PREVIEW
Mosquito’s Wedding (All We Need Is Love)
Shumka Ukrainian Dance
Oct. 5 and 6
Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
11455 – 87 Ave.
Tickets: Start at $15. Visit www.shumka.com
Once upon a time in Ukraine, there were Cossacks and Tartars, magic boots and mavky (forest nymphs). Their antics became folklore, and in summer evenings when the work was done, villagers gathered to recount the fables through impromptu folk dance competitions.
The dances, built around melodies alternating between the wild and submissive, invigorated local culture with charisma, athleticism and regional pride.
As centuries passed the folk dances grew into adrenalin-fuelled, acrobatic forms with backward flips, kicking spins and a sense of one-upmanship that rivals any modern hip-hop crew.
Edmonton’s Shumka Ukrainian Dance company is renowned globally for its verve, agility and inventiveness. The professional company remains relevant by preserving its cultural heritage while adapting to the future.
In the past two decades it has developed a unique hybrid style by cross-pollinating folk dance’s earthy roots and powerful technique with ballet’s fluid form and elegance.
Once again Shumka enters a new chapter with youth dance theatre. On Oct. 5 and 6, the dance troupe hosts the world premiere of Mosquito’s Wedding (All We Need is Love) at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium.
The 50-minute all-ages vibrant dance is inspired by a traditional Ukrainian folk song. Set in an 18th century village, a fantasy world of insect characters from various regions of Ukraine, it explores the themes of love, diversity and acceptance.
The dance starts as Mosquito (Michael V. Sulyma), a shy boy next door, longingly searches for a mate. He encounters Fly (Arlyssa McArthur), a lovely carefree, feisty girl who desires to follow in her father’s footsteps as a woodcutter.
Fly’s father (Michael Eeles) wishes to marry his daughter to an eligible suitor of his choosing, and sets up a wood-chopping competition. Fly knows she must marry but desires to select her own mate.
Fortunately the first three suitors fail the challenge. When Mosquito tries his hand, Fly tricks her father into believing Mosquito is a fast and furious master axeman.
After a joyful village wedding, the young couple discovers they are not a traditional couple. She is a terrible cook. He is the “Chef Ramsey of the village,” director Leslie Sereda said.
Fly is a tough outdoorswoman. Mosquito is more sensitive and becomes the target of Cockroach (Joseph Hoffman) and the village bullies.
“It’s a relatively contemporary story about a husband and wife. They get through things by changing how they view each other. There are layers purposely built into the story and you will see different things,” Sereda said.
The Sturgeon County acreage owner noted the first emails about the possibility of adapting a traditional children’s story first surfaced in 2013.
However, two years ago Sereda and John Pichlyk, a former company artistic director, sat down to plan a libretto. But the original story required a serious rewrite.
Several decades ago, Kazka Productions printed an adaptation of the original song. It was an eight-page, read-and-sing-along picture book complete with a tape.
“It was a book every kid of my generation knew about. It was a touchstone for Canadian kids growing up in a Ukrainian family,” Sereda noted.
In the original adaptation, there is a wedding feast in which costumed guests take part in a traditional wedding complete with an Orthodox priest. But after the couple’s wedding, neither party cares to cook or do housework.
They bicker and Mosquito flies off to spend the night in an oak tree. A big storm hits, blows Mosquito to the ground and kills him. The last page is a funeral.
Say what? A funeral in a kids’ book? What was the message?
Sereda shrugs his shoulders and breaks into a broad smile.
“It’s like the Grimms' fairy tales. It was a different time, a different sensibility.”
Many Ukrainian fairy and folk tales use magic and animals to express social statements, laugh at people’s imperfections, and as an allegory or proverb.
Looking at the context could Mosquito’s Wedding have originated as a warning to children from attempting dangerous escapades? Possibly.
Taking the raw material, Sereda and Pichlyk retained the characters and modernized the storyline to better reflect 21st century esthetics.
“We knew we had to make it a contemporary story. I have three little girls and I had to ask, ‘What is the world I envision for my daughters?' " Serda added.
The theatre dance hints at different racial undertones. However, its creators chose not to go down that road. Serada noted the ultimate message is hinged on accepting diversity and all its quirks.
Leading lady
It’s been impossible to wipe the smile off Arlyssa McArthur since winning the lead female role as Fly. The 2016 St. Albert Catholic High graduate is a third-year visual and communications design and computing design student at the University of Alberta.She studied variations of ballet, jazz and tap for 18 years before joining Shumka three years ago. Since then she’s performed as a Marionette Doll/Snowflake in The Nutcracker and Fire Spirit in Ancestors and Elders.
“I was really excited to get this role. It’s a great opportunity. When I go on stage I don’t get nervous. I become the character,” McArthur said.
McArthur sees Fly as a strong, independent character who doesn’t require parental approval for major decisions. She rebels from fitting into a traditional box. When Fly tries to conform to the housewife stereotype, things go awry.
“She’s disappointed in herself until the forest nymphs restore her confidence. She learns it’s OK to be different. It’s OK to be yourself.”
Bolstering the seamless choreography is Ukrainian composer/arranger Andrij Shoost’s smart score that even inserts a few bars from the Beatles' mega hit All You Need is Love. How appropriate for a theatrical bug romance.
While the storyline is simple and direct, the production elements are broad and expansive. The embroidered costumes alone are an art form in themselves.
Anna Ipatieva, resident costume designer for Kyiv Modern Ballet Theatre, creates a vivid palette blending the vibrancy of Ukrainian Easter eggs and a Land of Oz-styled psychedelic rainbow. There are 75 original costumes and no two are alike.
Complementing the costumes is Andrii Zliobin's set design that showcases a 20-foot tall, mythical tree creature that weighs more than 800 pounds. And light designer Jeff Osterlin is key in developing a bug world by projecting half a dozen scenes on the stage’s back wall.
Prepare to view a colourful parade of props ranging from puppetry and wooden axes to ethnic cooking pots and a trembita (a long alpine horn).
Unmatched in world class dance, Shumka’s appeal is only rivalled by ethnic pride. For more information, visit www.shumka.com.
