Abstract
In this chapter, the author traces the development of three different dance companies which are based in the United States: Voloshky Ukrainian Dance Ensemble, the Duquesne University Tamburitzans, and the Gandy Dancers of Los Angeles. Each of these groups performs Ukrainian ethno-identity dances, but each has a different ethnic composition and different motives for performing the dances— for nation, for profit, for fun, respectively. Shay then gives a brief history of the Ukraine, describing the historical elements that parallel Irish history: the fraught relations with Russia, a great Famine in the 1930s, and continuing conflict with the Russians. (The conflict that was ongoing in 2016 occurred after the writing of this chapter.) He describes Ukrainian dance, both in the field dances and the spectacularized ethno-identity staged dances.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
See Tkachenko (1954), Shatulsky (1986), and Hemeniuk (1962, 1969) for sample choreographies and illustrations of the Poltava stage costume. See also Shalutsky (1986) for additional information on stage costumes and dances. See Moiseyev, Volume 1 (DVD), Virsky (DVD) for ethno-identity performances of Hopak. See Manucharova (1960, plate 1), Kolos and Gurgula (1961, plates 136–139) for authentic illustrations of the Poltava costume. In a caption under a photograph of the Voloshky Ukrainian Dance Ensemble, Lushnycky states: “Authenticity for every costume is unique, but when appearing in concert Poltava and Hutsul regional dress prevail.” (Lushnycky 2007, 101).
- 2.
The Gandy Dancers learned several Ukrainian dances from Vincent Evanchuk, but also from a film, The Nation Dances, which the Soviet Consulate in San Francisco made available. I only later realized that the film featured the repertoire of the Moiseyev Dance Company, and was probably made in the 1940s or 1950s.
- 3.
See Robert Henry Leibman (2008) for a life and career of Richard George “Dick” Crum.
- 4.
The reader may see the constant references to Ukrainian Cossack identity in the film: Spirit of Ukraine: The Virsky Ukrainian National Dance Company (1998).
- 5.
The Ukraine was not the only place in which famine was purposely induced by Stalin, but it was the hardest hit. For details of this national tragedy read Dolot (1985) for a survivor’s testimony. See Conquest (1986) for a scholarly account.
Bibliography
Conquest, Robert. 1986. The Harvest of sorrow: Soviet Collectivization and the Terror-Famine. New York: Oxford University Press.
Hemeniuk, Andrii. 1962. Ukrainsk’ki narodni tantsi. Akademia Nauk Ukrains’koi RSR.
Hemeniuk, Andrii. 1963. Narodne khoeohrafichne mystetstvo Ukraini. Kiev: Akademia Nauk Ukrains’koi RSR.
Hemeniuk, Andrii. 1969. Ukrainsk’ki narodni tantsi. 2nd edition. Kiev. Naukova dumka.
Kolos. S. H. and I. V. Hurhula. 1961. Ukrains’ke narodne Mistetstvo: V’rannia. Kiev: Derzhavne vidavnitstvo.
Leibman, Robert Henry 2008. “Richard George ‘Dick’ Crum: A Life.” In Anthony Shay, editor. Balkan Dance: Essays on Characteristics, Performance and Teaching. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.
Lushnycky, Alexander. 2007. Ukrainians of Greater Philadelphia. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing.
Magosci, Paul Robert. 2010. A History of Ukraine: The Land and Its Peoples. Second Edition. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Mancharova, N. D. 1960. Ukrains’ke narodne Mistetstvo: Tkannini ta vishivki. Kiev: Derzhavne vidavnitstvo.
Nahachewsky, Andriy. 1998. Ukraine: Traditional Dance. International Encyclopedia of Dance. New York: Oxford University Press, volume 6, 220–224.
Nahachewsky, Andriy. 2012. Ukrainian Dance: A Cross-Cultural Approach. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.
Tkachenko, Tamara. 1954. Narodnyi Tanets. Moscow: Iskusstvo.
Shay, Anthony. 2006. Choreographing Identities: Folk Dance, Ethnicity and Festival in the United States and Canada. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.
Shatulsky, Myron. 1986. The Ukrainian Folk Dance. Toronto: Kobzar Publishing Co.
Shay, Anthony. 2008. Dancing across borders: The American fascination with exotic dance forms. Jefferson: McFarland & Co.
Subtelny, Orest. 2009. Ukraine: A History. Fourth Edition. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2016 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Shay, A. (2016). Chapter 6 Dancing for the Nation: The Voloshky Ukrainian Dance Ensemble, The Duquesne University Tamburitzans, and the Gandy Dancers. In: Ethno Identity Dance for Sex, Fun and Profit. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59318-4_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59318-4_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-59317-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-59318-4
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)