Ukraine Tour 2001 (English)
Thursday August 16th
Departed Derby for Dover at 4am with the feeder driver Taf. Met Dave & Ian (two drivers) in Dover at 8.25am who took us onto the ferry at9am. The ferry departed Dover at 9.15am and docked into Calais at 11.45am. Departed Calais at 12.00 noon (French time) to stop firstly at the Hypermarket to stock up with drinks and food etc . We left Pidous at 1.15pm and took the coast road for Dunkerque and then the motorway for Lille. Crossed the French/Belgian border at around 2.30pm at Namur. We continued travelling through Belgium via Tournai, Mons, Liege and Verriers. At Aachen we crossed the border into Germany around 6.00pm. We bypassed Cologne and after a stop we continued our journey on the motorway through Frankfurt & Wurzburg (Black Forest) with stops for toilet and refreshments throughout the night.
Friday August 17th
We travelled through the night in heavy rain and storm, which lit the skies – a spectacular show. Continuing our journey through Germany we travelled through the towns of Nuremberg, Regensburg before entering the German/Austrian border near Linz at 4.30am. Continued the journey through Austria arriving in the capital Vienna at 8.30an where we had a 9-hour stop for both drivers to have a sleep. In that period the whole group walked together to the centre of Vienna viewing some of the sights in the summer sunshine heat. Had lunch in a restaurant, kids ate in MacDonalds. We continued touring the main attractions in the centre including the famous Cathedral of Vienna before stopping for coffee where some of the kids played in the fountains. We continued to walk to the Opera House where we caught the underground to the Coach Park. We departed from Vienna at 5.30 pm and reached the Austrian/Hungarian border at 6.30pm. At 6.50pm went through the Toll on the Hungarian motorway and travelled to the outskirts of Budapest and stopped at McDonalds for supper. We continued our journey through the night via Gyor, Rebrecen, and Nyireghara towards the Ukrainian border.
Saturday August 18th
Arrived at the Hungarian-Ukrainian border town of Zahony at 4.15am. We crossed over the bridge in no mans land at 4.35am and entered into Ukraine at the Chop border at 5.40am (Ukrainian time). It took only two hours to get through customs and border control at Chop. We left the border at 7.37am after signing declaration forms and sorting out passports and visas and driver’s documents. We travelled through our first town of Mukacheve. Crossed the river Morytsia and travelled through a number of villages within the region where we saw lots of horse & carts as main mode of transport and old village ladies taking cows for a walk. This was our first impression of Ukraine ! We then went through the region of Voletsky towards the Carpathian Mountains. Here all the adults were drinking brandy before breakfast with Ukrainian music playing in the background. feeling very patriotic. We stopped for breakfast in Zakarpatya in a beautiful setting and continued our journey through picturesque Karpaty – the scenery was out of this world. We stopped for lunch at the top of the mouinain run a very smart café with waterfalls and pretty gardens. We purchased some fresh bread from a local bakery and enjoyed our first Ukrainian cup of coffee. We continued our journey travelling through the towns of Strij and then Berezhany. We had our final stop in the village of Pukiw before continuing to Ternopil. We arrived in Ternopil at approx. 4pm where we were greeted by our hosts Veseli Halychany at the Hotel Ruta – our home base for the next 10 days. We sorted out our accommodation and relaxed a little before a joint supper at 6.30pm. After supper in the evening our hosts took us out into the centre to a local bar for drinks. Here we had the opportunity to talk to our hosts, catch up with some gossip and talk through our provisional timetable.
