THE MASTERS OF BUKOVYNIAN DANCE

The Bukovynian Honored Academic Song and Dance Ensemble was established in November 1944 in the wonderful Bukovynian land that rages distinctive folklore.

The Ensemble’s founder and main enthusiast was a local folklorist and composer Hryhoriy Shevchuk. The company’s first choreographer was a Kyiv-born dance professional - Hryhoriy Dykhta.

At that time, there was another local ensemble working on the base of the Chernivtsi Philharmonic. The group was directed by choreographer and renowned teacher Hannah Asen’kova. In 1949, these two artistic groups merged into one - later named the "Bukovynian song and dance ensemble".

From 1962, the ensemble was been led by Andriy Kushnirenko, who made a significant contribution to the creative legacy of the company. Preserving the ethnographic identity, he has achieved high professional level, filigree elegance and purity of performance, expanded the ensemble’s genre ‘palette’ and enriched its repertoire.

The vocal and choreographic art represented by the ensemble, its unique identity, originality of style, combined with a high professional culture, guarantee the company the recognition as one of the best artistic teams of Ukraine. A great contribution to the development of the Ensemble was made by Honored Artist of Ukraine - choreographer Darius Lastiwka.

Now the ensemble’s cast accounts to about 80 members. Its repertoire is quite diverse – these are vocal and choreographic productions, folk scenes, dances, suites, and more. Presently the company is directed by People's Artist of Ukraine Yaroslav Soltys, the main choreographer is Honored Artist of Ukraine Leonid Sydorchuk, and the choir master is Oleksandr Zhukov.

Ukrainian Dance World is honored to congratulate the ensemble on its upcoming anniversary – 70 years of founding. Hopefully the group’s success and artistic discoveries will continue! The anniversary concert will be held in Chernivtsi December 4, 2014.

In 2011, in collaboration with Cobblestone Freeway Tours, within the framework of the annual Ukrainian Dance Workshop Tour, Ukrainian Dance World has held seminars with the Bukovynian Song & Dance Ensemble, where cast members and choreographer Leonid Sydorchuk shared their secrets to mastering traditional Bukovyinian dances with the tour members.

BUKOVYNA REGION

Bukovyna (Bukovina, Bukowina, Bucovina). The territory between the middleDnister River and the main range of the Carpathian Mountains, around the source of the Prut River and the upper Seret (Siret) River, the border area between Ukraine and Romania. Today Bukovyna is divided between Ukraine (incorporating Chernivtsi oblast or most of northern Bukovyna) and Romania (containing most of the Suceava region or southern Bukovyna). The name of this territory is derived from its great beech (buk) forests and dates back to the 14th century when it designated the lands on the Moldavian-Polish border.

Bukovyna is a transitional land between Ukraine and Romania. From a historical perspective it is a strategically important border area between Galicia and Moldavia, as it lies at the northwest entrance to Moldavia. Bukovyna's transitional location influenced its history; it belonged to the Principality of Galicia-Volhynia, then to Moldavia. Polish and Hungarian influences intersected here in the 14th and 15th centuries. In 1919–40 and 1941–4 all ofBukovyna belonged to Romania. It was only in 1940 that Bukovyna was divided, along ethnic lines, between Ukraine and Romania. Bukovyna's territory consists of 10,440 sq km, of which about 5,500 belong to Ukraine. The population in 1930 was 853,000, about 520,000 of which became citizens of the Ukrainian SSR in 1940.

Info source - www.encyclopediaofukraine.com

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