EDITORIAL

Celebrating our debutantes

2004 marks the fourth year we are publishing a special annual section devoted to Ukrainian debutante balls - but this is our first editorial on the topic. Our tradition of highlighting these special community events dates back to 2001, when we first advised our readers that we would institute this feature and gave a deadline for submission of articles and photos. We received timely responses from four groups. In 2002 and again in 2003, six debutante balls were featured in that special section. This year, we are happy to note, the number is up to eight. Obviously, our debutante balls - a rite of passage that celebrates the achievements and aspirations of girls generally between the ages of 16 and 18 - are going strong.

Debutante is from the French word débutante, which comes from "débuter" (to begin). The tradition of such balls started in Austria. Originally, debutante balls were meant as a way to present marriageable young ladies to proper society. One source we found says the custom, at least as it's practiced in the United States, traces its origins to England and that the first American presentation of debutantes to society began during colonial times, in 1748 in Philadelphia.

For Ukrainian Americans, of course, the custom is much newer. For example, Philadelphia's Ukrainian Engineers' Society ball of 2004 was its 50th, while the debutante ball of the Ukrainian American Youth Association (SUM) this year marked its 40th year.

The Chervona Kalyna ball, on the other hand, traces its tradition back to 1930 when the first Plast Ball was held in Stryi, Ukraine. That ball was organized by members of the Chervona Kalyna Plast Fraternity who today continue to organize the popular Chervona Kalyna event, now a debutante ball, in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area.

Much newer is the debutante ball in California, which is also a charity ball that supports the valuable work of the California Association to Aid Ukraine. This year's ball was notable in that it included debutantes from Canada, where, apparently, debutante balls are not part of the community's custom.

The purpose of these debutante balls is to introduce the young ladies active in our community to members of that community. To be sure, different balls have different rules as to who qualifies to debut at a given event (for example, some require an organizational affiliation), but the intent is one and the same: to present the young lady to the community milieu in which she is and, hopefully, will remain active, whether that is, say, the Newark Plast group, or the medical circles of Chicago.

The debutante balls are a wonderful and moving experience for parents - as is evident to anyone who has ever attended one of these affairs. They are also a tangible way to show that our community shares in the joy of these young ladies' accomplishments, their approaching adulthood and their dreams, and that we are conscious of the significant roles they can play in our community as socially aware and responsible members.

So, by celebrating our Ukrainian debutantes we not only spotlight these young people, we celebrate the future of our community as they step into the roles of their predecessors. As such, our Ukrainian debutante balls are indeed a celebration of the continuity of our Ukrainian community.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, March 28, 2004, No. 13, Vol. LXXII

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