Sunday August 19th
After breakfast we were free until lunch. We visited the local church in Ternopil to celebrate the feast of fruits – apples in Ternopil. Lots of people stood outside listening to the beautiful chants of the local choir singing the full Liturgy Service. After lunch we got ready for our first concert out in the village of Zolotnyky. Members of Veseli Halychany accompanied us where we were greeted by the whole village with traditional bread and salt. (We were all wearing our blue Hoverla polo shirts looking very smart). This is a traditional Ukrainian Custom whenever visitors come for the first time. For my brother and myself it was also a very emotional moment for us. Our father was born in this village and it was an honour to meet up with members and relatives of our family again. We all got changed into traditional costumes and were shown where we had to perform in front of all the villagers who came out in force (nearly 200 of them). The outdoor concert commenced at 5pm in front of the Village Hall “Budynok Kultury as we opened our first show on tour with The Welcome Dance. We then continued the performance with a Polka dance, Zaporozets, Duet by the younger ones, a musical item of Ukrainian UPA marches, a Flower dance, the new Kiev younger boys dance and finishing off with the traditional mixed Hopak. Flowers were handed out on stage to the kids on finishing our first 2001 concert in Ukraine to mark 10 years of Ukrainian Independence. The villagers were overwhelmed and the organisers could not believe how great the concert was. Flowers kept coming as the organisers stated that this will stay in their minds forever—they had never seen anything like it before! They were very proud of the fact that 3rd generation Ukrainians born in the UK were upholding and keeping the Ukrainian traditions alive. I also thanked the village committee members for inviting us to my father’s birthplace and for the lovely words expressed by them after our performances. After the concert drinks were handed out to all the children and adults and an opportunity was had to speak to the relatives. We all climbed back onto the coach with cheers of Bravo etc form the villagers who waited for us to depart. We were given a great send off by them – a very proud moment for me. We took the short journey (10km) to Zarvanytsia -–The Lourdes of Ukraine. A monk greeted us all at the main entrance. He gave a short talk and guided tour around the grounds and churches (old & new). We all then filled our bottles up with holy water. We arrived back in Ternopil around 9pm for supper.
Monday August 20th
We departed after an early breakfast for Lviv. This was a free day for us to sight see, meet up with family, and relax in this ‘charming old beautiful’ Western Ukrainian City. We arrived on the outskirts of the city to book into the hotel in Sykhiw. We all went our different ways to the market (bazar), sightsee around the Opera House, Main Square, the monument of Taras Shevchenko, shops, Vysokij Zamok and St. George’s Cathedral to name but a few. A very old city with a lot of ancient buildings and history attached to them. We all met up at 10pm near McDonalds to catch taxis back to our hotel. Back at the hotel we met up with Ivan Mazus from Lvivski Muzyky (another famous musical group that visited us in the UK earlier this year) who organised us a take away of chicken and ribs. We all enjoyed his makeshift barbecue.
Tuesday August 21st
In the morning we met up with Ivan Mazus who organised breakfast at a local café prior to our return trip to Ternopil. This café was in the vicinity of newly built church of St. Mary. Pope John Paul II blest this church in front of one million people during his earlier summer pilgrimage to Ukraine in June. On the journey back to Ternopil we stopped off at a Water Shrine in Plychiv where the Virgin Mary supposedly appeared near the town of Zolochiv. We filled our bottles up with this clear fresh spring water. When we arrived back in Ternopil members of Veseli Halychany confirmed that the event organised for us later that day was postponed due to the tragic accident of miners in the Donetsk region. The government of Ukraine declared Tuesday a ‘Day of Mourning’ and that all organised festivities were to be cancelled. This gave us all some more free time to meet up with family and relatives living in the Ternopil area i.e. it gave the children an opportunity to visit their grandparents roots.
Wednesday August 22nd
A full day of travelling on a local Ternopil coach to first Kolomeja to visit the Pysanka (Easter Eggs) Museum and the Hutzul Regional Museum and later to Ivano-Frankivsk to meet up with Ukrainian deputies at an official gathering. We had lunch in Ivano-Frankivsk followed by a guided tour of the city with members from the local Council, which included the local Cathedral and Town Hall. At 6pm we were asked to perform 15minutes in a Hall in the local Drama Opera Theatre named after the great poet Ivan Franko. We were the only guest performers in front of over 200 deputes attending an official reception in celebration of 3 successive elections over the last 10 years. These deputies represented a wide area of Western Ukraine in lower Parliament of the Ukrainian Rada. We performed two dances – The Welcome Dance and Hopak. We received a standing ovation at the end of it and I then gave a speech on behalf of the Dance Ensemble thanking the deputies for the invitation to dance and wishing them all the best in their next 10 years of Independence. I was then given a standing ovation. The Mayor of the Town then thanked everyone and presented us with a book about the town of Ivano-Frankivsk. I thanked him and presented the Mayor with a book and a pennant of the City of Derby. After a general photo session the local TV interviewed Larissa & Taras Postolan and myself about our feelings of Ukrainian Independence and general life in Ukraine. They then filmed the whole Ensemble. On our return journey home to Ternopil we stopped for a break and took the opportunity to thank Bohdan the driver for looking after us all day. We made a collection and handed him 150 Hryvni.
