Performances by the Pavlo Virsky National Merited Academic Folk Dance Ensemble, dedicated to the 70th anniversary of this pre-eminent dance group, are taking place throughout Ukraine. Two gala concerts at Ukraine Palace have been sold out. The screens on both sides of the stage featured scenes depicting the history of this prominent artistic group and the creative work of its long-standing heads: founding father Pavlo Virsky and current artistic director Myroslav Vantukh.
The Day’s 210th issue featured a report on the jubilee concert that took place on Ukraine’s main stage, where President Yushchenko presented awards to the dancers. He emphasized that their “art identifies us as a nation, people, and country.” The final concerts of the II National Virsky Festival Competition of Folk Choreography took place at the National Opera House of Ukraine. The audience gave a passionate welcome to Myroslav Vantukh, who has brought modern Ukrainian scenic dance to a new level and inspired it with new power.
THREE ANNIVERSARIES
“We prepared a special anniversary program that features the creative potential of our ensemble and choreographic masterpieces created by our founder Pavlo Virsky, which we have carefully preserved by giving them a new life,” Vantukh explained. “I was very pleased when veteran fans of our ensemble chanted, ‘Vantukh! Vantukh!’ for the first time after the concert ended. I must admit that it was difficult for me to adapt to the group. It was a time of changing generations, and I had to say goodbye to a number of great dancers, who had worked in the group for many years. They were offended and wrote anonymous letters to different government bodies, but some didn’t even accept my art. But as time has passed, our veteran admirers admitted that the Virsky dancers have never danced on such a high level before, so their recognition is particularly valuable for me.”
The whole world applauds the mastery of your ensemble, but at home Ukrainian audiences are dissatisfied. Is that fair to say?
“People’s opinions are always subjective. Audiences abroad are unbiased and sincerely admire what they see on stage; sometimes their emotions bring them to tears. Sometimes they cry because they are moved: when we visit a certain country, we perform one of its national dances. They understand that we are showing them respect. We have visited 55 countries, some of them twice. We continue to receive many invitations. Our touring scheduled is booked solid until 2011. Our performances are being negotiated in Thailand, where we have never been. We recently received an invitation to perform in China for three years. But we cannot afford to do such a long engagement. Right now we have to choose a producer who offers the best terms for our dance group. This is important to us because the state only pays the members’ salaries and reimburses services. We have to earn the rest of the money for new productions and costumes ourselves.”
This year your dance group is marking three anniversaries: besides the group’s 70th anniversary, you are also celebrating the studio’s 45th anniversary and the 15th anniversary of the Children’s School of Choreography that you founded.
“A talented dancer should be educated for at least 15 years. Children start studying in our school at the age of six, and afterwards they dance in the studio. The best dancers join the ensemble later on. Only after they have danced in the ensemble for two years can they be called true dancers. This system enables us to preserve and refresh our repertoire: if some performers get sick or are injured, we always have someone to replace him/her, because another dancer knows this dance. Great art requires great work. I must say honestly that neither I as the director nor our coaches or dancers have ever worked the number of hours specified in the labor legislation. Even after the anniversary concert we did not have a full day off because we were getting ready to tour Ukraine’s southern oblasts.”
TO RESTORE WHAT HAS BEEN LOST
You have often said that you regret not having the possibility to perform more often in Ukraine. Has anything changed in this respect?
“This year, in connection with our anniversary, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism allotted money for us to go on tour to various oblasts of Ukraine. They were very difficult because they were scheduled for the end of the year. After returning at night from Cherkasy, we had to go Chernihiv by bus in the morning. There were concerts in Kyiv scheduled for December. But although this kind of schedule took a lot of energy, we were delighted by our encounters with audiences. Everywhere we felt the audience’s patriotic excitement and pride in our national art. A little while ago we toured Ukraine’s western oblasts. For the first time in the history of our ensemble this tour was organized by a production company on a commercial basis. Since the financial outcome was good, there are plans to organize similar tours in Ukraine next year.”
The Virsky group has always been a model for many dance groups. Now, thanks to your initiative, the National Choreographic Union has been created, and Ukrainian dance groups have an opportunity to show their achievements at national choreographic festival competitions. What is your assessment of the II National Festival?
“I want to note the general rise in the level of performance culture and the emergence of new performances and new competition participants. The choreographic union is holding theoretical conferences and master classes, and creating schools in different cities in order to help raise the level of our choreographic art. It is important to define the direction in which it is developing because there are people who believe that modern dance is connected to rock’n’roll, break dancing, and the choreography of Maurice Bejart and George Balanchine. We are intent on developing specifically Ukrainian scenic dance, and this development may take place only on the basis of national material that is adapted by choreographers to the contemporary level and modern society’s esthetic needs.
“Of course, people become accustomed to everything, even to ‘popular art,’ which is becoming increasingly ubiquitous. But gradually audiences start to understand that they are missing superior examples and feelings. These emotions include patriotism and love of one’s own people. That is why our festival competition has a prize for amateur dance groups of Ukraine’s national minorities. Bulgarians, Greeks, and Crimean Tartars had an opportunity to show their dances. The concert program also included Jewish, Armenian, and Moldovan dances. I bow to those who devote themselves to their native people’s culture. You cannot live without spiritual culture. Ukrainians who found themselves abroad for one reason or another have always felt this. That’s why they founded theaters, choirs, and dance groups there.”
