In Lviv and Chernivtsi, we had the opportunity to dance with a few different groups, including Yunist, the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, the Lviv College of Culture and Arts, and the Honoured Bukovyna State Ensemble of Song and Dance. While sharing our experiences dancing in these next two cities we wanted to figure out a way to tie it all together so we decided to share our “lessons learned” from each place.

LVIV

In Lviv, we trained with Yunist, a youth ensemble that rehearses three day a weeks. We also took classes for one month at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, and then the other month we trained at the Lviv College of Culture and Arts.

Lesson 1: Expect a hard class on your first rehearsal, and don’t eat a kilogram of varenyky before going to practice.

Maybe this sounds like a lesson that didn’t need to be learned and something that should just be common sense but here’s what happened.

It was our first move of the year, and we were just settling in our apartments after hauling all of our belongings and luggage by train from Kyiv to Lviv — and actually, some of us were staying in hotels because our apartments weren’t quite ready yet. We found out that night we would be going to Poland to get visas and returning the next day. We left for Poland at midnight and drove through the night, stayed the whole day in Poland fulfilling visa requirements and walking around the city in the meantime, got our visas, and drove back from Poland and arrived in Lviv around 2 a.m. the following night.

We got very little sleep and had a full day ahead of us, meeting our language teacher and having our first class, then in the evening going to our first Yunist rehearsal.

We were physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted from moving and the trip to Poland — all of which happened within 48 hours. Maybe our exhaustion skewed out judgment, but before we went to our first Yunist rehearsal we decided to go to a pub and grab a bite. We ordered two kilograms to split between five girls, and once we finished we were feeling about as stuffed as a stuffed perogy can get.

We also were all wearing long-sleeved bodysuits because we assumed that since it was our first rehearsal we would be doing some standing on the side and the studio may be cool as it was fall.

Oh, how we were wrong.

A kilogram of varenyky, in a long-sleeved bodysuit, in a hot studio with 30 dancers while very exhausted makes for a very uncomfortable and difficult rehearsal.

Therefore, be prepared.

Lesson 2: A good warm up is crucial.

This seems like another lesson that is obvious, but it was reinforced when we got our butts kicked in Yunist’s warmup.

The warmup was about an hour and a half. It started with a cardio circle that started slow, then moved into some harder steps, then into combinations, then into some core work and strengthening, then into a pre-barre with a dynamic stretch, and then into the true ballet barre. By the end, there was no part of us that wasn’t warm.

From an instructor or choreographer standpoint, the warmup was great because it incorporated steps that were from Yunist’s dances. It’s such a great idea to include a step from choreography to build that stamina and work on a portion of a dance that needs improvement. Thinking of a combination in a different context than in the dance was also very helpful for memory.

All in all, a good warmup is crucial, and do not underestimate its effectiveness.

Lesson 3: People of all ages can be friends and they can dance together.

This is one of the beauties of dance itself. Even when we were dancing with 12-year-old boys, on stage you still look like ageless adults of Ukraine’s past.

Well, maybe it was obvious we weren’t the same age because we were a lot taller than our partners.

Even in Kyiv — and Canada — we noticed that age differences didn’t have a negative effect on dancing, but this idea was reinforced in Lviv.

Lesson 4: You need to push yourself at dance rehearsal to see improvement.

In some of the barre exercises at Yunist, we sometimes thought, “No human leg can even move that quickly — why are we even bothering?”…as we continued to flop our legs around trying to keep up and not stand out more than we already were. Fast forward two months and there we were, doing the exercise to the music! Another example is how fast we could to obertase by the end of the year! FIRE.

When you look at it short term, sometimes when you’re in rehearsal and you’re tired, you say to yourself, “OK, If I just don’t do this one time,” or, “I’ll just let my muscles relax a little on the plié,” and you think it’s not really going to make a difference in the long run.

