‘Discovery’ 2008 Thailand & Ukraine
Third and Fourth Legs - Donetsk & Lviv
The industrial heart and the charismatic west
After an exciting time in Kyiv we were on a 12h train trip to Donetsk. It was a scary prospect. None of us had ever been there and what little we had heard of Donetsk was mostly negative - that is was very Russian and no one spoke Ukrainian; an industrial city, it was dirty, there was nothing to see and nothing to do. We had no idea what to expect nor of how we would be received. Would we be dancing to an empty theatre? And an even scarier prospect was the guest artist for our show – the professional dance ensemble Donbas. How would we stand up against a professional ensemble?
So we were somewhat surprised to find Donetsk to be a beautiful city steeped in history and full of old European architecture, lovely parks and gardens, and within the parks many outdoor restaurants, cafes and bars (all unfortunately closed for the winter, but most probably wonderful in summer). Donetsk was a city of contrasts aptly illustrated by the view from our hotel rooms. In one direction stood old, dirty, poorly maintained soviet style apartment buildings, warehouses and industrial scrap yards. Whilst in the other direction there was a lovely view of beautiful (and expensive) houses across the tree lined, white, frozen river. Everywhere we went in Donetsk people spoke Russian. However, most of them understood us when we spoke Ukrainian and some of them were even delighted to hear Ukrainian and spoke it back. For the most part they were mystified because although we spoke Ukrainian our accents puzzled them and upon hearing that we were from Australia they stared at us in amazement hardly believing that we had come so far and that we spoke Ukrainian.
We were invited to visit the Donbas studios and were treated to a show of some of their dances. Their style with a heavy Russian influence was vastly different to the Ukrainian dancing to which we here in Australia are accustomed. As the guest act for our show they would go on to provide us with a great contrast to our central and western Ukrainian dance style.
Donetsk was our fourth show on our Discovery Tour and by this stage we were old hands at preparing and performing. Eye makeup for the boys and fake eyelashes for the girls were applied with ease. Quick costume changes were no problem. We didn’t even have to think about what came next and had become adept at quickly tying sharavary belts (boys) and pinning/removing headpieces (girls). And if the stage was tilted we could handle it!*
The audience response to our show was tremendous and we received a standing ovation. Members of the audience came back stage afterwards to speak with and congratulate us, tell us how much they enjoyed our show and remark on how beautiful our costumes were. They told us that international ensembles almost never came to Donetsk and how wonderful it was to see a different style (central and western) of Ukrainian dance. We were overwhelmed by people who, through tears of joy, told us how they had travelled three or four hours by train just to see our show, and they, in turn, were overwhelmed by the fact that we had such strong ties to our heritage despite living so far away.
Not knowing that there was a 16 hour express train from Donetsk to Lviv, we took the 26 hour scenic route that zig-zaged across the entire country and even over the border to Moldova (we think). This dreaded 26 hour train ride turned out to be a lot of fun. As well as people walking up and down the carriage selling food and drinks, at almost every stop there were locals selling (through the windows of the train) delicious homemade varenyky, cakes and pastries. We spent our time eating, drinking, singing, playing cards and somehow ended up very well rested too. Upon our arrival in Lviv we were greeted by television cameras. In the days following appearances on television and radio ensued with the footage and interviews of our arrival replayed on the evening news to the point that people were recognising us in the street. We had become celebrities.
Where Kyiv was the typical grand, bustling, wealthy and large cosmopolitan city, Lviv was smaller and slower paced where almost everything was only a walk or short marshrutka (trolley bus) ride away. With heavily Austro-Hungarian influenced architecture and a splash of their culture Lviv was an almost cosy city with fantastic bakeries, cafes, restaurants and bars tucked away down side streets and in basements. The old part of the city was mostly traffic free. Lviv was the kind of city where the main thoroughfare was shut to traffic on a Sunday and people went for a Sunday afternoon stroll – something many of us here in Australia may remember vaguely from “back in the day” or cannot even envisage.
