YARA'S VIRTUAL EVENT SERIES
UKRAINIAN CULTURE IN AMERICA
Julian Kytasty, master bandura player, born in the US
Julian Kytasty - Kytasty Family program | video link
Julian Kytasty - Bandura in the Diasporas program | video link
Julian Kytasty - Reexamining the Tradition program | video link
Julian Kytasty - Yara Arts Group program | video link
Ukrainian Weekly on Kytasty series review
Andrea Odezynska filmmaker today program | video link
Tania Vovk bandura in the1970s & 80s program | video link
Pawlo Humeniuk, folk fiddler 1920s program | video link
Vasile Avramenko, folk dancer 1930s program | video link
Zinoviy Shtokalko, bandurist 1950s program | video link
Zinoviy Shtokalko, Ukrainian epic songs program | video link
Zinoviy Shtokalko, epic modernist program | video link
Zinoviy Shtokalko, singer of tales program | video link
Zinoviy Shtokalko, instrumental music program | video link
Oleh Lysheha, poet 1990s program | video link
YARA'S TRADITIONAL ARTS
Hutsul Keptar Jackets , program | video link
Maria Zelenchuk Dosiak of Kryvorivnia shows us her process of sewing Keptar
Hutsul Cheese Horses, program | video link
Maria Zelenchuk of Kryvorivnia shows us her process of making horses from cheese.
YARA'S WORLD EPIC SONGS FESTIVAL
Ukrainian Duma program | video link
Kyrgyz Epic Songs program | video link
Finnish Kalevala program | video link
African American Songs program | video link
Buryat Epic Songs program | video link
ZHADAN & FRIENDS
Poetry, 2021 program | video link
Prose, 2021 program | video link
Jazz, 2021 program | video link
Poetry, 2020 program | video link
Jazz, 2020 program | video link
UKRAINIAN CULTURE IN AMERICA
Yara Arts Group and the Ukrainian Educational and Cultural Center in Jenkintown present its second season of virtual events on Ukrainian culture in America.
Tania Vovk, who was born in Minnesota and was raised in the local Ukrainian Community. She was recognized as an extraordinary talent and performed throughout US and Canada in the 1970s and 80s. Tania played bandura on PBS and worked with Peter Ostroushko on “Prairie Home Companion,” NPR’s popular retro radio show on Sundays. She also was part of the cultural immersion movement in Canada in the 1970s. Tania tells her story and shares her music with director Virlana Tkacz. Master bandura player Julian Kytasty and Alina Kuzma join the discussion.
Special sponsors for this virtual series are: the Ukrainian Community Foundation and Philadelphia’s Selfreliance Ukrainian FCU, as well as public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts. Yara has presented events at the Ukrainian Educational and Cultural Center since 2014.
Pawlo Humeniuk who was born in 1883 in the town of Pidvolochysk and emigrated in 1908. Humeniuk worked in New York as a violin maker and played fiddle at weddings and similar occasions for the Ukrainian diaspora. In 1925, he signed with OKey Records and started recording folk-dance tunes. His “Ukrainske Wesilia” (Ukrainian Wedding) is said to have sold over 100,000 copies. “Folk Fiddler: Pawlo Humeniuk,” includes samples of Humeniuk’s recordings, a discussion of his work with folklorist Iryna Voloshyna and an appearance by the US Orchestra from Kyiv, inspired by the Humeniuk. Watch video
Vasile Avramenko was an immigrant from Stebliv who brought Ukrainian dance to New York in 1929. Virlana Tkacz tells his story, while archivist Mike Andrec shares recording of music used in his dance classes and film historian Yuri Shevchuk discusses Avramenko’s hand in the making of the first Ukrainian talking pictures. “Yara’s Traditional Arts: Folk Dancer Vasile Avramenko” Watch video
“Bandurist: Zinoviy Shtokalko,” was an immigrant from Berezhany, and a virtuoso bandura player who brought the Ukrainian epic song tradition to New York in the 1950s and developed it in the 1960s. Yara’s Virlana Tkacz tells his story, while Julian Kytasty, a master bandura player, shares recordings and plays work influenced by Shtokalko. Watch video
Poet Oleh Lysheha was born in Tysmenytsia near the Carpathian Mountains in 1949. He was expelled from Lviv University during a purge in the 1970s for his interest in American poetry and sent to do military duty in the Buryat Republic of Siberia. When he returned to Ukraine, Lysheha was banned from official Soviet literary activities. His first collection of poetry, “The Great Bridge” (1989), was like nothing else printed then. Yara started translating his work in 1990. “Poetry as Theatre: Oleh Lysheha’s 'Swan,'” includes a recording of the poet reading the poem in Ukrainian, video clips from Yara’s theatre shows, “Virtual Souls” (1997) and “Flight of the White Bird” (1999), which used sections of the poem and a discussion with the artists who participated in Yara’s “Swan” (2003). Watch video | More on Yara's "Swan"
These Virtual Events are made possible by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, the Ukrainian Community Foundation and Philadelphia's Selfreliance Ukrainian FCU.
