Workshop and Travel to Vinnytsia

After a lengthy 5 1/2 hour sleep, we had to wake up and start getting packed up. All of our costumes actually dried (by the way, at the theatre we sprayed our costumes with a vodka / water mix to actually kill some of the odour and bacteria) and we had to get them all packed up along with the rest of our luggage since we were checking out this morning. Checked out and then loaded up the bus to head to our morning workshop.

The workshop was with the group Aelita and their director Vasyl Bosyi (everyone calls him Bosyi). It was folk choreography at a quick pace with less precision than we are used to. We got to learn a new buko dance that Bosyi had choreographed and that we are going to get to bring back to Canada and perform. What that meant is that we had to learn an entire dance in 3 hours from a great Ukrainian dance instructor who doesn't speak English.

The combinations and steps were difficult and it was challenging to pick it up because Bosyi was going at such a fast pace. There was barely enough time to figure out the one combination before he moved on to the next. It was especially challenging once the music picked up in speed. I found it almost frustrating at times and had to calm myself down once or twice and remember that this experience is amazing.

We did get through the whole dance and ran it multiple times. Shane was recording it all on video so that we can rewatch it later. Then afterwards they wanted to show us a gypsy dance, which was amazing. The men were so precise and sharp (one guy named Genna) and the girl was seductive, intense, and very in character. Shortly after we were invited to learn and dance behind them. Didn't spend a ton of time but it was a ton of fun to give it a shot and try to match their intensity.

Side note, they had a live accompanist on an accordian again and it was humorous to watch the director and musician bicker at each other. Then the director would start dancing and the accordion player would pick up exactly where he was. One comment from Nathan was that the director didn't need to go find the spot in the music, just tell the accompanist. This made the transitions between run throughs quicker than usual, probably partially why we were so tired.

The other thing to mention was that this workshop was probably the most I've ever sweated in my life. The room was hot, humid atmosphere, low air flow, lots of people in the room and we were constantly moving. My clothes were absolutely drenched and I just kept sweating. My dance pants felt extra heavy at the end so much so that the weight felt like it was pulling the legs down. At the end of the practice, I was able to wring out my shirt and drip sweat onto the floor, my guess is that I got 25ml total volume.

Overall, the workshop was intense, absolutely amazing, and un-replicable. It was fun watching everyone really focused and trying to learn everything. And the director, Bosyi, was fun, passionate, animated, full of energy, and almost 80 years old.

Right after the workshop they served us lunch in a side room. Salad, borscht, cabbage rolls, and cherry varynyky for dessert. Bosyi also brought out a special homemade shot called samohonka served with a herb called kalhan. We were told that it gives you long life and is really healthy for men. The taste was slightly caramely and didn't burn that much.

The schedule for the day had us hitting the road immediately after the workshop to head to Vinnytsia. That meant that 30 sweaty and stinky dancers had to load up onto a bus without a shower. Jordan and I draped our sweaty dance clothes in the back of the bus and boy did they smell bad!

We left at 2:30pm and got in around 9:00pm. Probably travelled 400km. Brooke passed the time on the bus watching a show she had pre-dowloaded on Netflx (Jane the Virgin) and a bit of napping. I was in the back playing Kaiser and Mario Kart again. This time we had a couple of the new girls join us and learn how to play Kaiser. We coached two of them along and they were starting to figure it out (except when one of them just bid 9 out of the blue without fully understanding it). Jordan and Joren won both games easily, but it was all fun. Mario Kart was a blast but I felt like the bus ride was too short and could have gone another couple of hours.

We had one gas station stop and I finally tried a famous Wog Dog, which is essentially a pocket dog but is at all the gas stations in Ukraine. Our other stop was an impromptu photo-op on the side of the road by a field of sunflowers. Got a couple of nice pictures.

When we arrived in Vinnytsia we went through the check in process again at the Podillya Hotel. We are only here for 1 night as a stop on the way to Chernivtsi. The hotel room was an interesting experience. The bed was tiny for two people (probably about the size of the downstairs bed at Baba's or just a bit smaller) and the shower was incredibly small. Side note, Brooke couldn't figure out the hot water in the morning and had to have a cold shower, hot water worked fine for me though.

There was the possibility of walking to see a fountain show, but since we knew we would only make the tail end of it, decided it was better to get something to eat. Went and found some dinner with Jordan Chrisitne and Joren at an Italian restaurant called. We ordered way too much pizza and I'm pretty sure the waitress laughed at us when she took our order. Made some decent progress and left less than half a pie behind. After dinner we went for a drink at a cocktail bar with some rockin headbanger music. Nathan and Audrey showed up as well.

Headed to the hotel to get a solid 6 hours of sleep and then we are back on the bus in the morning!

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