The Gimli Barvinok Ukrainian Dance Club celebrated its 42nd year last Saturday night with Malanka and traditional Ukrainian dance performances that delighted a full house at the Fraserwood Hall.
Barvinok president Chelsey McColl, who’s one of the original adult dancers with the club, said their numbers rebounded after some losses during the pandemic. It now has 32 dancers, including three adult members.
“Since the pandemic, our numbers have gone up significantly,” she said. “And we gained quite a few dancers since last year.”
The club performed a number of folk dances including the Hutzel, Poltava, Bukovina and Hopak, while the adult dancers performed a character Poltava.
The club also invited another Ukrainian dance troupe to take part in the celebration. The Winnipeg-based Druzhba Ukrainian Dance Ensemble performed the Pryvit or welcome dance, where guests are welcomed with gifts from a variety of regions, the Bubnarskiy, which features syncopated stamping and partner work and the Hopak which showcased male dancers’ jumping feats.
“We invited another troupe to join us at Malanka last year and at our spring concert because we don’t have a senior group and we think it’s important to bring in more experienced dancers – especially male dancers – to encourage our younger boys and give them older dancers to look up to.”
Instructor and choreographer Crystal Thordarson, who was part of Barvinok’s adult dancers for a few years and has taught Ukrainian dance for 16 years including in Winnipeg and Fisher Branch, said there’s a great atmosphere at the club and kids are eager to take part.
“It’s a great club to be with because they have a great board that’s open-minded and easy to work with,” said Thordarson, who teaches the 6-, 7- and 8-year-old dancers and the adult group. “And being in a small community – and with the only dance club in the community – the kids are eager to be there and want to be there, which makes it fun.”
After the performances, guests sat down to a meal of perogies, cabbage rolls and other traditional Ukrainian fare and entertainment by the High Profile Band, which performs Ukrainian and contemporary songs. The evening included a silent auction and 50-50 draw.
There were two Kolomaykas this year, one after supper for the younger dancers and another later in the evening to ring in the new year.
The dancers’ parents are very active fundraising for the club, said McColl. They had a wine raffle and sold a whopping 750 rings of heart-shaped kovbasa.
The club’s two beginner and two intermediate groups will be competing at the Manitoba Ukrainian Dance Festival from April 5-7 in Winnipeg at the Seven Oaks Performing Arts Centre. And the two intermediate groups will also be competing from April 12-14 in Brandon. The club’s spring tea is tentatively scheduled for April 28.
Express Photos by Rayme Thomson
