Feast on home cooked Ukrainian cuisine, be amazed by the Sadok Ukrainian Dance Ensemble and dance the night away to the Vic Ukrainetz Band playing Ukrainian polka’s and old time prairie dance songs.
Sadok hosts a new Vernon Winter Carnival event, A Night in Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 8 at the Vernon Rec Centre. Doors open at 5:30, dinner is at 6 p.m. Tickets to the event are $50 for adults, $25 for youth 19 and under and free for children under five and are available at the Vernon Winter Carnival office or online at vernonwintercarnival.com.
“This evening is drawn from the rich history and cultural traditions of the 1970s where every month there was a dinner at the local Ukrainian hall, dance performances and a live band to dance the night away,” said Sadok’s founder, choreographer and artistic director Andrea Malysh.
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The menu, fashioned after the recipes of Malysh’s late mother Anne, will include traditional favorites of perohy (perogies) and holuptsi (cabbage rolls) along with kubassa, beets, salads and ham. Homemade desserts of traditional strawberry shortcake and apple crumble will top off the meal.
Following dinner, Sadok will entertain the guests with an amazing program of their trademark choreography beginning with the Adult Performing Ensemble and their Pryvit (welcome dance), a new regional dance from Pokuttia called Holubka (dove), the little ones and their Tambourine dance and the Intermediates will show off with the Sword Dance.
“The Senior dancers will wow the audiences with a Kozak Sword Dance, and the young maidens gracefully perform Pleskach, a traditional Ladies Clapping dance from the region of Polissia. The program will conclude with the grand finale, Hopak.”
Vic Ukrainetz and his Dance Band have been playing in the Okanagan for more than 30 years. Dance songs with include some old time dances as the Butterfly, Chattis, and a fast Polka. They will also include some prairie rock and two-stepping songs. The guests will be included in the Traditional Kolomayka where everyone will join in this circle dance.
“The Sadok Ukrainian Dance Ensemble is a local dance theatre troupe that continually pushes the boundaries of this unique art form by entertaining and educating their audience about their beautiful Ukrainian Canadian heritage,” said Malysh, who has more than 30 years of Ukrainian Folk Dance and ethnographic studies experience.
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They have performed throughout the Okanagan, Vancouver, Alberta and Los Angeles. Their travels have taken them to Ukraine in 2006 to study dance at the Virsky National State Ensemble international summer dance program. In March of 2008 they performed at Disneyland where they shared their culture with the world. In 2013, Sadok returned to Ukraine to once again enjoy the beautiful country, visit family and study dance at the Yunist Dance Ensemble studio at the Palace of Culture in Lviv. In 2014, the Ensemble were guest performers at the Cultural Showcase at the Vegreville Ukrainian Pysanky Festival in Alberta. In 2016, Sadok performed at the Vancouver Greek Festival. In 2018, Sadok traveled Ukraine, to the Ukrainian International Dance Festival in Lviv.
In 2006, Malysh was awarded a diploma from the School of Choreography at the Virsky National University of Arts and Culture in Kyiv, Ukraine.
For more information contact Malysh at (250) 309-6948 or visit www.sadok.net