CHICAGO – Its rumbles of thunder may have passed through Chicago’s stately Harris Theater last month, but the real storm that is the Hromovytsia Ukrainian Dance Ensemble blew over three of Spain’s most iconic and historically prolific meccas of art and culture in early June.
Hromovytsia is one of the Ukrainian diaspora’s many gems in Chicago, but the tricks, the turns, and the vibrant red boots are only a granule of what the company brings to the table. What drives the young dancers to give up their Friday nights and Saturday mornings for hours of challenging rehearsals is a profound understanding that each and every dancer belongs to a rich, Ukrainian heritage, and this – in and of itself – is a connecting factor.
This heritage defies geographical boundaries, and what better way to represent that than a 10-day trip to Spain? On Wednesday, June 7, the Hromovytsia family packed its bags and headed for Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona – ready to taste the paella.
First stop: Madrid. Fatigue, irritation, hunger – or potentially all of the above – ensue when you get off an eight-hour flight from Chicago. When greeted by a vibrant Ukrainian community adorned in traditional costume, eager to welcome you into their arms (with bread and salt), all sense of languor goes out the window. One of the most endearing moments of the trip was the arrival itself, and nobody could’ve provided a more warm welcome than this group of young members of the Ukrainian diaspora in Madrid, including our dear friend and exemplary Madrid guide, Lilya Tkachuk.
The city, in all its splendor, is a cultural connoisseur’s haven, with streets like the Gran Vía brimming with lavishly decorated grand “edificios” in multiple hues of ivory and bronze. A trip to the Museo Nacional Del Prado reminded us, as dancers who paint with the buoyancy of our bodies, that to create art is to create an eternity, a timelessness – whether that be on canvas, or on stage in front of hundreds. We paint with our dancing feet, and though our movements may be ephemeral in the moment, the sheer passion behind each and every step leaves an eternal impression. All this and more preceded the thunder that was about to come in Madrid.
Our Hromovytsia dancers had a mission at Teatro Nuevo Apolo: represent the Ukrainian diaspora in America on the continent of Europe. Easy, right? To say we took Madrid by storm would be an understatement. From the thunderous beginning sounds of “The Welcome Dance,” to the final and most extraordinary series of solos in the concluding “Hopak,” the public was ostensibly blown away.
Maksym Prokopiv
Scenes from Hromovytsia’s performances in Spain.
Highlights included a hair-raising performance of the contemporary composition “Fearlessly Dreaming,” an incredible execution of “The New Arkan” – a twist on the traditional circle dance of the Hutsul people – and the extraordinary repertoire of violin virtuoso Vasyl Popadiuk, whose performance is always one for the books.
To receive praise, especially from an international crowd, is a feeling unlike any other, but to whom do we, as a family, owe our successes? The stomping of our red Hopak boots at the end of every show is not only a sign of gratitude, but also a sign of recognition, that without the unparalleled guidance, tastefulness and sheer passion of our Hromovytsia artistic director Roxana Dykyj-Pylypczak and assistant director Daniela Pylypczak-Wasylyszyn, there would be no audience, no applause and certainly no red boots. Following the finale, kind remarks were expressed by the Ukrainian ambassador to Spain, Anatoliy Scherba, who recognized how our performance contributes to the larger effort of uniting Ukrainians all over the globe.
According to an old Spanish saying, until you’ve seen Toledo, you have not seen Spain. The best way of doing this is by wandering its streets and taking in the countryside that once inspired El Greco, and doing this for just a few hours in the medieval city left us captivated.
Our next stop was the port city of Valencia. How many people can say they went on a swanky tapas tour and dined on the breezy shores of the Playa de la Malvarrosa? Following a sumptuous dinner just feet from the water, we took in all of Valencia’s understated elegance, charm and feel-good nature by running into the warm, moonlit waters of the Mediterranean Sea.
We entered Antonio Gaudi’s world of free-flowing, nature-inspired works with our last stop of the tour – Barcelona. The performance at Sant Andreu Teatre brought with it a not-so-serious kind of feeling, admittedly due to a smaller crowd, albeit an energetic and loving one. It was a pleasure to see the consul general of Ukraine in Barcelona, Oksana Dramaretska, as well as representatives of Georgia’s and Kazakhstan’s Consulates in the crowd.
A true Kodak-worthy moment was Mr. Popadiuk’s unexpected appearance during our toe-tapping “Drianda” piece, when the virtuoso joined our line of girls and immediately had the audience roaring with laughter.
As far as Barcelona goes, how do you define a place that has no need for words, no need for characterization or explanation? It simply is, and warrants merely one, minor thing – to take in absolutely everything of it. In Barcelona, we found ourselves. I’ll admit, there was an element of self-discovery in each place we were lucky enough to visit, but Barcelona brought with it a kind of unifying, familial feeling. Maybe this was found during our visit to the phantasmagoric Sagrada Familia – when we gazed around with “pinch-me” smiles on our faces – or perhaps it was discovered in the sweltering heat of the Barcelona sun, just in front of Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, when we bore the weight of our thick Hopak costumes to ensure photographer Maksym Prokopiv could snap that million-dollar picture.
Violinist Vasyl Popadiuk performs.
Wherever it was, and it very well may have been everywhere, each and every person grew on this trip, and what we realized is that to be Ukrainian in Chicago is to be Ukrainian in Spain – our heritage defies geographic boundaries.
A massive, and most-deserving thank you is due to Ukraine Travel Lab and its director, Olha Vuytsyk, as well as co-tour guide Marta Mal’ovana, for organizing, leading tours and handling logistics to make sure our time was smooth and uninterrupted. Also, thank you to Ivan and Roman Pylypczak for stage set-up, lighting and sound – without this, the show could not go on. Our administrative directors, Marta Baran and Milia Glubicz, as well as financial administrator Mark Wasylyszyn all deserve a big thank you for their hard work prior to the tour. Let’s not forget about our Hromovytsia parents, who deserve the biggest round of applause. Nobody else would be sewing our buttons, steaming our wrinkled shirts and throwing cold towels over our necks when we struggle to catch our breath.
And finally, our deepest thanks extend to artistic director Ms. Dykyj-Pylypczak and assistant director Ms. Pylypczak-Wasylyszyn. Their taste for the art, combined with a genuine love and sense of encouragement for each and every Hromovytsia member, warrant the most profound praise.
The parting words here are those spoken by our artistic director at the end of each show: “Dance with your soul – the heart and soul speak the truth.”
Solomiya Chuyko is a Chicago-based editor whose work has appeared in various publications. As a member of the Hromovytsia Ukrainian Dance Ensemble, she enjoys taking an active role in representing the Ukrainian diaspora through the lively art of traditional folk dance.