A Ukrainian dancer with local roots took to the Toronto stage at North America’s largest Ukrainian street festival — Bloor West Village.
As part of Winnipeg’s Rusalka ensemble, performers showcased five dances during the Toronto Ukrainian Festival Sept. 12 to 14.
Matlock’s Oksana Preachuk took part in the lively weekend. She has been Ukrainian dancing since she was four years old and began performing with Rusalka in 2016.
“It’s as big of a part of my life as breathing is — I’ve never known life without it,” Preachuk said.
“What’s kept me with Ukrainian dancing all these years has been my sheer love of my Ukrainian heritage as well as my love for dance. I’ve been dancing — not just Ukrainian, but also ballet, jazz, etc. — for a very long time, though I stopped the other styles when I graduated high school and decided to just continue with Ukrainian. I feel it in my heart that I’m making my ancestors proud, and that’s an incredible motivation as well.”
Preachuk, who gives credit to her parents and grandparents for introducing her to the art, has been dancing for 22 years and officially made her out-of-province stage debut this September.
In Toronto, the 25-dancer ensemble performed four dances Saturday afternoon: a welcome number Kalyna, a water-inspired Karpaty, their brand-new Lemko Suite, and a quick and technical Buko Suite. They performed the same four dances in the evening, plus their Hopak — the “classic” Ukrainian dance featuring the red pants and boots. The Rusalka Junior ensemble also performed during the weekend.
Preachuk described the weekend as nerve-racking, just like any other performance.
“But the nerves come from a mix of excitement, pride and wanting to put your best foot forward,” she added. “The weekend was also tiring. Performances like that where you’re going hard all day — especially if you’re in every dance except one between two performances like I was — are so physically draining but also rewarding when you look out into the audience from on stage and can see the people smiling and clapping.”
The dancing and audience engagement were a highlight for her, along with being able to watch other ensembles perform.
“To participate in the festival is such an incredible way to share our culture through dance with a new audience. Lots of the folks watching were Ukrainian and from Ukraine, and, to me, it’s always more meaningful when a large portion of the audience is Ukrainian.”
While not performing, Rusalka dancers took time to enjoy the festival. They participated in the parade, went to the Zabava after-party, watched other performances and visited local sites and vendors. Preachuk noted she enjoyed the cultural experience because it wasn’t like anything she had ever experienced before.
“Manitoba doesn’t have festivals — at least ones that I’ve ever performed at — at the same level as Bloor. Bloor spanned seven or eight whole city blocks and was absolutely packed with vendors and people and had three different stages with performances happening. I know we have Folklorama here in Manitoba, but it would be super cool to see a cultural street festival here too.”
Leading up to the festival, dancers had a few extra rehearsals to ensure their dances were performance-ready. These rehearsals were on top of the six hours a week they practise year-round, and in between other Manitoba-based summer performances.
Rusalka is an audition-only ensemble and accepts dancers from across the province.
Preachuk comes from a long line of Rusalka dancers. Her baba was in the inaugural ensemble, her mom was the first second-generation Rusalka dancer, and Preachuk was the first third-generation dancer.
“Someday, I hope my future kids will be the first fourth generation dancers,” she said.
Looking forward, she hopes to continue dancing and specifically make it to her 10-year anniversary with Rusalka next year. She’s excited for all the performance opportunities she has but truly doesn’t know what is in store for the remainder of her career.
“I’m at the point in my life now where I’m getting married and considering other avenues in my life, so I’m really just taking it week by week,” she said.
