DATELINE NEW YORK: Veryovka takes the stage (02/18/96)

DATELINE NEW YORK: Veryovka takes the stage

by Helen Smindak

NEW YORK - Touring the U.S. for the first time, the Veryovka Ukrainian National Choral and Dance Ensemble of Kyiv came to the New York area last weekend to present concerts in Brooklyn, the Bronx and C.W. Post College on Long Island. The troupe departed on Monday, February 12, for Bangor, Maine, leaving behind a host of long-time fans and newly won admirers and friends.

There were a few disappointed souls in the ranks, among them dance aficionados who anticipated grand production numbers like those mounted by Virsky and Moiseyev, and others who expected non-stop acrobatics. Some may have hoped for Russian melodies, like the elderly Jewish lady who was overheard explaining to a friend at the Brooklyn concert, "I really don't think this program was meant for Russian emigres."

The Veryovka concerts offered a Ukrainian menu of folk songs, dances and orchestral numbers, with three exceptions - a Rimsky-Korsakov piece ("Flight of the Bumble-Bee"), which revealed the virtuosity of bayan player Pavlo Feniuk; a quiet interpretation of a Negro spiritual, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen," and a phonetically learned version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" delivered capably before the singing of "Shche Ne Vmerla Ukraina," Ukraine's national anthem.

Most concert-goers found great satisfaction and delight in the richness and authenticity of the ensemble's work, praising the performance as "enchanting," "extraordinary" and "truly folk-oriented."

Theodore Teren-Yuskiw, Svoboda's music critic, who took in the Veryovka concert at Lehman College in the Bronx, reported he was "deeply moved." In Mr. Teren-Yuskiw's view, the ensemble delivered a "very high-level performance, with nothing banal or cheap about it."

A professional company founded in Kharkiv in 1943, Veryovka combines the creative and artistic traditions of folk singing and dancing from all over Ukraine with a contemporary style of performance.

Anatoly Avdievsky, the troupe's artistic director for the past 30 years, is known to be unhappy with the emphasis on acrobatics used by other companies. He prefers to put "soul and spirit" into Ukrainian songs and dances.

The ensemble's vocal art is steeped in the Ukrainian folk tradition of "bilyi zvook" - literally, "white sound" or, as The Weekly columnist Roman Sawycky describes it, a colorless voice employed by the women, with a full, throaty, completely native, almost primitive way of projecting the voice so that it dominates the singing.

Most of the men in the chorus are conservatory trained; the women receive special instruction in the distinctive Veryovka style of folk singing.

Although the chorus on tour numbers only 28 singers as compared to the full complement of 70 or more chorus members in Kyiv, its presentations were impressive. "Colorless voice" singing predominated in the opening numbers of the concert I attended at Brooklyn College's Whitman Hall, including the popular Ukrainian song "The Red Guelder Rose of the Meadow" (Oy, u Luzi Chervona Kalyna). This patriotic song from Ukraine's past was orchestrated for chorus and orchestra by Mr. Avdievsky.

A cappella rendition of "Carol of the Bells" and "In Jerusalem Bells Tolled" received hearty applause, as did the excellent a cappella work in "Oy Ziyshla Zoria" (a tale of the Turkish and Tatar invasion of Ukraine), featuring the deep bass voice of soloist Vladimir Hoiko.

For "Drymba," an excerpt from the choral work "Oh, My Mountain" by the contemporary composer Vladimir Zubitsky, the chorus effectively imitated the sound of the musical instrument known as the "drymba" (Jew's harp). Popular among the common people of Ukraine and used mostly by shepherds, the small lyre-shaped instrument was held between the teeth and plucked to give off a twanging sound.

Mr. Avdievsky, in formal evening attire, directed the chorus in these selections, and led the combined chorus and orchestra in an inspiring performance of "Reve ta Stohne Dnipr Shyrokyi" (The Wide Dnipro River Roars), Taras Shevchenko's poetry set to music by Danylo Kryzhanovsky.

Youthful Dancers

A captivating group of youthful dancers came on stage with the chorus and orchestra for the welcome dance that incorporated songs and dances from various Ukrainian provinces.

Other presentations by the entire ensemble included a lyrical scene from the opera "The Fern is Blooming" (Kvit Paporoty), based on Mykola Hohol's novel "A Christmas Night," with music by composer Yevhen Stankovich; a spirited composition depicting Hohol's story "Taras Bulba"; and the traditional finale to any Ukrainian concert - the Hopak, presented with fresh choreography and amazing acrobatic stunts.

Circle patterns, nimble footwork, jiggling heads and hand-clapping defined a lively Hutsul dance, while graceful movements and dainty stepping by the women characterized a flirtatious Kozachok dance from central Ukraine. The majority of the dances were choreographed by Veryovka's chief choreographer, Oleksa Roman, a former member of the Virsky dance company.

The folk orchestra and tsymbaly player Vasyl Vatamaniuk took center stage for "Ukrainian Rhapsody," presenting variations on Ukrainian folk themes employed by Liszt and Brahms. Stanislav Savchuk has been the orchestra conductor since 1991.

Throughout, smooth transitions from chorus to orchestra to full ensemble were achieved effortlessly, without any pause in the action.

Costume changes by the dancers and singers produced a parade of striking folk costumes indigenous to the Horodenka, Podillia, Poltava and Hutsul regions. A rare sight was the folk dress of the Transcarpathian (Zakarpattia) region, featuring fringed wide-legged white trousers, open-sleeved shirts, leather belts and bright green hats for the men, and full, pleated white skirts and green aprons for the women.

Some observations on minor deficiencies are in order. To be truly folk-oriented, the Veryovka performance could have done without the Rimsky-Korsakov work and the bayan (an accordion with push-buttons instead of keys); it is not a traditional Ukrainian folk instrument. Amplification should be watched to ensure the orchestra does not drown out the singers, as happened at times in the first half of the Brooklyn concert. The garb of the Dnipro Kozaks included print shirts instead of the customary embroidered white shirts. Perhaps most unacceptable was the omission of good descriptive information and correct transliteration of names in the printed program.

These faults aside, the Veryovka ensemble is a fine company of talented folk artists worthy of attention from audiences in the diaspora. I heartily recommend that you go to a Veryovka performance to experience Ukrainian folk music and dance at their best. Afterwards, locate the stage entrance, meet your countrymen and let them know how much you enjoyed their work. I have it on good authority that the performers speak Ukrainian (a few can also converse in English) and would like to touch base with culture-loving Ukrainians on this side of the Atlantic.

The Dumka Chorus of New York, represented by Vice-President Yuri Snihur, Halia Hirniak and Lesia Jablonskyj, showed its appreciation and goodwill by presenting a basket of flowers to the ensemble at the Brooklyn concert.

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