REVIEW: The sound and fury of Yara Arts Group’s “Opera GAZ”

NEW YORK – “Great Balls of Fire”! Shades of Jerry Lee Lewis and his flaming keyboards! The smash-mouth destruction of a honky-tonk pianino was merely the most obvious assault on the audience during performances of “Opera GAZ,” a co-production of Yara Arts Group and Kyiv’s Nova Opera on December 19, 20 and 22 at La MaMa Experimental Theater in New York City. By itself, the violent “pianicide” concluding this “opera” might be shrugged off as passé – a “happening” dating back to the 1950s. However, this show also evoked the bleak landscape of much of today’s opera and theater productions.

Plast Newark holds traditional “Svichechka” ceremony

WHIPPANY, N.J. – The Newark, N.J., branch of Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization on January 4 held its annual Christmastime “Svichechka” (candle lighting) ceremony, a tradition that symbolically unites the diaspora with Ukraine. As the Plast scouts’ candles were lit from the Bethlehem Peace Light, Plast members of all ages sang Ukrainian Christmas carols. Also during the gathering, the Newark branch of Plast, which is headquartered at the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey in Whippany, gained 11 cub scouts – seven girls and four boys – who received their yellow neckerchiefs.

Hillside parish shares Christmastime joy

HILLSIDE, N.J. – St. Nicholas visited Immaculate Conception Ukrainian Catholic Church in Hillside, N.J., on Sunday, December 8, 2019. The children presented a beautiful program in honor of the visit, including performances on the flute, clarinet, trumpet, piano, guitar, and a poem in Ukrainian. There was also full audience participation in the Christmas/St. Nicholas Trivia Challenge.
St. Nicholas thanked all the children and adults for being very good this year. He was very happy to hear that the audience knew several of the trivia questions, but also had the opportunity to learn more about the saint and Christmas.

Prime minister submits his resignation, president gives him a second chance

KYIV – The internet was abuzz with speculation about Ukraine’s Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk on January 15. The first splash of activity came after an unknown source leaked a recording on which Mr. Honcharuk is allegedly heard discussing the economic incompetence of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with a senior executive of the National Bank of Ukraine, the minister of finance and others. News about the leak was followed by the presumption that the prime minister would be resigning.
In subsequent days, Messrs. Zelenskyy and Honcharuk played what seemed to be a heavily scripted performance, which started with a statement by the prime minister and ended with the president giving him a second chance. The audience for this performance was confused, because the decision about a government’s resignation is the prerogative of the Verkhovna Rada and not the president.

Australia’s Ukrainian community raises $67,000 for bushfire relief

MELBOURNE, Australia – In reaction to the bushfires that have ravaged Australia, the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organizations (AFUO) put out a call during the Julian calendar Christmas for the Kolyada for Australia Bushfire campaign, whose target was $50,000.
The Ukrainian Australian community demonstrated its unity of purpose and focus, and succeeded in raising $67,000 during the relatively brief Christmas period.
On Saturday, January 18, in Hobart, where the smallest Ukrainian Australian community was celebrating its 70th anniversary of settlement in Tasmania, the AFUO held a national meeting with the community and presented a check for the funds raised (at that point, the amount was over $63,000) to the Australian Red Cross.

Litynska becomes second Ukrainian woman in history to climb Earth’s Seven Summits

KYIV – Lviv-born Oksana Litynska accomplished one of the most advanced climbers’ feats – she climbed the highest peaks on each of the seven continents. The last one on her list was Mount Vinson (4,892 meters) in Antarctica, which she successfully ascended on December 28, 2019.
In May, she reached the world’s highest point, Mount Everest (8,848 meters), and became the third Ukrainian woman to do so. Now she is a part of an exclusive club of around 70 women in history who achieved the Seven Summits program.

The quest for unity: then and now

KYIV – On January 22, Ukraine celebrated the 102nd anniversary of the Ukrainian National Republic’s declaration of independence and the 101st of the proclamation of the unification of all Ukrainian lands. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy used the occasion to reiterate what in recent weeks has become a leitmotif for him: the need for national consolidation and unity.
He had emphasized this theme – the urgency of constructing a modern Ukrainian political nation based on shared democratic values rather that ethnocentric ones – in his unconventional televised New Year’s address.

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Kyiv celebrates Day of Unity

Hundreds of Ukrainians have joined together to form a human chain across the Dnipro River in Kyiv to mark the 1919 Unification Act of the Ukrainian National Republic and the short-lived Western Ukrainian National Republic. In a statement to mark the Day of Unity on January 22, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that in the modern world the feeling of a nation as a whole arises not only through common traditions, culture and religion, but also because of the values that are “acceptable to every corner of Ukraine.” The statement said: “To be strong, one must become one. To become one, one must be strong. We need to keep that in mind.” Mr. Zelenskyy’s statement comes amid efforts to reinvigorate the moribund peace process with Russia, which has created uncertainty and division within Ukraine.

Normandy process developing against Ukraine’s interests

A ticking clock and a shutting trap seem appropriate metaphors for the predicament of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his team hoping against hope for “peace” with Russia.
The Normandy Four leaders’ (Russia, Germany, France, Ukraine) summit in Paris, on December 9, 2019, started the clock ticking toward the April 2020 summit in Berlin. There, Mr. Zelenskyy is expected to report to the same conclave about Ukraine’s fulfillment of commitments he has confirmed in the French capital.
The shutting trap consists of Kyiv’s unilateral concessions to Moscow (to legalize the Steinmeier formula, to accept a permanent “special status” for the Donetsk-Luhansk territory under Russian control). Moscow extracted this price for agreeing to hold the December summit, which Mr. Zelenskyy’s team was avidly seeking even if it had to pay this heavy cost.

Putin has declared war, but just against Ukraine, with his proposed constitutional changes

Russian President Vladimir Putin has added Zakhar Prylepin, Russian writer and Donbas fighter to the so-called working group for the constitutional amendments he announced on January 15. Mr. Prylepin’s inclusion is a grave affront to all Ukrainians, however, the changes Mr. Putin is planning are likely to have even more serious ramifications for Ukraine.
While well-known Ukrainian journalist Vitaly Portnikov is doubtless correct in saying that Mr. Putin’s plans are akin to a declaration of war against Ukraine, they are also an assault on international law and, therefore, a challenge to the European structures and leaders who are increasingly seeking “dialogue” with Russia.