Now imagine the opposite. Imagine every single rehearsal you’re working on engaging your muscles in each exercise. If you take the opportunity to do that every single time you do that exercise, in the end you will definitely see improvements.

We sure did.

Lesson 5: Group dynamics are everything.

We noticed this in Kyiv after having some out of the studio hangs with the dancers. In Lviv, we realized these connections make you dance differently with one another.

There’s a genuine smile shared between partners when on stage. And while there should be shared chemistry no matter what, this can be strengthened — and become truly genuine — by doing bonding activities together.

Lesson 6: You can have a lasting impression on people just like they have had on you.

This is meant to be an encouraging lesson, not a scary one!

We often talk about the people we met in Ukraine. Not that we care about having an effect on people or changing their lives — that’s not was this is about — it’s just interesting how memories work and what people will remember about you. Be nice, be fun, and be respectful because something about you will be remembered.

At this Christmas party with Yunist, they prepared special performances to show each other. Our gift was to teach some of the dances from Canada. So we showed them a few of our zabava dances like the Heel-Toe Polka, the Butterfly Schottische, and the Seven Step (which is a favourite for both of us!).

Lesson #18: You should start a podcast with your BFF.

Back in Canada the following year, we got a message from one of the dancers asking what the dance was that we taught them because the artistic director, Mykhailo, was asking about it. So we were trying to name some of the dances we could recall teaching them. AND THEN, the dancer sends us the best video ever of Mykhailo singing the tune and doing the movements of the Seven Step! Immediately we of course sent the music and a video showing how to do it. The year after that (two years since being back in Canada), we got the same request about this!

Not only did they remember us, they remembered the 7 Step, and that makes our hearts happy.

Lesson 7: Try different styles of dance (even if you feel like a fool).

In many universities and colleges in Ukraine, they offer dance programs where you can get a degree or diploma in dance, and you can choose to specialize in national dancee, which in Ukraine is Ukrainian dance. We had the opportunity to study with the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv and the Lviv College of Culture and Arts.

Some of the studios were very small and did not have ideal conditions for the dancers’ bodies in terms of space.

We were very thankful to rehearse with these dancers. We sometimes just watched on the sides because of the small space and since these classes weren’t specifically for us — we were guests in a university course.

So, our lesson here is to try different styles of dance that are out of your comfort zone and ones that may not even seem like they will relate back to Ukrainian dance. All types of dance are very helpful.

One of the instructors from the university invited us to one of his modern dance classes. Wow, we were…we were something, all right. But it was so fun. The entire class and instructor were so supportive, and it was interesting trying to get our bodies to move in different ways.

It also keeps you humble when you join a random class part way through the year.

Lesson 8: Have patience.

While we were studying at the university, one of the classes we took part in was about syllabus. Each dancer had to create a character barre exercise based on a region and barre exercise they were assigned. The dancers would then teach their exercise to their classmates, giving them a chance to develop their teaching skills. The instructor of the course would give pointers to the student teacher on how to make the exercise more regionally correct and how to improve it from a warming up aspect.

The classes moved pretty slowly, as there was a lot to be worked through and taught from all angles. But all of the dancers were very patient with one another, and, from the outside looking in, it was really nice to see them encouraging each other instead of getting frustrated.

Lesson 9: Jeans make great rehearsal attire for dance instructors.

This may be contrary to popular belief, but many dance instructors in Ukraine wear jeans to rehearsal. And still dance full out. It’s impressive, really.

Maybe it’s a lesson too that if your instructor is teaching in jeans, your instructor is a dance god or goddess. And you should respect them.

We started at the Lviv College of Culture and Arts one month into our stay in Lviv. At the college, we danced for longer chunks of time than at the university. Because the studios at the college were quite small, the plans changed from joining in on existing courses to having our own private classes with the teachers.

Our time at the college was very focused and concentrated which let us learn a ton. And it was very cool that we got to end off our time at the college with a dance exam! Red ribbons in our hair and all.