Unfortunately, some specific national traits are obliterated under the pressure of globalization. Have you felt this during your professional tours?
“Definitely. In the last decade European countries have lost their national face to a significant extent, and I have been to practically every part of the world. Many people already realize this. But it is very hard to restore what has been lost. That’s why I am trying so hard to leave our descendants our national dancing heritage and to expand it. I am fascinated by the Japanese, who are carefully preserving their national culture. No Japanese pupil can receive a school graduation certificate until s/he knows 300 Japanese songs. We encountered a similar attitude to their achievements in China and South Korea.”
The residents of Zhytomyr, who are preserving their national art treasures the same way, can serve as an example for many people in Ukraine. Not long ago the Oreia Capella Choir of the Municipal Palace of Culture won the Grand Prix at the 1st Borys Liatoshynsky National Competitions for Choirs and Vocal Chamber Groups. The Women’s Choir of the Zhytomyr School of Culture and Arts and the Orfei Chamber won the top prizes. Recently, the top prizes at the festival competition were won by the Oblast Center of Choreographic Art and the exemplary children’s group, the Sonechko Ensemble, which at one time won the Grand Prix at the first festival.
“We truly have a rare group of professionals. The Zhytomyr-based artistic directors and ballet masters Tetiana and Mykhailo Huzun have succeeded in achieving a nearly professional level in their pupils’ performance. I would also mention the Radist Dance Ensemble from Sevastopil, which is directed by Tetiana and Viktor Hotsulenko, the Yunist Merited Dance Ensemble from Lviv, headed by Mykhailo Vanivsky, and the Kviten Folk Ensemble from Mariupil, directed by Liudmyla Fedotova. The senior group of the Dzhereltse Karpat Dance Ensemble headed by Mykhailo Sachko also proved itself. Of the amateur dance ensembles (dancers 16 years and older) the Prolisok Choreographic Ensemble from Kirovohrad, headed by artistic director Anatolii Korotkov and ballet master Viktor Pokhylenko, won the Grand Prix.”
One gets the sense that the traditions founded by the famous choreographer Anatolii Kryvokhyzha, who at one time headed the well-known Yatran Ensemble, remain strong in Kirovohrad oblast.
“An artist of this level always influences the culture of his region. So it is no surprise that the first Ukrainian Museum of Choreography was established in Kirovohrad, where materials on Ukrainian dance ensembles, both Ukraine-based and diaspora ones, are stored.”
How do you assess the situation in various regions of Ukraine?
“I criticized Sumy oblast after the first competition. But this year the Sumy School of Culture showed its best side. Shostka’s Palace of Culture introduced two groups. How can we not notice this? The Poltava region has not shown its best despite the fact that this region has a very rich storehouse of folklore. The ensembles from the Lviv School of Culture have never taken part in the competition. The idea to hold a separate competition for this kind of educational establishment has emerged. After all, what kind of dance directors are they educating if they are not capable of demonstrating a single dance? Some teachers write books and articles. But are they confirming their ideas in practice? Pavlo Virsky did not have time to write books because he was fully absorbed in his work. I don’t have time for this either, although I understand that some of my achievements should be recorded on paper. I will probably do this when I retire.”
In your time you have probably commented a lot about professional ensembles that did not produce any significant creative achievements. Is this the result of dance directors’ complacency or lack of dancers?
“Both. But the problem with staff is huge. Today few people are ready to work in the sphere of culture where salaries are known to be low. So the level of many professional ensembles is dropping. Neither the Transcarpathian Folk Choir nor the Chernihiv Kleinody Ensemble took part in the festival competition. Ternopil’s Nadzbruchanka and Drohobych’s Verkhovyna have both lost their former renown. Some dance directors are talking about the need to establish so-called ‘satellites’ within existing ensembles, in other words, for schools to educate additional young dancers for them. The Donbas Merited Song and Dance Ensemble of Ukraine, headed by the art director, ballet master, and Merited Artist of Ukraine Oleksandr Prokopenko, stands out, and this was remarked by the jury members, who gave it top marks in one of the nominations.”
ONE FAMILY: THREE PEOPLE’S ARTISTS
Your family is full of dancers. Could you tell our readers a bit about this side of your life?
“We are the only family in Ukraine with three People’s Artists. But I can say frankly that none of us received this merited title thanks to some sort of friendly connections. We all work a lot and we often do not have any days off. My wife Valentyna first worked on the stage, and now she directs the Children’s School of Choreography. The fact that her pupils are winners of numerous competitions and receive invitations to tour abroad is proof of their success. My daughter Halyna, a soloist in our ensemble, knows each part very well and is able to create a convincing scenic image. She has two higher degrees and could work as a choreographer and ballet master. My son Myroslav has two diplomas as well, and he is now working as an assistant to our director-general. My daughter’s husband Volodymyr Tuiahin is also a soloist in our group. He is a Merited Artist of Ukraine. We are all devoted to the art of dance. We are engaged in a noble cause and this brings us colossal satisfaction.”
How does your work in the rehearsal room start?
“When I come into the room, I first look into the dancers’ eyes, not at their legs: I am looking for the glimmer that reflects the state of their souls, which later turns into expressive movement. I ask them whether they hear the music. If this is missing, a dancer cannot perform a dance that inflames the audience and inspires superior thoughts and feelings, a dance that transmits the spirit of our talented Ukrainian nation. But they must be hearing this music and carrying it with them because the audiences in many countries have been applauding them for many years.”
