"Ancestral Voices" presentation based on Ukrainian songs, poetry (06/18/00)

"Ancestral Voices" presentation based on Ukrainian songs, poetry

CLEVELAND - "Ancestral Voices," an original dance-theater piece based on Ukrainian folk songs and poetry, opens on June 29 at INSIDE art gallery where three performances of the piece will be held through July 1.

Using the theatrical conventions of dance, puppetry and music, "Ancestral Voices" explores a story of two sisters: one is destroyed by her fate, while the other thrives given her good fortune. The story draws its text from the poetry of Oleksander Oles, Lesia Ukrainka, Taras Shevchenko and Mykhailo Drai-Khmara as well as from the texts of Ukrainian folk songs. Translations have been provided by Hélène Turkewicz-Sanko, editor of "Treasury of Ukrainian Love Poems, Quotations and Proverbs" from Hippocrene Books, and Nadia Tarnawsky, a graduate student in ethnomusicology at Cleveland State University.

The piece also features Ukrainian folk music played live on Ukrainian folk instruments by master musicians: Alexander Fedoriouk on "tsymbaly," (hammer dulcimer) Andrei Pidkivka on "sopilka," (wooden flute), Don Safranek on drums and Ms. Tarnawsky on bandura. "Bilyi holos"-style singing will be provided by the Divchata v Kukhni (Girls in the Kitchen) ensemble.

The premiere production is directed by Michael Flohr, with set design by Anonymous 3, musical arrangements by the Divchata V Kukhni ensemble and choreography by Natalie Kapeluck, a dancer with the Mary Miller Dance Company of Pittsburgh, and Beth Salemi, an MFA candidate in dance at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

The bilingual piece is easily accessible to English-speaking audiences and has traditional Ukrainian songs translated into English by Ms. Tarnawsky.

Performances of "Ancestral Voices" at INSIDE art gallery, 2393 Professor Ave. in Tremont, will be held Thursday-Saturday, June 29, 30 and July 1, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10. For more information call (216) 749-0060 or send e-mail to nmt@po.cwru.edu. Seating is limited, so reservations are highly recommended.

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