Vegreville 2010

I thought Vegreville Pysanka festival 2010 would be a great launch point for kicking this off.  Veg this year was pretty good actually.  A wide variety of performers were on the grandstand including Canada’s National Riding and Dancing Kozaks from Dauphin, Manitoba who told a curious little story about Kozaks on the prairies.  Ahhh… I agree.  The horses were cool though - and the canon.

Viter Ukrainian dancers rocked but judge for yourself.  I’m biased here!

There was a group from Wishart Saskatchewan.  Where? I know, I know but they were full of piss and vinegar and what they lacked in technique they made of for in spirit.  It was a bit of old school.  Lots of fun and it reminded me of Ukrainian dance in Alberta 20 years ago.  This was a time when small towns still had big groups and kids weren’t too cool to dance.  I heard some people making fun of Wishart but maybe we could learn a thing or two from them.  Stop being elitist and enjoy Ukrainian dance for the pure pleasure of pouring your heart out on stage.  Encourage people who want to dance and show their love of Ukrainian culture this way.  Don’t judge their interpretation of Ukrainian culture or the abilities.  That will come in time.  That can be taught.  Passion comes from the heart and soul – this is harder to teach.

The competition was weak this year.  Vegreville used to be the pride of Ukrainian dance culture.  I have lots of thoughts on why this has changed but that’s for another day.  They have re-jigged their competition structure for the better I think, with new categories etc…  now they just need to get groups out!

One highlight was the Trick Competition.  This is a great idea and although it was only 20 minutes, it drew a bigger crown than the regular dance competition.  I hope to see this grow!