Iskra dancers hold fund-raising event

Annette Staron-Wilson

Iskra Ensemble in “Hopak.” 

WHIPPANY, N.J. – Iskra Ukrainian Dance Ensemble and Academy held a fund-raising evening on May 7 at the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey to raise money for the school’s 20th anniversary concert, which will be held on Sunday, October 16, in Dolan Performance Hall at the College of St. Elizabeth in Convent Station, N.J.

Masterfully MCd by Iskra artistic director Andrij Cybyk, the sold-out evening featured top-notch entertainment, along with a delicious buffet dinner and a basket auction with an assortment of prize baskets.

Iskra Ukrainian Dance Ensemble performed several dances, starting with its iconic “Pryvit” and including a hilarious rendition of “Gossips” performed by Iskra men.

Musical guests Lilia and Alex Chudolij, Olya Fryz, Oles Kuzyszyn and Stefan Szkafarowsky each offered several songs, performing from the floor and interacting with the audience, rather than singing from the stage.

Although the program’s official finale was the “Hopak,” with the dancers taking the dance from the stage to the floor for the encore, the evening continued with a rousing “Kolomyika.” Accompanied by Mr. Chudolij and Mr. Kuzyszyn, the Iskra Ensemble dancers were joined by dancers from Iskra’s Academy and its newly added adult class, as well as by colleagues from the Voloshky Ukrainian Dance Ensemble of Philadelphia, who attended the event along with their artistic director, Taras Lewyckyj.