CHAD POITRAS
Arts Writer

On March 3, the Prairie Centre for the Study of Ukrainian Heritage at St. Thomas More College hosted the exclusive Saskatchewan premiere of FOLK! — a Ukrainian dance documentary by New York-based director, Roxy Toporowych.

PCUH serves as an anchor for Ukrainian studies at the University of Saskatchewan by offering courses in this area, while engaging in research and projects that promote a wider understanding and appreciation of the Ukrainian experience in Canada and abroad.

The FOLK! screening was part of the Ukrainian Artists Invitational Series. The initiative is meant to assist in the promotion of the Ukrainian arts scene to a wider audience and to help raise funds for Ukrainian scholarships. Proceeds raised during the screening went to support students taking part in spring session in Ukraine, a study-abroad program offered by STM where students travel to Ternopil and study at the Ternopil National Pedagogical University, earning a beginner, intermediate or advanced language credit.

Shot over the course of several years, the film follows narrator, director and producer Roxy Toporowych, who was in attendance for the screening, on her journey of Ukrainian dance and features the legendary ballerina and choreographer, Roma Pryma Bohachevsky.

The film opens with Toporowych inviting the viewer to her hometown of Parma, Ohio. The introduction is fun and uses still photos of Parma to engage the audience in an understanding of where Toporowych grew up; a suburb of Cleveland that houses a Ukrainian village.

As the young director sets the background of her hometown, she continues by presenting the audience to the source of her Ukrainian dancing roots: Markian Komichak, Toporowych’s first dance instructor.

Komichak gives the viewers a tour of the dance studio where he teaches and, as one watches, it is difficult to keep from smiling. The director did an excellent job at capturing a man who is clearly involved in his role as dance instructor.

The first few scenes provide a general background of Toporowych’s years growing up in a Ukrainian-American community. This background provides a good foundation to the more underlying dynamic that FOLK! is about: a group of individuals who all share an interest in Ukrainian folk dancing.

The common assumption is that those who Ukrainian folk dance will come from Ukrainian roots, whether by birth or ancestry, but the film introduces us to Orlando Pagan of Puerto Rican descent, who is one of the most prominent dancers of the Syzokryli Dance Ensemble of New York. This detail is significant as Pagan was a student of Roma Pryma Bohachevsky, the legendary ballerina and a pioneer of staged Ukrainian folk dancing in North America.

The film follows Bohachevsky as she organizes an anniversary show to celebrate her 40 years of teaching dance in North America. Unfortunately, during the filming of FOLK!, Bohachevsky passed away. The focus of the rest of the film shifts to focus on the dancers who continue to rehearse for the planned show despite her death.

The film was well received by the audience, reminding many of their own dancing experiences and days growing up in various Ukrainian Canadian communities.

A bonus to the screening was a lively panel discussion following the film, featuring PCUH director, Dr. Natalia Khanenko-Friesen and artistic director of the Pavlychenko Folklorique Ensemble Serhiy Koroliuk.

Following the discussion, Toporowych chatted with audience members, autographed DVD copies of the film and had the opportunity to meet Lusia Pavlychenko, Saskatoon’s own “Roma Pryma Bohachevsky” — Lusia was Bohachevsky’s contemporary in the dance world, and herself has created a lasting legacy of Ukrainian dance in Saskatchewan, thanks to her work with both the Yevshan Folk Ballet Ensemble and later with the Pavlychenko Folklorique Ensemble.

Overall, FOLK! is a film with its camera lens on Ukrainian folk dancing and culture, however, it also provides a great example of how people bond and have fun over a common interest — something many communities all over the world can relate to.