steppe - The Village Music of Ukraine." The CD (available at Surma's in Manhattan, at Soyuzivka and from the Yevshan catalogue) has been heard in broadcasts from New York radio stations and on the BBC.

Aiming to keep alive the ancient custom of troista muzyka - the traditional Hutsul trio of violin, flute and tsymbaly - as well as the traditional songs and melodies popular in the Carpathian Mountain regions of Romania, Moldova and Hungary, Cheres has been playing engagements at New York nightclubs and concerts. The band has also performed at major music festivals in New York and the Smithsonian Festival in Washington and at East Coast universities and resorts.

Cheres has become a big hit in New York State's Catskill region, garnering praise from local music critics. The ensemble appears frequently at the Rosendale Café, a famous nightspot for live music in Rosendale, Ulster County.

Now preparing to make a spring tour in Illinois and Wisconsin that will include 30 concerts culminating in an appearance with a group of Syzokryli dancers, Cheres has been approached by Japanese promoters to go on tour in Japan later this year. The Syzokryli ensemble, meanwhile, is getting set for performances in Montclair, N.J. (Montclair High School) on March 9, the Slavic Heritage Festival at Manhattan's Fashion Institute of Technology in late March, and the annual Ukrainian Festival in the East Village in mid-May.

Helen Smindak's e-mail address is [email protected].

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