The Spirit of a Nation
This September, Saskatoon’s Pavlychenko Folklorique Ensemble (PFE) and Edmonton’s Volya Ukrainian Dance Ensemble are putting on a joint production, Душа Народу (Dusha Narodu) — The Spirit of a Nation.
We talked with dancers Odessa Bahri from Volya and Natalya Shevchuk from PFE to learn more about the show.
PFE and Volya will perform The Spirit of a Nation in Edmonton on September 9 at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium and in Saskatoon on September 16 at TCU Place.
Click here to get your tickets for the Edmonton show, and click here to get tickets for the Saskatoon show. Discounted tickets for university students are available for the Edmonton show.
And follow Volya and PFE on social media for behind-the-scenes insight into The Spirit of a Nation!
Natalya Shevchuk (left) and Odessa Bahri rock their vintage PFE jackets that Natalya’s dad and Odessa’s mom still have from when they danced together in PFE.
Rapid-fire Round
Let’s get started with a quick round of q’s for Odessa and Natalya!
What’s your favourite dance in the show?
Odessa Bahri: My name is definitely Willow Dance from Voya.
Natalya Shevchuk: Mine is Departing Kozaks from PFE.
What's your favourite costume in the show?
OB: Oh, that’s tough. Hopak is a great one, as per usual.
NS: I would also have to agree because I get to wear Volya’s Hopak costume, so I'm very excited.
What’s your favourite rehearsal exercise:
OB: Any jumps. I get so tired!
NS: I’d say the same thing. Serhij’s allegro is never a short allegro like he says it’s going to be.
What’s your go-to post-rehearsal snack?
OB: Oh, I'm a pickle fiend after rehearsal, for sure.
NS: My leftover Booster Juice I didn't finish during class.
What’s your favourite Ukrainian word?
OB: Oh, I love the word хвиля (khvylya). I know that's random but it means wave in Ukrainian.
NS: Круто (Kruto) has been my favourite one lately.
Choose one: Serhij or Zhenia?
OB: I think I have to choose Zhenia. I don’t really have a choice with my last name.
NS: That’s a very difficult decision. I'm saying both.
(This question was a joke, of course — you can’t choose between legends like Serhij and Zhenia!)
PFE will perform their dance Departing Kozaks in The Spirit of a Nation.
The Q + A
Tell us a bit about yourself and the group you dance with.
OB: I've been dancing with Volya for eight years now. Zhenia, Volya’s artistic director, is my dad, so I kind of grew up in the Volya studio. I've gotten to watch Volya through most of their 30 years, which is really amazing. I've always loved how dedicated Zhenia and the ensemble is to the academic style of dance. And I've been lucky enough to go on plenty of international tours with them as well.
NS: I’ve danced with PFE for eight years as well. I also grew up in the studio atmosphere. My dad danced with PFE. So it was just a natural transition for me to continue that legacy here in Saskatoon. I've always loved watching PFE dances — instead of watching Disney movies, we watched PFE’s 2003 Echoes of the Soul Tour in our DVD player in our van for as long as I can remember. It has been such a fun opportunity to grow up with PFE and just be on many tours, in the dance studio, and all the opportunities with different performances you get to have.
“That’s what I really hope for, that people really take away the feeling of the spirit of a nation when they leave the auditorium.”
Tell us about the joint show PFE and Volya have in September.
OB: The Spirit of a Nation has been a work of heart for the last four years, since 2019 Volya and PFE first collaborated at Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival in Dauphin. At the Edmonton show in September, it’s more like an immersive timeline from the foundation of Kyiv all the way to how Ukrainian culture came to Canada to how we celebrate Ukrainian culture in Canada now. It's going to be really, really fantastic. Volya is debuting a couple of new dances, and Volya and PFE have a few joint dances, so it’s going to be a really amazing show.
Are the Saskatoon and Edmonton shows different?
NS: I think there are one or two dances that will be different. But overall, the main focus of the Edmonton show is showcasing Volya, and the focus of the Saskatoon show is showcasing PFE. Both shows will feature the timeline from the start of Ukrainian culture and dance into what we see in Canada today, which is something that’s really important to both our groups and the artistic directors as that is like their life story — they started dancing in Ukraine, and now they’re in Canada, sharing their culture with all of us.
What are the new dances Volya is debuting?
OB: We have a new dance called Kyivan Rus, which focuses on the four siblings — Kyi, Shchek, Khoryv, and Lybid — and how they come together and join the different clans that existed around Kyiv at that time to form the city of Kyiv, which later turned into the state of Kyivan Rus. We also have a duet called Poviy Vitre, which is based on a poem. It shares the story of an immigrant who moves to Canada, and they have to leave their family behind. It focuses on the love that exists over the seas and so many miles and the feeling of that connection, even though there's that much distance.
Odessa’s brother, Max (left), also dances with Volya, under the artistic director of their tato, Zhenia.
Zhenia and Serhij know each other not just from working together in Canada but also in Ukraine. Can you tell us about their background?
