Hopak in the Park 2012
A pleasant autumnal day was on hand to welcome over 1,400 attendees to the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne, Australia for the second Hopak in the Park on Saturday 28 April 2012.
Proceedings commenced with the singing of the National Anthems of Australia and Ukraine, followed by the Welcome (Pryvit) Dance performed by the Veselka and Zaharava Ensembles from Sydney.
The show was ably compered by Kristie Carter, a TV presenter from Newcastle, NSW.
The initial dances were interspersed with welcome messages from Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisation (AFUO) officials and official guests.
AFUO Representatives
| Stefan Romaniw OAM | Chairman AFUO |
| Taras Galas | Cultural Director AFUO |
Official Guests
| The Hon Matthew Guy MP | Victorian State Minister for Planning |
| Senator Catryna Bilyk | Federal Senator for Tasmanian Chair Australia-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group |
| Stanislav Stashevski | Chargé d’Affaires, Embassy of Ukraine in Australia |
| Dr Serhiy Kvit | President of the “Kyiv Mohyla Academy National University in Kyiv, Ukraine |
| Councillor Brian Shanahan OAM | Melbourne City Councillor |
Some variety was added to the dance spectacle with guest appearances by HRIM, a Ukrainian band from New York, and Danny McGinlay, a Melbourne comedian who has just completed a season at the Melbourne Comedy Festival where he portrayed an Australian about to marry his Ukrainian girlfriend and his attempts to learn Ukrainian.
However the main theme of the show was traditional Ukrainian dancing and not just the Hopak. The dance ensembles who came from all over Australia provided a vivacious and colourful spectacle, set to lively music. The dances were representative of different regions of Ukraine, both in dance choreography and traditional costumes. The list of dances and performers included:
| PRYVIT (Ukrainian Welcome Dance) | VESELKA & ZAHRAVA Ensembles (Sydney) |
| KUBANSKI VIZERUNKY(Styles of the Kuban Cossacks) | VOLYA & YEVSHAN Ensembles (Adelaide) |
| KARPATY (Carpathian Mountains) | VERCHOVYNA Ensemble (Melbourne) |
| VIRSKY’S HOPAK | ROZTIAZHKA Dancers (Perth) |
| POLYSSIAN DANCE (from North Western Ukraine) | ISKRA Ensemble (Geelong) |
| OY, HALIU | YEVSHAN Ensemble (Adelaide) |
| COSSACK BROTHERS CABARET | UKRAINIAN COSSACK BROTHERS (Melbourne / Sydney) |
| CHERKASSKY (Central Ukraine) | VOLYA ENSEMBLE (Adelaide) |
| HUTSUL’S FLIGHT (Carpathian Mountains) | VERCHOVYNA Ensemble (Melbourne) |
| WOMEN’S TAMBOURINE DANCE | ROZTIAZHKA Dancers (Perth) |
| HOPAK | ISKRA Ensemble (Geelong) |
| KUBANSKYI (from KUBAN) | ROZTIAZHKA Dancers (Perth) |
| METELYTSIA | VESELKA & ZAHRAVA Ensembles (Sydney) |
| FINAL HOPAK | VERCHOVYNA Ensemble (Melbourne) |
And for those spectators who felt peckish or thirsty, there was plenty of food and drink available, including varennyky (Ukrainian dumplings) and borshch (beetroot soup), Ukrainian beer and horilka (vodka).
A wonderful time was had by all.
A massive thank you to the Melbourne weather, the organisers who put in such enormous effort to put on this show, and to all the performers who gave such a professional exhibition of Ukrainian dance at its best.
Дякую і велике спасибі.
Photos (courtesy of Taras and Sonja Moravski: http://www.flickr.com/photos/moravski/sets/72157629575124162/
