By Sarah Stone

VIDEO: Local dancer to take the stage at international Ukrainian dance show

Oct 25, 2013 | 12:13 PM

It’s a night of high energy and excitement at Prince Albert’s E.A. Rawlinson Centre.

On Friday night, 50 years’ worth of Ukrainian dancing is making its way to the stage with Shumka at 50, a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Canadian dance company Ukrainian Shumka Dancers.

“This is the best of our repertoire and we’re taking that on the road and it really has a lot of diversity and variety for all audience goers,” explained Dave Ganert, artistic director and resident choreographer about the 50th anniversary show.

He said although companies 50th anniversary was technically in 2009, he said they didn’t have the opportunity to hold the show at that time.

The two-act show has been travelling around Canada performing, including some stops abroad in places like China.

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“It’s quite remarkable,” Ganert said. “Foreign audiences are great to test your work on because you know you’re doing your job right and your emotions are right it doesn’t matter what language you speak because those messages will come across.”

The dance style itself is described as expression told through dance comprising many emotions and storylines. It pulls from various dance genres such as hopak, Ganert said.

“Hopak has a lot of energy and colour and dynamics. That is the one dance where the entire company is involved with tricks, flips, high jumps, squatting movements, girls doing a lot of high-athletic dance kicks, etcetera. It’s a lot of expression and passion and energy that just exudes off the stage and the audience can feel it,” he said.

The bulk of the dancers reside in Edmonton with a few from Toronto, Winnipeg and one dancer from Nipawin—Andrew Wolchuk.

Wolchuk started out dancing at three years old when his mother put him in classes.

“It started out as something that I was put into and wasn’t really a fan of and it just grew on me and I started getting better and it became second nature almost,” Wolchuk said.

Between Grades 11 and 12 he participated in a dance workshop and was invited to audition for the Ukrainian Shumka Dancers.

He said he loves the energy and tricks involved in the group and feels it has given him many opportunities he normally wouldn’t have had.

“It’s a great to travel and see the world definitely because a lot of these opportunities I wouldn’t have regularly.”

For Wolchuk, the chance to perform near his hometown gives the dance an extra thrill.

“[I’m] super excited. I can’t express how much. I haven’t performed in my home province in a while and I have a lot of family and friends who will hopefully come out and see me,” he said.

“I’ll be giving ‘er a lot harder.”

sstone@panow.com

On Twitter: @sarahstone84