Dancers from across Saskatchewan were at the EA Rawlinson Centre for a celebration of Ukrainian dancing.
The EA Rawlinson Centre played host to the 2025 Barveenok Ukrainian Dance Festival from April 11-13. The festival included 327 solo, duet, and large ensemble performances.
“It’s going really great,” Barveenok club president Kayleigh Skomorowski said. “We have a lot of the same clubs that continue … to come back and that’s always really nice. The venue, of course is always wonderful to work at. It’s nice to be able to host our festival in this wonderful venue.”
The festival included performances from the Prince Albert Barveenok Ukrainian Dancers, Nipawin Veselii Dancers, Meath Park and District Ukrainian Dancers, Soloveyko Ukrainian Dancers and the Leleka Ukrainian dance ensemble, Hudson Bay Cheremka Dance Club, Vesnianka Academy of Ukrainian Dance, and the Boyan Ukrainian Dance Association, among others.
Rebecca Stefanyshyn from the Prince Albert Barveenok Ukrainian Dancers performed a Bulkovyna dance on Saturday during the Prince Albert Barveenok Ukrainian Dance Festival.
Charlie Nagy and Sara Brown from the Meath Park and District Ukrainian Dancers performed a Hutsul’shchyna dance on Saturday during the Prince Albert Barveenok Ukrainian Dance Festival.
Adjudicator Maksym Zabutnyy talks to dancers on Saturday during the Prince Albert Barveenok Ukrainian Dance Festival.
Skomorowski said they benefitted from having a lot of volunteers who are not regular Barveenok Club members. They also benefited from having award-winning Ukrainian dancer Maksym Zabutnyy travel north to adjudicate.
Zabutnyy performed at Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival in 2013, 2016, 2022, and 2023. He was also part of the Zabutnyy Dance Company tour of Ukraine in 2019.
“He’s just been wonderful to work with,” Skomorowski said. “We actually contracted him in 2019, and then the 2020 festival never happened, so it kind of took us a while to get back to bringing him (to the festival). I’m glad we got to finish that off.”
The 2025 festival also included a performance from the Veselka choir, and Kolomyika dance for all attendees.
“Our whole rationale and thinking behind it is these kids are spending all this time back stage and watching each other dance, but to finally have that chance to dance together in a social type setting, we’re really looking forward to,” Skomorowski said.
–with files from Michael Oleksyn/Daily Herald
