The Gypsy Roots at the Turn of the Century international festival ended in Moscow after featuring professional performers from 16 countries. Ukraine was represented by a group from Ihor Krykunov’s Gypsy Theater.
The Kyiv group gave a 15-minute concert program under the tentative title “Dance, Sing, Make Merry!” starring Arkady Yurchenko, Liudmyla Krykunova, and Anatoly Mykhai. As the first chords of the famous Jelm were struck all in the audience rose from their seats, for it is not just another Gypsy song, rather an anthem.
In four days the stage of the new Moscow Art Theater featured different interpretations of folk tunes, songs, and dances. Nikolai Slichenko, head of the jury, said they found it hard to determine the best program, but after Ihor Krykunov’s group they had no doubts and the gold medal went to the Kyiv performers. At the gala concert held at the Rossiya Concert Hall the Ukrainian gypsies would not be allowed to leave the stage as encore followed encore. Returning home charged with positive emotions, Mr. Krykunov hopes that his company will be as successful in Ukraine and that the musical based on Aleksandr Pushkin’s poem The Gypsies, starring Ani Lorak, Dmytro Klimashenko, and Oksana Khozhai, will be finally released.
