AUUC Regina News
REGINA’S AUUC POLTAVA ENSEMBLE TRAVELS TO PORTUGAL AND SPAIN
Upon invitation and sponsorship of the International Council of Organizations of Folklore Festivals and Folk Arts (CIOFF), Regina’s Poltava Ensemble of Song, Music and Dance was invited to perform at the 2023 FolkMoncao Festival in Portugal and the Xornadas de Folclore in Spain. This invitation marked the Ensemble’s third opportunity to perform at the FolkMoncao Festival and their second opportunity to perform at Xornadas de Folclore in Spain.
The planning of this type of tour was extensive and required preparation for performances of varying lengths, with mandatory live orchestra accompaniment and without breaks between dances. Six dances (Vitayemo, Zakarpatskiy Krucheniy, Sailors Dance, Podolyanochka, Gypsy Dance and Hopak) were chosen from Poltava’s existing repertoire and choreography and music were cut and reworked to fit into performance time guidelines. Since performances were continuous dance and music, costumes also had to be reworked for each performer with some dancers wearing two costumes for costume changes of less than one minute.
Fundraising for such a tour was essential and although CIOFF and Festival organizations paid for all travel, food and accommodation within Portugal/Spain, Poltava and participants were responsible for all other costs such as overseas flights, insurances, costs for additional luggage (costumes/instruments/technical equipment) etc. Poltava participants absorbed their own individual airline costs/insurances, the Ensemble initiated many fundraising events and financial assistance was also received from the Regina and National AUUC. On July 26, 2023 twenty dancers, ten musicians, two directors (Lisa Wanner – Dance Director and Vlad Tsymbal – Orchestra Conductor), and four assistants (video, media, promo/spokesperson) departed Canada for Lisbon, Portugal. A bus trip from Lisbon to Moncao began the first leg of Poltava’s 18 days of performances in Portugal and Spain.
The rewards of such a tour are many and among the notable were:
International experience: International experience: The experience of sharing the stage with professional and semiprofessional ensembles from: Argentina, Georgia, Bolivia, Tahiti, Africa, Venezuela, Mexico, Ecuador and Portugal;
International experience:Performing in front of thousands of people (Moncao closing show estimated 10,000 in attendance);
Sharing with othersSocializing with people from around the world and recognizing that everyone is the same regardless of culture and country;
Local hospitality: Being hosted in small town restaurants with home cooked food made by local cooks and workers;
Demanding conditions: : Rehearsing in +40 weather and performing each evening at 11:00pm at night;
Exotic venues: Performing in a monastery and at a castle;
About ourselves: : And being able to share our own organization’s history with dignitaries, the public, journalists and responding to the question, “How was Poltava (from Canada) able to maintain the Ukrainian culture which was brought to Canada over one hundred years ago?”
