Shortly after russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine started Maarit Tymchyshyn, a Ukrainian-Canadian artist in Winnipeg, posted a personal essay called “Too Foreign For Home”. It’s a really powerful piece that resonated with us, so we wanted to share it with our audience.
Read MoreHere’s how you can support Ukraine through donations and actions. We talk with Vince Rees of Cobblestone Freeway and Zoya Kostetsky of Prairie Clay to hear about their fundraising efforts.
Read MoreIn this inspiring conversation, Lana Nicole Niland, a Canadian living in Ukraine, shares about her experience dancing with Virsky and her many Ukrainian-culture-themed projects. Prepare to be inspired to nurture and follow your dreams!
Read MoreOnce upon a time, there were four girls who lived abroad, and they got matching tattoos. But not just any tattoos — Ukrainian tattoos that have meaning much deeper than the skin. In this post, we tie our tattoo design (we’re two of those girls, by the way) into Ukrainian symbolism and explain the meaning behind common shapes and colours.
Read MoreFor many of us, starting to Ukrainian dance wasn’t really a choice — our parents put us in it when we were young, and that was it. But soon, we made the decision to stay in dance. So what makes this hobby so intriguing? What keeps people involved for decades on end?
Read MoreIn this interview, hear from Natalya, a Virsky Company dancer, about what life is like in the studio, how she balances life with work, and what pushes her to keep dancing even on those days when she feels tired and unmotivated.
Read MoreIn Kyiv, we trained with the Virsky Studio dancers. These dancers are in a two-year program that prepares them to audition for the Virsky company.
Read MoreWearing a heeled shoe in Ukrainian dance has always sort of been a right of passage — it’s a step up from slippers in your younger years and the gateway to what comes next: the red boot.
Read MoreWe (that’s us, Hannah and Kaitlin) have really only been friends for a couple years, our friendship growing just like our Ukrainian bead collection — it grew fast, and it grew big. Our About page has a brief introduction to who we are, but we wanted to share a bit more about where we come from and where we’re going.
Read MoreIn Ukrainian, Vsi means “all, all of, everyone, everybody.” On this blog and on our podcast, you’ll hear stories from choreographers, dancers, and instructors — from Ukraine and Canada — plus we’ll discuss popular topics such as ethnography, music, and the art of dance.
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