People did not get to discover who makes the best perogies in Humboldt and area at the Zhvavi’s Ukrainian Dance year end recital at St. Dominic school on Mar. 20.
Babas, gidos, and parents did get to enjoy some adorable dancers carrying on the tradition of Ukrainian dance.
The audience was introduced to each dancers Ukrainian roots and which of their relatives made the best perogies.
This is the second year that Zhvavi has been in Humboldt and included 13 dancers who wowed the crowd with a high stepping, feet flying recital.
Club president, Aimée Basset, says this year was great for the club with great parents and dancers.
She hopes that next year is bigger and better.
Instructor, Gabrielle Sawitsky, has been dancing since she was 3-years-old and is very happy to be teaching the children in Humboldt to Ukrainian dance.
Sawitsky is very involved in Ukrainian cultural opportunities and passing on these traditions in such a Ukrainian rich area is very important, says Sawitsky.
The dancer has become somewhat Canadianized, she says, with a lot of the dances involving beyond how it was once danced but it is important to remember heritage and where we come from.
“We all started somewhere and we got to remember that.”
Teaching in Humboldt, Sawitsky says that the students, and the parents, are a blessing being so eager to learn new steps.
“(The kids are) often upset to go home because they love it so much and it makes me so happy.”
To someone who has never seen Ukrainian dance, it is a style that is full of energy, bouncy, fun, but very graceful and elegant.
It all stems back to where people come from in Ukraine with Central Ukraine designated the starting point of learning Ukrainian dance, says Sawitsky.
“Central Ukrainian dancing is based on travelling for long distance and smooth and gliding but you still have to have high energy and keep your feet up and have fun.”
