Ukraine
Kropyvnytskyi

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    • Day 5

      Kyiv to Kropvnytskyi

      August 1, 2019 in Ukraine ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

      Travel Day! Today we travelled from Kyiv to Kropynytskyi and that meant pack everything up and load up the bus. We woke up, showered, and packed up our suitcases, then went down for a quick breakfast to make bus call for 9:00 AM. We were early by 10 minutes but the overall group was delayed. Partially because of the 3 small elevators bottlenecking everyone with their luggage but also because some people aren't making the largest effort to be on time for bus call. My overall opinion is that the call time needs to be taken a bit more seriously.

      The busses departed away and we got settled in. Played some bus games together and then it seemed like we were barely 45 minutes out and we made a stop at a gas station so the driver could have a smoke break. Gonna be a long day. Most people loaded off the bus to use the bathroom / grab a snack and it was probably a 20 minute wait. Then we were back on the road. Next the guys started up the traditional game of Kaiser on a dance bus trip. We made a makeshift table from a cardboard box from the hotel. Showed the game to one our of Ukrainian guides, Andrei, and he caught on quickly. However he couldn't believe how long it was taking which is the point since there is not much else to do. The game was up and down but Joren and I eventually beat Jordan and Alex!

      After another 1.5 hours, we stopped at the Taras Shevchenko memorial site. Check out our other post for a detailed description.

      After the excursion we boarded the bus and drove 10 minutes for our lunch stop. Our guides were hurrying us along because we were running late (hmmmmmm, I wonder why?). Lunch was at a restaurant and we had salad, borscht, and fish. I was still a bit peckish, but luckily was talking to the younger girls who had barely ate anything and was able to get another two bowls of borscht. Then it was time to head out, but had to let everyone have a bathroom break, through two stalls for 60 people. That takes a while. I passed some time with some of the guys by tossing a large bouncy ball around in the parking lot. Departed around 3:30pm.

      The next leg was probably going to take another 4 hours. Part of the reason for the long lengths is that the roads and highways in Ukraine are vary quite a bit in terms of quality. There are lots of potholes in the road and the bus has to slow down to a crawl sometimes to get through them. Some of the highways feel like backcountry dirt roads for what we are used to. To give you and idea, Google Maps says the entire length for today's trip was about 350km

      During the afternoon portion of the drive, the guys revved up our engines and busted out the Mario Kart 7, which is starting to become another dance bus trip tradition! It was a blast and we were having a hoot in the back of the bus. Probably played the entire rest of the drive. There was also another bathroom break at a gas station where we had to shuttle 60 people through 2 or 3 stalls. Oh and Brooke didn't have much to report from the afternoon trip since she was napping the whole way.

      We finally got to Kropvnytskyi around 8:00pm and unloaded the bus. Check in process took awhile and then we had the Great Costume Unpacking session. Opened up all of the costume suitcases and was distributing all of the costumes to everyone. I had a slight concern when I couldn't find a couple of pieces, but eventually they turned up.

      Brooke and I made the smart/but not smart decision to iron our costumes before going downstairs to the restaurant. Partially because there were a ton of people there already. Smart because we got the annoying work out of the way, not-smart because by the time we got downstairs we had issues with ordering food. Brooke had checked what time they were taking orders until and we were told we had 5 minutes. So quickly decided and then found out they weren't taking orders anymore and all we could have was a couple of cold clubhouse sandwiches that they had screwed up on someone elses order and a cup of soup (this was even with our friend Audrey helping to translate for us). Suffice to say we weren't too happy, but I guess things could always be worse.

      Anyways, it's been a long day and tomorrow is actually our first full show, so we need to get some rest.

      Tyler
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    • Day 6

      World's Only Ukrainian Dance Museum

      August 2, 2019 in Ukraine ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

      The first part of the morning has been fairly confusing. It was originally scheduled for us to have a workshop with Vasyl Bosyi in Khutir Nadia (somewhere a short distance away) and then come back to prepare for our show which is tonight. Tyler and I went to bed quite late by the time everything was organized. My wifi has not been able to connect and Tyler doesn’t have the Tryzub group chat configured on his. So we didn’t see the messages that the schedule has changed for today. Looks like the workshop is cancelled today/deferred to tomorrow and now we are having a sightseeing morning and then spending the rest of the day preparing for the show.

      We started with breakfast at the hotel where we learned of the schedule changes. Bus call was at 8:30 AM and we headed to the studios in Kropyvnytski where Prolisok Ensemble rehearses (and where Yatran ensemble used to rehearse). We had a tour with a man named Anatole who manages the studios. I’m not sure if that’s where the workshop will be tomorrow but there were about five studios there.