Lesson 10: Perform all the time, even during warmup.

This is often said to dancers — we aren’t saying we have never been told this before. But still, sometimes it feels a little silly to be smiling while doing simple pliés when there’s no one to see your beautiful smile.

At the college, we had a class focused on the Hutsul region. Over the month, we learned an entire Hutsul character barre that started with a bow, then moved into the barre exercises, then transitioned into an étude, and finished with a bow — all connected without any breaks in between. You truly felt like you had to perform it because it felt very much like a dance.

Plus, it also makes it easier to dance full out when you’re performing. When we were learning the Hutsul barre and étude, it was incredibly exhausting for our bodies and minds. The studio was small and hot, and by the end of classes we looked like we were in a torrential downpour with how soaked we were with sweat. It felt like there was only one way to keep pushing ourselves harder and that was to keep smiling and performing.

Pulling your body up, slapping a smile on, raising your eyebrows, and lifting your chin somehow makes it feel like you can get through the rest of those tough classes.

Lesson 11: A region isn’t just a region.

You can’t learn just one Buko dance and say you know the entire region. And again, this isn’t to say we didn’t know this before, but it was definitely reinforced.

While we were studying at the college we had the chance to study the Lemkivshyna region of Ukraine with Oleh Kopylchak.

Lemkivshyna class, led by Oleh Kopylchak at the Lviv College of Culture and Arts. — *Lemkivshyna* class, led by Oleh Kopylchak at the Lviv College of Culture and Arts.

Zakarpattia (Transcarpathia) means after the mountains and Lemko happens to be after the mountains, so Lemko, in a way, is a sub-region of Zakarpattia. You can draw many similarities between Lemko and Trans, which you can see even when comparing their costumes. We could go on and on about similarities and differences between the two — and between other regions in Ukraine — but overall, we just wanted to make clear how a region isn’t just a region. With any region, sometimes it seems simple when you do a bit of research or learn a dance from them, but it’s as if the more you know the less you know.

Chernivtsi

After Lviv, we were off to Chernivtsi to study with the Honoured Bukovyna State Ensemble of Song and Dance. They are a professional ensemble that trains five days a week for three to four hours a day. The first hour would be focused on ballet and warming up then we would move into choreography. A couple times a week, there would be rehearsal with the orchestra, and when they weren’t around, the dancers would have accordion accompaniment.

Lesson 12: Appreciate the space you dance in.

Rehearsals were in the Chernivtsi Philharmonic Hall, where the majority of the time we would dance on the stage in the theatre — there was also a small studio we used from time to time. When we had these full orchestra rehearsals and the ensemble was on stage, we would often dance in between the aisles of the theatre — wherever we could find space!

When we danced on the Philharmonic stage, we were often so in the moment that we forgot we were in a beautiful, ancient theatre. When we did remember where we were, we stared out into the theatre and tried to memorize the ornate gold on the rich, red walls of the theatre and the old, wooden theatre seats.

Yes, this was a beautiful space to dance in, but overall I think we can all learn to appreciate our studio space or stages a little more. We all have fun (and often funny) stories about stamp-sized stages, creaky wooden floors with missing boards, or outdoor concrete stages slick from the ongoing thunderstorm — appreciating these scenarios as they are and not taking them for granted all creates memorable moments for us.

Lesson 13: Pan Leonid has special powers that he can transmit to you while standing near you while holding your hand or doing a dance step alongside you.

This lesson will stand out to anyone who has ever done a workshop with the Buko ensemble and its artist director, Leonid Sydorchuk.

He is a wonderful person. Whenever there were complicated dance steps, particularly stamping combos, and you just couldn’t quite get it, and you starting to feel a little bit frustrated, he could sense this in you. He would just come up to you, take your hand, and start working through the step, and all of a sudden, you could do it!

We’re not sure what kind of energy he was able to pass along to us, but we think it was some of that Buko magic. Overall, Pan Leonid was a very supportive instructor who had a lot of patience to work with us.

