If you enjoyed the recent performance of "Fiddler on the Roof" at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, here's something else you might like. The 80 members of the Virsky Ukrainian National Dance Company will present "The romance and passion of the Ukraine" on Sunday, 9/13/09 at the Irvine Barclay theatre. The performance will begin at 3:00 pm. According to the release, "Each and every performance is romantic, elevated, passionate, and exciting."

The Virsky Ukrainian National Dance Company is its country’s official cultural ambassador, showcasing its colorful, unique and authentic folk traditions with a vibrant ensemble of over 80 dancers and musicians.

The history of the ensemble goes back to 1937 when Pavlo Virsky and Mykola Bolotov, well-known Ukrainian ballet-masters, brought together a group of folk dancers. From 1955 to 1975, Pavlo Virsky headed the ensemble. It was under his guidance that the ensemble matured into a highly professional dance company, winning the hearts of countless reviewers and the general public around the world. Pavlo Virsky created such artistic choreographic compositions as We’re from Ukraine, The Sailors, The Dolls, We Remember, The Funny Zaporizhia Cossack Dance Povzunets; the humorous The Stepp Wagoner’s Delight and Under the Cherry Tree, the romantic A Girl from Podillya, and the poignant The Weeping Willow.

Myroslav Vantukh, Pavlo Virsky’s disciple and an expert in folk traditions and ethnography has been the director of the ensemble since 1980. His main objective and continuing creative quest is the preservation and development of folk choreographic art. Exquisite virtuosity of the dancers, the bright, dazzling palette of costumes, the wealth of music, and the richness of the choreographic plot—these are the characteristic features of the new numbers such as The Carpathians, The Tambourine Dance, The Young Years, In Peace and Harmony, and The Russian Suite, which have entered the ensemble’s repertoire.

The company is famous for its brightly colored costumes, the unity of content and form, and its vivid stagings. The ensemble’s diverse concert programs present the exquisite charm of Ukrainian folk dancing and its traditions, and have been warmly received by audiences all over the world.

Virsky Ukrainian National Dance Company
Sunday, September 13, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Irvine Barclay Theatre
4242 Campus Drive, Irvine CA 92612
949-854-4646
www.thebarclay.org
Tickets: $25