      Next we travelled to Khutir Nadia, about an hour away from Kropyvnytski. This is where the Ethnographic Choreographic Museum of Ukrainian Dance is, the main attraction of our visit here. We learned about the first dancers that brought Ukrainian dance to the stage in 1875. We learned that the hopak was awarded the best dance in the International Folk Dance Festival in 1935 in London. We had the opportunity to learn more about Virsky Ensemble and that many other regional professional ensembles were created after Virsky was the first. One of the rooms in the museum is dedicated to Ukrainian dance groups outside of Ukraine. Shane has worked closely with Vasyl Bosyi who created the museum and the poster for our show along with information about Tryzub is included there. There aren’t many Canadian groups featured there so this is a huge honour. I feel like there was much more to see and learn but we didn’t have much extra time.

      The bus ride back for me was spent mostly with hair braiding. Kristen braided my hair and then I braided the hair of two other girls.

      Now we are back in our room preparing our costumes for the show. A tiny breather before the hectic and stressful afternoon/evening ahead!

      Brooke
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    • Day 6

      Heroiam Slava Performed in Ukraine

      August 2, 2019 in Ukraine ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

      Where to begin?? Our performance in Kropyvnytskyi was absolutely phenomenal.

      We arrived at the theatre around 2:30 pm and got our dressing rooms set up. The theatre was really beautiful and the change room were spacious. Our Cobblestone guides brought our lunch to the theatre - amazing how they can arrange a pretty excellent lunch in to go containers - we had vegetables, shishlyk and cherry perogies. Our technical rehearsal was quite efficient, mostly practicing transitions between dancing and choir. During this time we also set up our quick changes and did our makeup for the most part. We also got to hear the soloist for the song at the end of the storyline which was stunning... even just hearing her sing a few phrases made me emotional.

      Pretty quickly it was time for group warm up and getting ready for the stage. We were both more nervous than we typically are before a show. The audience was amazing... they really made us feel like they were enjoying the show. There was one point during Kokhannia the audience was clapping with the music at a point we wouldn’t have expected it! Definitely gave me extra energy! Everything really went quite well ... I made one strange mistake with my arms which is frustrating, but I hope that won’t happen again.

      After hopak, the applause, standing ovation, and ‘bravos’ felt amazing!!! We took some photos after the show with the theatre seats behind us! Seems like the feedback Shane was getting after the show has been very positive. The man in the sound/light room was the director of the theatre and he also danced with Virsky for decades. He told Shane that he was inspired by the show and rarely sees such passion in dancers.

      Next it was time for a quick stop at the hotel to air out our costumes. Tyler and I took everything apart and draped costumes literally all over our hotel room (especially the lamps). It worked! In the morning everything felt quite dry.

      It was back to the bus to go to the post-show Zabava. We were very hungry and arrived to see the tables covered with appetizers. Before we went in, we had to do a welcome shot (plain vodka, not the cherry kind from Kyiv). There were approximately 10 different appetizers including salads, eggplant with tomato sauce, fruit, cheese, meats and fish. There was a stuffed fish dish they handed out individually that I found I just couldn’t eat given the texture. This honestly would have been enough food. But then there were many other dishes they brought out (cabbage rolls, meat balls, ribs, and nalysnyky). I really just needed something to eat but then once I was nourished I was pretty near ready to fall asleep at the table.

      The hosts were playing a few zabava games - with ribbons and a perogy making contest. The perogies that were made were the ones that we ate. They had made a few “happy perogies” that were full of salt. It was said that whoever got that perogy would have good luck for a year. Tyler bit into his perogy and immediately was overwhelmed by salt. He won some candy because he got that perogy.

      A few other dancers were exhausted like me and we decided to leave a bit early. We left at 12:15. The car back to the hotel was 40 hryvni (so with four dancers it was 10 each... about 50 cents each). Tyler seems to function better than me with no quiet time... but I really needed a bit of down time. I organized some of my packing for the morning. I don’t think I had been in bed very long before Tyler made it back home but it sure was worth it!

      Tomorrow we have a workshop and then a long bus ride to Vinnitsya!

      Brooke
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    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Kropyvnytskyi, Kirowohrad, Kirovoqrad, Кировоград, Горад Кіраваград, Kirovohrado, Kirovogrado, Kirovograd, کیرووهراد, Kirovohrad, קירובוגרד, Կիրովոգրադ, KGO, キロヴォフラード, კიროვოგრადი, 키로보흐라드, Kirovohradas, Kirovohrada, Kirowograd, کیرووہراد, Кіровоград, Кропивницький, 基洛沃格勒

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