NEW YORK – Sunday, August 6, was “Heritage Sunday,” a collaborative event presented by the Center for Traditional Music and Dance, the Center for Art, Tradition and Cultural Heritage, and Lincoln Center Out of Doors that celebrates diverse cultural traditions from around the world found in New York. This year’s concert – the 19th annual – featured the music and dance traditions of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. An enthusiastic crowd filled Lincoln Center’s Hearst Plaza to capacity and enjoyed performances by the Cheres Folk Orchestra, representing the Carpathian region of western Ukraine, and Iskra Ukrainian Dance Ensemble; the acrobatic Georgian music and dance troupe Dancing Crane – Dance Studio; the “Queen of Tajik Dance” Malika Kalontarova; and Albanian vocal star Merita Halili, with an orchestra led by the Republic of Kosova’s Raif Hyseni.
Iskra welcomes the audience with its “Pryvit” dance.
Artistic directors Andrij Cybyk of Iskra (left) and Andriy Milavsky of Cheres (third from right) with some of their dancers and musicians.
Cheres Ukrainian Folk Orchestra in a lively number.
Iskra Ukrainian Dance Ensemble in “Hopak.”
Christine Syzonenko
Iskra Ukrainian Dance Ensemble in “Hopak.”