YARA' 30: YARA THEATRE PROJECTS:
Oleh Lysheha's Swan (2003) watch 2020 virtual event | more on 2003 show
Oleh Lysheha's Raven (2011) watch 2020 virtual event | more on 2011 show
Er Toshtuk, based on Kyrgyz epic watch 2020 virtual event | more on 2009 show
Koliada Winter Shows at LaMaMa watch 2020 virtual event | more on shows below
Yara's Forest Songs
Fire Water Night (2013) program | virtual event | more on 2013 show
Yara's Forest Song (1994) program | virtual event | more on 1994 show
Yara's Forest Song (1993) program | virtual event
In addition to Yara's "Swan," (2003) based on a poem by Oleh Lysheha, Yara also created "Raven" (2011) also based on a Lyseha poem. Director Virlana Tkacz talks with participants and shows photos and video clips from performances at La MaMa, in Kyiv and Lviv. Bi-Lingual (Ukrainian & English) virtual event.
Yara created several theatre pieces based on Kyrgyz epics including: “Er Toshtuk” (2009). Director Virlana Tkacz talks with participants and shows video clips. Bi-lingual (Kyrgyz & English) virtual event.
Yara also created Koliada Winter Shows at La MaMa from 2008 to 2019, based on the Hutsul Koliada and an18th century Nativiry Puppet Play. The Koliadnyky from Kryvorvnia, who took part in the La MaMa shows, talk about them from their homes in the high Carpatian Mountains. More on: Still the River Flows (2008), WInter Sun (2010), Midwinter Night (2012), Winter Light (2014), and Winter Songs on Mars (2019).
KOLIADA VIRTUAL EVENTS
2020 program | link
2021 program | link
Yara's Theatre Virtual Events are made possible by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and friends of Yara Arts Group.
Ukrainian
American
Cultural Figures
Series
summer, 2020
Pawlo Humeniuk, folk fiddler 1920s
Vasile Avramenko, folks dancer 1930s
Zinoviy Shtokalko, bandurist 1950s
Oleh Lysheha, poet 1990s
links to video on names above
more: press release, programs etc
Shtokalko:
Singer
of Tales
September, 2020
sang his own versions of ancient tales about Kyiv. Yara’s Virlana Tkacz tells the story, while Julian Kytasty, a master bandura player, shares Shtokalko’s recordings. Special guest: Marko R. Stech from Toronto.
Folk dancer:
Vasile Avramenko
August, 2020
This immigrant from Stebliv brought
Ukrainian dance to New York in 1929.
Yara’s Virlana Tkacz tells his story, and talks to archivist Mike Andrec about recordings used in his dance classes and Yuri Shevchuk about Avramenko's hand in the first Ukrainian talking pictures. program & press release
Shtokalko:
Ukrainian
Epic Songs
October, 2020
ZInoviy Shtokalko, a virtuoso bandura player, brought the Ukrainian epic song tradition to New York in the 1950s & 60s Yara’s Virlana Tkacz tells the story, while Julian Kytasty, a master bandura player, shares Shtokalko's recordings.
Special guests: Andrij Hornjatkevyc from Edmonton and Dmytro Hubyak from Ukraine. program & press release
Epic Poetry as Theatre:
"Er
Toshtuk"
August, 2020
Yara Arts Group has created several theatre pieces based on Kyrgyz epics including: “Er Toshtuk” (2009). Director Virlana Tkacz talks with participants and shows video clips. Bi-lingual (Kyrgyz & English) virtual event.
Bandurist: Zinoviy Shtokalko
July, 2020
This immigrant from Berezhany brought the Ukrainian epic song tradition to New York in the 1950s and developed it in the1960’s. Yara’s Virlana Tkacz tells his story, while Julian Kytasty,a master bandurist, shares Shtokalko's recordings and plays work influenced by him.
Shtokalko:
Instrumental
Music
September, 2020
ZInoviy Shtokalko, was a virtuoso bandura player in New York
in the 1950s & 60’s. Yara’s Virlana Tkacz tells the story, while
Julian Kytasty, a master bandura player, shares Shtokalko’s recordings.
Special guests: Dmytro Hubyak and his students from Ukraine.
Poet:
Oleh Lysheha "Raven"
October, 2020
Yara Arts Group has created several theatre pieces based on poetry by Oleh Lysheha, including: “Raven” (2011). Director Virlana Tkacz talks with participants and shows video clips.
Poet:
Oleh Lysheha
"Swan"
June, 2020
Yara Arts Group has created several theatre pieces based on poetry by Oleh Lysheha, including: “Swan” (2003). Director Virlana Tkacz talks with participants and shows video clips.
program & press release