OB: Zhenia and Serhij both danced in the Bukovyna state ensemble together. And then Serhij became the artistic director of the ensemble, and Zhenia became a principal dancer. So they worked pretty closely there. And then when PFE came to Ukraine in 1992, Serhij met the love of his life and then he came to Canada. About six months later, Zhenia also came to Canada. And so they've had this connection for quite a while, which is really awesome. And they're actually both celebrating 30 years in Canada this year.
NS: My connection to that is my dad was the emcee at both Serhij’s and Zhenia’s weddings.
Hannah Picklyk: I wonder if 30 years ago, Serhij and Zhenia ever could have imagined they’d be working on a joint show together in Canada with groups they’re the artistic directors of.
NS: It’s amazing, just their legacy that they've given us and how many people before us and the people after us who get to dance with them. And hopefully, this collaboration can continue between the two groups.
HP: I think not just the dancers, but the audience too. Everyone's going to walk away from the show feeling something, and a large part of that is because of those two people. Of course there are more people involved, but they are a huge driving force.
OB: That's what I really hope for, that people really take away the feeling of the spirit of a nation when they leave the auditorium.
What does it mean to you to be a part of a show like this?
NS: It's such a great feeling to be a part of something so big — it is a spirit of a nation, and we're representing Ukraine as a nation, but we're also the nation of Canada and the Ukrainian community, specifically on the prairies, that's able to showcase the amazing talent and culture that we have.
Like Odessa talked about, dancing with another group, I’m also learning a different style. It's been a long time since I've had to learn a different style. When I lived in Ukraine with you two lovely ladies, we learned a different style every two months. And it was like a sense memory to be able to like this, to have another old Ukrainian man telling me what to do. And then I'm doing it wrong. And I'm having to do something different with my arms. And it's just like my brain is working in overdrive, and it's stressful and chaotic. And I love every minute of it. For example, whenever something felt comfortable when I was doing Volya’s Hopak or Pryvit, I knew I was doing it wrong. It was something fun to work on.
It's so inspiring to work with Volya and all their amazing, dedicated dancers. And I think it really has helped push PFE to try and be more dedicated and practise wanting to push ourselves as dancers. Like any group, during COVID, there was a bit of a lull, and we're trying to get that push back. I think this show and the people that we're becoming friends with and learning from have been a very big help with that.
OB: Making these connections has been so amazing. I loved getting to know Natalya better — she has the same passion as me. Having a parent who has been dancing in the same group that you dance with is another feeling — you just feel like you're a part of this huge thing that's just going to transcend time.
We don't get to play a lot with character in Volya — we’re very academic. So getting to do that with PFE has been really awesome. I've been able to spend a lot of time in Saskatoon and been able to rehearse with PFE this summer. Something I’m so grateful for with this show is I now have another family across the border.
“Dance is such an easy way to relate to our culture. You can either be a part of it or you can sit and watch it. During times like right now, it’s another way to keep the war and our culture in the forefront of people’s minds.”
You mentioned one thing you want the audience to take away from the show is the “spirit of a nation.” The experience will be different for everyone, but what does that feel like to you?
OB: I guess that feeling of being connected to Ukraine in any capacity. Even if you don't have a family connection to Ukraine, you'll be able to feel connected to this show just by being so immersed in this timeline and in this culture and nation. I think the Ukrainian culture is so unique in how passionate we are about every single part of history, and I don't think you can walk away from the show without feeling inspired.
NS: Dance is such an easy way to relate to our culture. You can either be a part of it or you can sit and watch it. And our lovely artistic directors can tell a story in a way anyone can understand, so during times like right now, it's still another way to keep the war and our culture in the forefront of people's minds. Because unfortunately, with social media, it's just another thing that you scroll through now.
As a dancer, it's such an awesome way to portray how you feel. Even though I am Canadian, my soul is Ukrainian. I get to portray that out to the audience, through all the different storylines and the technical aspects of our dances that we get to do, like standing at the end of Hopak and singing the national anthem. You just see the entire audience, and you're staring up at that top balcony, and your soul is out there for everyone to witness and see and hopefully take a little piece of and keep Ukraine in their hearts as part of their soul as well.
What's something about the show or the making of the show that people might not know when they see it?
NS: In terms of marking Hopak, which is one of the joint dances we're doing, the first time we get to do all of our spaces is the day before the show. Odessa and Jessie Balan (another dancer from Volya) have come on their own to PFE rehearsals many times to become a part of our family. I'm lucky enough to go this week to go help Volya with our numbers. So we have little bits and pieces of helping each other, but we really put a lot of work in our own on these joint numbers. We just run them every class as if they're our own repertoire.
Do you have any tips on how dance ensembles can form relationships to potentially collaborate on a show, even if they don’t have any history together?
OB: I think all those festivals like Dauphin and Vegreville Pysanka Festival are great places to make those connections with people.
NS: Yeah, just put yourself out there. There are so many connections, whether they're known or you figure it out in the Ukrainian community. It's just like sharing your soul and your culture that you both obviously love so much.
Thanks so much to Odessa and Natalya for talking with us. For our full conversation, listen to our latest episode.
We can’t wait to see The Spirit of a Nation! Get your tickets (before they’re sold out!) for the Edmonton show through Ticketmaster and for the Saskatoon show through TCU Place’s website.
Schaslyvo!