Shumka at 50 is coming to Yorkton, bringing with it innovative and beautiful Ukrainian dancing. Blaise Fullawka is originally from Yorkton, and she will be one of the dancers in the show, promising something that has a base in tradition, but is also built in a way that people haven't seen before.
Fullawka has been dancing since she was four, in ballet and jazz as well as Ukrainian dance. She says that she got her start in the form through a stroke of luck, as her babysitter's daughter was in Ukrainian dance and Fullawka would try to replicate what she saw on tapes and in practice. As she grew, she impressed the artistic director at Shumka during a solo performance and became part of the group.
Dancing with Shumka is rewarding, Fullawka says, because the group pushes the boundaries of what's possible with Ukrainian dance. She says that makes it exciting for her as a dancer, but also for audiences as well, as it gives them something they have never seen before.
"What's happening with Ukrainian dancing is that it used to be very basic and it used to be very traditional. Traditional dancing only, traditional costumes... It's been evolving into different genres, they're doing different things and experimenting... We are Ukrainian, that's our base, but we're expanding more into other things, like lyrical contemporary storytelling... That's what the tour is about, our past, and making a new name for Shumka," Fullawka says.
The show itself will feature four parts, each of which tells a different story. The first is called Harvest Angels, and it features five different traditional dances centered around harvest themes. The second is called Pathways to Hopak, which tells the story of someone's life, death and rebirth. The third is Eve of Kupalo, which Fullawka describes as being similar to A Midsummer Night's Dream, and tells a fantastical story of people finding love. The finale is the 50th Hopak, which is a tribute to the anniversary of Shumka. Fullawka says that the new Hopak is unique because it showcases the female dancers more prominently, and she says it's break from tradition, and that everything from the dancing to the costumes shows the full evolution of Shumka over the years. She says that the new Hopak is a light and elegant dance, and is something she's excited to perform every night.
Fullawka says the challenge is that she has to be an actor as well as a dancer, and fully capture the role she needs to represent in each part of the show.
"You can't just smile all the time and think that will get you anywhere, you have to have passion, you need to have everything. You have to give it all."
The show has already taken her around the world, and Fullawka says that the experience of performing to crowds in such distant locales as China have been exciting, especially as they have embraced the program and have requested a return visit.
Still, even after the trips around the world, Fullawka says that performing in front of a home town crowd is something she has dreamed about her whole life. She says she's an example of what can happen when you dedicate your life to dance and give it all you can.
"I don't know how to express how proud I am, and how proud I am of my teachers... This is where I came from with dance," Fullawka says.
Shumka at 50 runs for 1 night only, Sunday, April 7 at the Anne Portnuff Theatre at 7 p.m. Tickets $45 adults & $25 children 12 & under (plus service fees) at Gallagher Centre Box Office: 306-786-1740.
