Feast and famine at Viter performance

Often overshadowed by its older cousins Shumka and Cheremosh, the Viter Ukrainian Dancers and Viter Ukrainian Folk Choir is still making its mark.

With only one major presentation annually, Viter concludes its season tonight at the Jubilee Auditorium with Fusion: Harmony in Motion.

“It’s really the combination of 35 dancers and 30-member choir that sets us apart from the others,” says artistic director Les Sereda. Two of the core dancers are from St. Albert — Megan Sneddon and Antonia DiCastri.

In a nod to Viter’s 15th anniversary celebrations, Sereda invited Juno-nominated jazz pianist John Stetch to collaborate with the company in one of his innovative works, Sad Memories of Childhood. This eight-minute haunting work by the former Edmontonian commemorates the Great Famine of the Ukraine from 1932-33.

“It’s not a story too often told. It’s a difficult subject, yet important to be remembered. It was an awful moment in history and the Canadian government is one of the few governments that has recognized it as a genocide. Although it was a tragedy there’s a glimmer of hope at the end of John’s work,” says Sereda, who choreographed all the dances along with associate director Tasha Orysiuk.

“Our style is one where we like to have choreography rooted in folk culture yet we like to have room to push and grow. The famine piece is more contemporary but it suits the story told. We choose a style based on the story that needs to be told.”

The first part is filled with trademark works from Viter’s repertoire, dances of special celebrations cycling through the seasons. A culture heavily dependent on agriculture, the Ukraine marked the year with New Year’s, spring and Easter, harvest and wedding dances.

DiCastri, a Grade 12 Ă©cole Saint Marguerite d’Youville student, who provides a great deal of footwork for this portion, describes the simultaneous impact of two disciplines on stage as universally appealing. “It’s really powerful to have the entire company on stage.”

The second part of Sad Memories from Childhood and a few of Stetch’s solo stylings also incorporates dances where the two sexes separate and dazzle with a variety of sword tricks, leaps and twirls.

One of the crowd pleasers is Zaperozhtez, a showy piece of male strength. “It’s chock full of all these tricks you can do. There’s even back breakers. One of our dancers can jump, bend his legs underneath and arch his back so it’s almost as if his body is making a full circle.”

And of course there is the traditional Hopak. “In French we say ‘la joie de vivre’ and Ukrainian dance encompasses being alive with all the colour and music.”