In Lviv we were lucky enough to be given a guided walking tour by a local well versed in the history of the city. Our tour began in the late afternoon at the beautiful Lychakivskyj cemetary where some of Ukraine’s most famous artists, writers, and political activists were buried. The cemetery’s paths meandered between intricately carved grave stones, burial vaults and memorial statues all of which were arranged in a relaxed fashion as if they were laid out in a garden and fitted into where ever there was space between the trees and shrubs. This provided a sharp contrast with the newest section of the cemetery – the war memorial (still under construction) which contained very precisely ordered and arranged graves of thousands of fallen soldiers. Visiting this part of the cemetery brought an unusual silence upon our group as we walked among the graves of soldiers, some as young as thirteen. Our tour continued through the Lviv Old Town and we ended up at an underground bar transformed into an old UPA bunker where a password and initiation were required to gain entry.
We spent several days in Lviv discovering the city and its people. Our days were consumed with sightseeing, shopping, and family. We wandered around the city, discovering cosy Viennese coffee houses and delicious hot chocolate Ukrainian style – a shot of liquid dark chocolate sometimes infused with orange or peppermint flavour and eaten with a spoon. And who could forget the divine cakes and pastries at the Veronika bakery which became everyone’s favourite place for morning tea…and afternoon tea. We visited the Lviv market daily stocking up on so many souvenirs we could hardly carry them all home. Many of us were overwhelmed by close and distant relatives, some of whom travelled great distances just to see us, and who showed incredible hospitality to the point that they wanted to spend every single moment with us.
The day of our final show arrived all too quickly, but with so much to organise and prepare before the curtain rose there was no time to feel sad. Lviv opera theatre was the most breathtakingly beautiful theatre in which we had the honour of performing. Once the curtains opened it felt like the show flew by. Time only slowed for a moment when the famous Pikadilska Tsertsia made a surprise guest appearance and we were sidestage dancing, singing and clapping along with the rest of the audience. Before we knew it we were taking our final bow. It was only when children dressed in Ukrainian costumes came up onto the stage and gave each of us a flower that we felt a twinge of sadness that it was all coming to and end.
Our last day in western Ukraine was spent discovering the Karpaty. Travelling by bus we stopped in the foothills of the Karpaty at a the famous Yaremche village market where everyone stocked up on all things Ukrainian including postoly, sorochky and wood carvings. We discovered it was bad luck to try to pay for something over the entrance threshold of a shop (also to shake hands over the entrance threshold). Continuing through the Karpaty we ended up at the mountain Bukovel. This was the ski resort where the president skied, where the cost of a lift ticket was the same in Australian dollars as a lift ticket in Australia. This was the ski resort of only the very rich and famous Ukrainians. As for celebrity spotting we were out of luck, so had to content ourselves with skiing or riding in traditional hutsulskij horse carriages.
This tour can only be described as a once-in-a-lifetime experience, the highlight of which was visiting the Virsky studios in Kyiv. As our plane taxied down the runway at Boryspil Airport we sat, unusually quiet, contemplating the last three weeks, remembering our own personal highlights and everything we had Discovered. These thoughts were tinged with sadness that our trip was ending. Although it was the end of this tour it was also a new beginning and as the Verchovyna team (dancers and crew) we can only go on to bigger and better things.
We would like thank everyone who was involved in the preparation of this tour. A myriad of people worked tirelessly behind the scenes planning, co-ordinating, designing, phoning, negotiating, writing, sewing, and much, much more. We thank you all for your contributions (whether big or small) in the two years leading up to this tour. We truly could not have done it without you.
* Stages were often tilted at a 15-20degree angle down toward the audience for their improved viewing. This meant that every time we danced to the back of the stage we were dancing up hill (no easy task) and any acrobatic or spinning combinations were made all the more difficult.
