2 brothers join efforts to bring more than 100 dancers on stage in Calgary to support Ukraine
CBC
More than 100 dancers from junior ensembles across Alberta will hit the stage in Calgary Saturday night in a show of solidarity for Ukraine.
The show, BRAVO!, was organized by Vasyl Kanavets, artistic director of Vykrutas Ukrainian Dance Society in Calgary, to raise money for humanitarian aid in Ukraine.
"What we will do in our show, we will try to show how good our dances are," said Kanavets.
"Lots of different regions, lots of different variety of dancing."
In addition to Vykrutas, there will be performances from Alberta dance groups Cheremshyna, Chumak II, Studia Shumka, Yalenka Ukrainian Dancers, Barvinok Ukrainian Dance Society, Junior Tryzub, Troyanda Ukrainian Dancers and Polanie Polish Folk Dance Ensemble. There will also be singing by Ukrainian-Canadian Mezzo-Soprano Stephanie Romaniuk and Ukrainian-Croatian Soprano Slava Sles with accompaniment from pianist Todd Adams.
This is the second time Kanavets has organized the show, the first time was in 2020 before the pandemic hit.
However, he wanted to bring it back again to show support for his home country of Ukraine after Russia invaded in February.
"This is a show for everybody. We would like to stand up and show our culture. We are not afraid. We would like to tell everybody, 'people pay attention.' What's happened in Ukraine could happen to anybody," he said.
"We need to be together. Solidarity it's very, very important at this moment."
Both Vasyl and his brother Mykola Kanavets grew up in Kyiv, Ukraine and moved to Alberta in the 1990s to teach Ukrainian dance.
Mykola, who is the artistic director of the Cheremosh Ukrainian Dance Society in Edmonton, is bringing his junior dancers between the ages of 11 to 17 to perform in the sold out show.
These past few months have been tough for both brothers who still have cousins and relatives living in Ukraine.
"It's very difficult," said Mykola.
He remembers vividly the moment Russia first struck Kyiv with missiles two months ago. He was at rehearsal with his dancers when he heard the news.
When Gurdeep Khinda moved from India to Montreal 30 years ago, he thought his dream of becoming an actor on stage was over. He was too busy navigating his new life and there weren't any theatre groups in the city catering to the Indian community at the time.
More than 53,000 Manitobans have accessed birth control at no cost in the first year of the provincial government's free contraception program, the province says.
The Niagara Regional Police Pipe Band is inviting beginners and youth to try its free music program to help carry on the world-calibre musical ensemble's tradition.
Mayors of municipalities across southwestern Ontario say they’ve focused on the things they could control this year, as the U.S. trade war with Canada and the world has hammered local economies.
A house filled with snakes and spiders might be straight out of many people's nightmares, but to longtime exotic pet keeper Nolan Asplund, they’re like family.
The Ontario government is introducing new rules for publicly advertised job postings in the new year, but questions remain over whether the changes will result in tangible benefits for jobseekers.
Did you know ambulance services on Prince Edward Island were once largely provided by funeral homes?
The past 12 months brought big political headlines, new partisan players and plenty of parliamentary surprises. How much do you remember from it all?
The Ontario government has quietly given itself the power to override archaeological protections on development sites.
A freezing rain event that's left roads and trees across southwestern Ontario coated in ice has also seen emergency crews overwhelmed with calls for help from people without power and snapped trees.
Annette Dionne, the last surviving Dionne quintuplet and a champion of children's rights, has died.
The Newfoundland and Labrador government is warning of multiple scams circulating leading up to the holidays.
The painted bunting usually calls the southern U.S. home and travels south at this time of year, but one decided to spend its Christmas holidays up north in Bayfield, N.B.