This past Christmas season, Edmonton audiences had the choice of two different productions of the famed “Nutcracker.”
One was the original “Nutcracker,” originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and a libretto adapted from E. T. A. Hoffmann’s story “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.”
The other is Shumka’s Ukrainian “Nutcracker,” also based on Hoffman’s story and Tchaikovsky’s score. (Tchaikovsky, incidentally, is of Ukrainian origin. His great-grandfather was a Ukrainian Kozak named Fedor Chaika, while his grandfather Petro Fedorovych Chaika was born in the village of Mykolayivka, Poltava Gubernia, and later moved to Russia where he served first as a physician’s assistant in the army and later as city governor of Glazov in Vyatka.)
In this version – in which the musical arrangements are by Yuri Shevchenko of Ukraine, and choreography by Viktor Lytvynov of the Kyiv Ballet and John Pichlyk of Shumka – the production incorporates Ukrainian Christmas traditions, folk and character dance, a grand orchestral version of “Shchedryk” (Carol of the Bells), and Ukrainian symbols woven into the lavish sets and costumes.
First performed over 20 years ago, the Ukrainian “Nutcracker” has become an annual staple at Edmonton’s Northern Jubilee Auditorium, where Shumka has the honor of being one of only three resident companies – the other two being the Alberta Ballet and the Edmonton Opera.
The fact that it is an annual staple and that Shumka is right up there with the Alberta Ballet and the Edmonton Opera demonstrates the extent to which Ukrainian culture has been integrated within mainstream Canadian culture in western Canada.
As Shumka itself notes, the company is known for its “distinctly Canadian style of Ukrainian dance, which has evolved into mainstream entertainment for audiences beyond those of Ukrainian heritage. Indeed, through its broad appeal, Shumka has become a part of Edmonton, Alberta and Canada’s cultural identity.”
The membership has also evolved far beyond the original Ukrainian base. As the company’s executive director, Darka Tarnawsky, explains: “The Shumka company is made up of dancers from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. Some bring years of classical dance with them, which gives them the skill set to tackle Ukrainian dance as well. The diversity in the Shumka School is evident with young dancers from various races. Our seniors’ Ukrainian dance/fitness classes are equally diverse. And our recent Ancestors & Elders piece with the local Indigenous community has furthered this collaborative spirit.”
But Shumka is not the only Ukrainian dance company from Alberta to achieve a very high standard of excellence and broad appeal. Cheremosh, Vohon and Volya are also among the premier groups. In addition, there are over 60 Ukrainian dance schools in Alberta with over 4,000 children, teens and adults participating in all aspects of that art form.
And dance is not the only Ukrainian cultural form that has crossed ethnic and racial boundaries. Ukrainian food is part of the regular western Canadian cuisine. And even the language has gained outside interest. Publicly funded Ukrainian bilingual schools, first pioneered in Alberta in 1974, can be found in the major Prairie cities. Here, half the day’s instruction is in English, the other half in Ukrainian. Students of different ethnic and racial groups enroll in these schools to learn the Ukrainian language.
For most Americans of Ukrainian origin, who live either on the Eastern Seaboard or in the Great Lakes region, the closest Ukrainian Canadian communities are in Toronto, Montreal or some of the other cities in southern Ontario or Quebec. They may be somewhat familiar with the communities of western Canada, but due to the geographic distance, they remain a bit off the beaten path.
As I noted in last month’s column, people of Ukrainian origin form a very sizeable proportion of the Canadian population as a whole and even consider themselves to be a “regional founding nation” by virtue of their role in settling the Prairies. Nowhere else in the world have Ukrainians settled in such vast numbers and created such new colonies, except for parts of Russia, where their culture is brutally suppressed and assimilation has prevailed.
Therefore, the Canadian Prairies stand out as a unique jewel of the Ukrainian diaspora and one that has created an identity all its own.