Twenty-five years ago, a group of Nipawin parents decided to form a Ukrainian dance club.
“Several families from this area were driving to another community,” said Elaine Berezowski, one of those parents. “We felt we had enough local children that were going away out of town, so we decided it would probably be a good idea to start our own club.”
After a few discussions with people from Saskatoon for guidance, the Nipawin Veselii Dancers were born. In the first year, the club had that group of dancers that traveled, plus a whole lot of new kids that hadn’t danced before.
“We had a lot of fun, a lot of fun, that first year,” Berezowski said.
Two and a half decades later, the club held a 25th anniversary supper April 8 to celebrate the 239 dancers that have been part of the club.
Shannon Schmidt, who’s been an instructor for the club since 2010, was part of the dance club when it began in 1992.
“I always enjoyed dance and teaching the younger kids is important, to pass on cultural tradition through Ukrainian history.”
This year, she’s teaching 30 students, ranging from ages three to 18. The club teaches Ukrainian dance routines coming from many different regions of the country. Each region has its own costumes, music and traditions.
There have been seven students that have gone on to dance professionally. Austyn Kozun, who started in the club when he was three and has danced for 16 years, is now dancing semi-professionally with the Pavlychenko Folklorique Ensemble in Saskatoon.
“It was very cultural for me. I joined because of my parents, mostly my dad – Ukrainian side. Baba [grandma] and dido [grandpa], for me, really enjoyed Ukrainian dance all of their lives. So did my father,” he said. “It was much of my heritage.”
Kozun said dancing also helped him compete in sports. The dancer said the club has had many different instructors, each which pushed him to do better in different aspects of dance.
“I never thought I would ever dance semi-professional but I just loved it so much and loved performing that I was able to do that.”
Kozun said it’s unique for a small community like Nipawin to have as many professional dancers as it has, adding it’s because of a strong work ethic and help from the club that they have succeeded.
“I was really glad they started the club so I had the opportunity to dance.”
Berezowski said she thinks it’s fantastic that the club's still around.
“I am extremely proud because I have three of my four grandchildren dancing in this club – the other grandchild’s not even a year old,” she said. “It makes me extremely proud to see something I had a hand in survive this long.”
She added that she hopes the club is around in another 25 years.
