‘Discovery’ 2008 Thailand & Ukraine
First Leg - Departure and Chiang Mai
It has been anticipated for months, excitement is running high, our legs and arms still ache from our three to four rehearsals a week, yet nobody can wipe the broad smiles off our faces or remove the churning butterflies upturning our stomaches. It is late on Saturday 20th January 2008, and this feels like a dream, utterly surreal, after all our preparation, Discovery is upon us, our family of thirty discoverers. In Melbourne airport excitement is high, and the atmosphere is euphoric with an undertone of tension.
‘Discovery’ began with a highly successful landmark concert at the National Theatre in Melbourne. The Journey had begun and now it was off to Chiang Mai, Thailand. We left our families at Melbourne International Airport, with a chorus of Mnohaya Lita, the first but certainly not the last, and boarded Thai Airlines for the first time. The service on Thai was fantastic and we sit in relief that our 45 suitcases and 30 odd pieces of over packed hand luggage are safely stowed beneath us.
On arrival to Chiang Mai, each of us is greeted with a jasmine lei by a former Verchovyna dancer and Ukrainian Melbournian Natalia Rose with Husband Paul and children Oliver and Ella, who worked tirelessly with us to make this part of our tour a possibility and great success. Chiang Mai is magnificent; it is the largest and most culturally significant city in Northern Thailand. Being more culturally attuned, Chiang Mai, although lacking the cosmopolitan hype of Bangkok is a perfect place to showcase Ukrainian culture to the wider non-Ukrainian world. Chiang Mai being an ancient trade route, long before the arrival of tourists was an important centre for handcrafts goods, umbrellas, jewellery and woodcarving (of which we bought lots), after our arrival has become an important place for the inauguration of Ukrainian Dancing and culture.
We, dancers and crew, enjoyed a few lazy days shopping and swimming in our pool at Centara Resort. Bartering with locals at the Night Markets, which spread across Chiang Mai like a labyrinth of fake bags, watches, pashmina, Thai knickknacks and more, was a great and recurring experience for all. On the 23rd We left for The Prem International School, where we were to be performing ‘Discovery’ for the first time internationally.
The performance was a huge success. The audience of 700 people: Local Thai, Europeans, Americans and even a few Australians, were well and truly blown away. After Pryvit with echoes of “We are Australian” the seekers, and the recital of ‘Ukraini’ a poem by Zoya Kohut, the audience was given a foreign taste of a culture, still unfamiliar to them. By the following Cossack dance “Boys of Kyiv,” the audience, who were a moment ago wide eyed and in awe, were infected by he spirit of our dance jumping up and down and connecting with us. After the First Act, already the effect of the concert on the audience was being told through the backstage rooms. The dancers and crew were elated and motivated. Hopak closed the show, with roars from the audience, and a chorus of Mnohaya lita from us as a sign of our appreciation.
The following day, Verchovyna conducted a series of workshops at the Prem International School for younger and older classes, in Ukrainian dance. The Children embraced our rich form of dance with enthusiasm. By the end of the workshops comments like “Can you stay in Thailand,” brought pride to the dancers and a sense of achievement here in the far regions of Thailand.
Packing our bags to leave Chiang Mai wasn’t easy, everyone felt like a local, but we packed with anticipation once more as we ventured toward the next frontier, Ukraine. How would we be received there, how would we take a 40 degree temperature drop, how would our Australian Ukrainian culture be accepted in the land of our forefathers? We were anxious to find out as we boarded our Aerosvit flight on route to Kyiv.
