It was a packed house on Friday night at St. Dominic’s gym for the first annual Ukrainian dance recital to take place in Humboldt after many years.
“There were well over 200 people here; it was a surprise,” said Lorelle Holowaty, president of the ZHVAVI UKRAINIAN DANCERS, the troupe that performed. “I made a joke when I first started this club about this being a mainly German community, but obviously this community has welcomed Ukrainian dance back.”
The dancers ranged in age from teenage level to as young as five, but all were taught by the same woman: 20-year-old Gabrielle Sawitsky. The students came from all over the region, including Naicam, Watson, Englefeld and Humboldt. They were also fortunate that St. Dominic lent the gym to them for their practices and final recital free of charge.
Sawitsky, was taught by members of Pavlychenko Folklorique Ensemble for the last 18 years and started dancing with them in 2012. She has attended multiple workshops and has taught for four years at Rushnychok dance group in Cudworth before she started teaching for Zhvavi.
“Gabrielle choreographed all of it. The dances were largely a secret and lots of it was behind closed doors,” said Holowaty. “I have lots of trust for her. She’s very accomplished and the community needs to realize how lucky we are to have her. She’s young, has a lot of motivation and she’s passionate about seeing this group succeed. We couldn’t ask for more.”
The performance was broken up into three groups of students: beginners, juniors, and intermediates. In between their performances were recitals by guest dancers from Saskatoon, such as Vonia Nimchuk, Lauren Sawitsky, Eric Sawitsky, and Taylor Luby. In fact, the first guest dancers to go on stage were the Sawitsky Family Ensemble.
Though for many dancers this was their first time learning Ukrainian dance, they seemed enthusiastic and their costumes were very elaborate and colourful.
“It was good, despite a few glitches, but next year will be perfect,” said Holowaty. “The kids were fantastic. They performed above par and none had any experience before this. They were absolutely wonderful.”
Holowaty said they’ve already had inquiries about membership for the next year, which will begin again in the fall. She said when she first started the group, they faced challenges like any other club: figuring out roles, what direction they were going, how to carry it forward successfully, increase the number of students etc. When they began, they had 20 students, but three left during the year. Nevertheless, she said the year was a success.
“For me personally, (the best part was) seeing my daughter Ukrainian dance like we did when we were kids,” she said. “As a group, I’m proud of the fact that all of the work to start it was a success and the community seemed to embrace it. It’s the best thing you could ask for.”
It seems only fitting that after this year of accomplishment, Holowaty is retiring her executive position on a high note. With her other business, the Branding Barn, expanding, there isn’t much time left to give to the dance troupe. So they’re now looking for a new executive director; someone who can accomplish Holowaty’s next goal for the group.
“I want 40 dancers next year. It’s possible seeing as how we attracted dancers from all over the region,” she said.
Next year, she said they’ll also be looking at doing a malanka, which is a huge Ukrainian celebration.
“Humboldt’s never seen anything like it,” she said.