Lesson 14: Plants should be in the studio.

During our rehearsal breaks with the Buko ensemble, Pan Leonid would water the studio plants. We would be working on some choreography and he would be sneaking around behind us with a watering can, quietly hydrating the studio flora.

Plants are a great way for dancers and instructors to take a mindful break during rehearsal and just focus on something other than your building frustration of trying to get that tough stamping combo.

Lesson 15: Try to adapt to each regional or instructor style.

In each city we moved to, there was a lot of adjusting to do — a new living space, new streets to stroll, new rehearsal space, new dancers, and a new regional style of dance. And just when we were starting to get the hang of a style with an ensemble we were dancing with, we’d have to move.

In Chernivtsi, we tried our best to adapt to the Buko ensemble’s style but it was difficult. Their style involves a lot of foot and leg movements but not a lot of bending your upper body. This is in comparison to Virsky where we had danced a couple months earlier and where we couldn’t bend our bodies enough to try to match their style.

We found that the key to learning a style is watching and studying the way the dancers moved and we would try to mimic their bodies. I mean, of course that sounds like the most logical way. But believe us, it’s easier said than done. And while we could watch all the videos we wanted, we still had to put a lot of effort into practising the moves, maybe even standing directly behind an ensemble dancer to copy every one of their movements.

Lesson 16: Have fun and be playful in rehearsal!

During one rehearsal with the Buko ensemble, we were doing the dance Koperoush with the guys while being accompanied by the orchestra. At a point in the dance, all the dancers stand in a circle, and the girls and guys have a little chanted dialogue before they start dancing again.

We finished the dance, it went not bad, and then Pan Leonid us asked to return to the spot with that circle dialogue. So, we started back at that section and did our talking/singing part and were about to continue into the next section of the dance when all of a sudden the orchestra cuts out and everyone bursts out laughing. All they wanted to do was hear our attempt at our high-pitched Ukrainian voices one more time.

It wasn’t that they were making fun of us — rather, they were making fun with us. And they probably didn’t expect us to know the words or to commit to chanting that part so they needed to hear it again.

And to be clear we mean for the fun, playful, and silliness to still come with the hard work, of course.

The playful Bukovyna crew at a Malanka performance.

Lesson 17: Don’t underestimate the power of strength.

Your whole body needs to have some sort of strength, but strong feet can solve a lot of your problems. Imagine every day you are spending hours forcefully stamping your feet, it’s a lot of impact on your body.

Both of us were concerned about our legs and feet — Hannah about her recurring shin splints and Kaitlin about her feet (she is a Pisces, after all, and they’re said to often have foot problems). But never once did we face those injuries during the year. We were diligent in working on those “problem parts” to strengthen, roll out, and take care and pay attention to our bodies. And it paid off! Maybe there’s no such thing as a bad dance floor or bad shoes, just weak feet.

Arm and back strength is important too, especially for holding your upper body and arms in certain positions. With the Buko ensemble, we didn’t always have our arms in a specific position like on our poyas or keptar. More often our arms would just be down by our sides, and it was extra important to hold our backs and shoulders strong so our arms wouldn’t flail as we move the rest of our body.

So there you have it, our very long, yet still not totally extensive, list of lessons learned in Lviv and Chernivtsi. We sometimes questions ourselves and wonder about if there’s even a point to be talking about our time in Ukraine two (!) or three (!!) years ago. But we do think that we got a glimpse into the Ukrainian studio life, which not a lot of people get, and there are lots of valuable tidbits that can be applied to Ukrainian dance in Canada and around the world.

Also, we guess this can kind of be our Lesson 11 from our last post. We Ukrainian dance to learn, about dance, about Ukraine, about culture, about ourselves, about others, about the world. Just so much learning.

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You can listen to the podcast version of this blog post (we go into a bit more detail on the episode) at this link.

Schaslyvo!