Ukrainian Cultural Celebration
*The event has already taken place on this date: Sun, 04/10/2022
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Pelham Art Center invites you to a free public celebration of Ukrainian culture with music and dancing in the courtyard.
1:00-2:00pm Traditional Ukrainian Craft Demonstrations with Nadia Garber , Tania Homenko, and Olga Khomenko
2:00pm “Haida-haida!” Live Music by Cheres Ensemble and Dance Performances by the VESNA Dance Group from the Yunist Ukrainian Dance School.
Folk melodies and dances of the Carpathian region are brought to life by the virtuoso playing of Cheres. The musical arsenal of cimbalom, violins, bass, flutes, accordion, panpipe, double pipe and a variety of percussion are complemented by the traditional, hand-embroidered garments worn by people in Western Ukraine.
Hailed to be “the best purveyor of authentic Ukrainian folk music in the United States” by the former head of the Archive of Folk Culture at the Library of Congress, Cheres brings to life melodies from the Carpathian mountains in Western Ukraine and neighboring Eastern European countries. Since its founding in 1990 by students of the Kyiv State Conservatory in Ukraine, the ensemble has enthralled North American audiences with their rousing renditions of folk music performed on the cymbalum, violin, woodwinds, accordion, bass, and percussion. Virtuoso musicians join spirited dancers, all donned in traditional Western Ukrainian hand-embroidered garments, to paint a vivid picture of Ukrainian folk art. The musicians, most of whom are from Halychyna in western Ukraine, are united by an artistic vision to preserve their traditions. “Cheres” is actually a little known Ukrainian term for a metalstudded leather belt formerly used as a bulletproof vest during the Middle Ages. Today, the group Cheres has adopted this Medieval protective shield as their name to symbolize the safeguarding of vanishing folk art traditions from the Carpathian mountains.
Performers from the VESNA Dance Group of the Yunist Dance school will perform the following dances:
The Yunist dance school was formed in 1996 by Hryhoriy Momot to give children of Ukrainian heritage the opportunity to learn traditional Ukrainian dance under professional instruction. The dance school is comprised of seven ensembles that each have three age levels. The youngest group includes children from 5-7 years of age, the middle group 8-12 years of age, and the oldest group 13-18 years of age. The dance school also has a professional group, “Yunist.” The best dancers are chosen into the ensemble starting at the age of 16. The aim of the school is to honor the rich history and culture of Ukraine and help preserve Ukrainian heritage. The ensembles regularly perform at cultural festivals, art centers, colleges, and travel outside the country.
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