Ukrainian Dance — Ukraine blog

My year in Ukraine in photos

One year ago I flew from Ukraine to Canada. I purposely don’t say “flew home” because I don’t necessarily see Canada as my home. Well, it is one of my homes — it’s just not the only one, and saying “I flew home” implies that Ukraine wasn’t my home, which it most certainly was.

When I moved to Ukraine, I’d get these flashes of feelings from Canada, the most common instigator being when I saw someone in Ukraine who looked like a Canadian friend.

Maybe I was still adjusting to being so far from what I had known as home for all my life, and so I was looking for something to bring me comfort. This lasted a month, maybe two. And before you knew it, I would see Ukrainians who looked like other Ukrainians I had met in the city before.

Dancing with the Bukovyna State Ensemble of Song and Dance

To say the least, it's a dream come true.

Dances from the Bukovyna region have always been a favourite of mine. I love the stamps and the music and the costumes. So when I found out I'd get to dance with the Bukovyna State Ensemble of Song and Dance for a couple months, I was pretty darn excited.

Dance, CitiesKaitlin VittFebruary 16, 2018Bukovyna, Buko, Chernivtsi, Dance, Ukrainian Dance, Perform, Song, ChoirComment

The legendary Virsky studio floor

I’ve danced on many memorable floors.

In Hungary, there was the stage made of rotting wood, the holes hidden by fallen leaves and twigs.

In Croatia, there was the concrete stage we danced on while it was pouring rain. And then it started storming, the lightning striking as we hit a pose.

In Ukraine, just a couple months ago, I danced on a raked stage, meaning it inclined toward the back of the stage so the audience had a better view (but the dancers had a harder time).

Dance, CitiesKaitlin VittOctober 23, 2017Friends, Dance, Kyiv, Ukraine, Ukrainian Dance, VirskyComment

A day full of dance in the Virsky studio

I'm still standing.

It's been a month since I started training with the Virsky studio group, and nearly two months since my Ukraine adventure started.

After one month of dancing six days a week for three hours a day — that's right, 18 hours per week — my body's not broken yet. Coming from dancing up to only six hours per week back home, I was worried about how I'd react to 18 per week. But so far so good.

Dance, CitiesKaitlin VittSeptember 29, 2017Virsky, Ukrainian Dance, Ukraine, Kyiv, Folk Dance, Dance Comments

A week in the life with Virsky studio

While we're in Kyiv, we're training with the studio group of P. Virsky Ukrainian National Folk Dance Ensemble (commonlya known as Virsky). The studio group has about 40 dancers who train six days per week for three hours per day. There's also the Virsky school with younger dancers. Many of the studio dancers were with the school, but others have moved to Kyiv from surrounding areas.

Exploring Ukraine, Food, Shopping, CitiesKaitlin VittSeptember 17, 2017Shopping, Food, Dance, Ukrainian Dance, Ukraine, Kyive, Restaurants, Friends Comments

Starting my stay with Troyanda's tour

I was supposed to tour Ukraine with my dance group, Troyanda Ukrainian Dance Ensemble, in 2014, but because of the Euromaidan Revolution, the tour was cancelled. Visiting Ukraine has been on our minds since, and this year we made the trip happen. And conveniently, our tour ended just days before the yearlong program started.

I wrote about the 15-day tour at troyanda.com/blog, so check that out for more details of what we did and what we saw, but below are some photo highlights from the trip. We stayed in Lviv, the Carpathian Mountains, Zhytomyr, Chernivtsi, and Kyiv but also made stops in other cities and villages, including Kolomyia and Mamaivtsi.