Thursday August 23rd
After breakfast at 11 am accompanied by our hosts we departed in convoy with an Austrian Group to Rivne to participate in the Grand Opening Ceremonies of the International Youth Festival Derevyankyj Djerelo. We arrived in Rivne just after 2pm and were met by our 2 guides at the Hotel Intourist. We were then taken to our Hotel Ukrajina in the town centre. We booked in, had a late lunch and got ready for the official ceremonies. We all got dressed for the official opening of the festival in the Town Palace Building of Children & Youth where representatives of all groups taking part in the festival were asked to stand on the stage with their national flag, group name and choreographer. As all the groups settled in the hall waiting for the opening item (a very impressive mini show in itself), Ian the driver walked in and all you could hear were chants of Slap-Slap-Slap coming from all around the auditorium – a very funny moment ! Each collective group was then called out onto the stage and Selina Conway (group name), Pavlo Wolociuha (flag) and I stood on stage representing Hoverla for the official opening ceremonies. In total there were over 30 group representatives from Russia, Ukraine, Poland, France, Sicily, Czech Republic, Moldova, Turkey and Canada. All guest groups were then asked to perform one dance/song item – we decided to dance The Hopak. It was a brilliant performance by the older dancers with the younger ones performing solos. The reception from the audience was electric with clapping for over two minutes. After the official opening ceremonies we were asked to perform at another venue near the centre – a party political event. Prior to departing for this venue we were treated to a comedy show of two guys trying to get out of the car park. They were so desperate that they thought by shouting and screaming at us we would move quicker for them. Unbeknown to them a coach carrying dancers from Toronto were in front of us so we all stared in amazement and laughed at their antics. When we eventually arrived at our second concert hall we performed with a number of other local Ukrainian groups to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Ukrainian Independence. The older boys performed the Kozak Dance, the older girls the Flower Dance and finished off with another polished Hopak Dance where the younger dancers participated with solos. Another excellent performance! During the second concert Ivan Schumskij attended a meeting of all group representatives and handed over our souvenir presents and letter from the Mayor and City of Derby to the Mayor of Rivne. We all met back at the hotel to have supper and then had a walk round the Centre.
Friday August 24th – Ukrainian Independence Day
After an early breakfast we all got dressed into our National costumes for 9am to perform in the Veteran’s service where all the military groups took part on Maydan Nezalejnosty (Independence Square) in front of the statue of Taras Shevchenko. After the official military parade the Kuban Cossack Choir performed firstly with Dumy Moyi & Rozprahayte Khloptsi Koni. A Czech dance group followed them, then we performed 4 dances incorporating the younger ones - Kolomejka, Cossack dance, Duet and Zaporozets followed by a Sicilian group. Before our performances photographs were taken of the whole group on some steps in the grounds near to the square. Victor and his wife Hanya (organisers of the festival) handed over a souvenir, book and CD for our participation. After our performance I gave an interview to the Rivne local TV about the history of the dancing group. We got back to the hotel, got changed and loaded the coach. We said our goodbyes to Rivne and departed at 11.15 am for Ternopil. We travelled through the towns of Dubno and Cherenemets arriving in Ternopil at 2.30 pm for lunch. After lunch we prepared ourselves for big 10th Anniversary Independence Concert in the Palace of Kultura in the Hall of Berezila. There a large number of collective groups of a high standard from all over the region participated. The celebration concert commenced at 5.30pm and there were a total of 50 items. We were no. 37 in the programme – a very long wait but worthwhile ! Hoverla was the only collective group participating from abroad but a great honour to be representing the whole diaspora from GB. Each concert item lasted approximately 5 minutes and the kids danced Hopak tremendously well. It was probably their highest level of performance of the whole tour. Even the younger ones danced their solos well. The audience was electric, behind the stage organisation was excellent, and the public were so appreciative that they clapped continuously throughout the Hopak that the music could not always be heard. At the finale stage of Hopak the audience not only clapped continuously for 2-3 minutes but also gave the dancers a standing ovation with deafening chants of Bravo Bravo Bravo ! This concert was one of the highlights of the tour – a very proud moment in the Dance Ensemble’s history. It was also a great display of Ukrainian dancing for the local TV channel in Ternopil. After we all went back to the coach, had supper in the hotel and unwound.
Saturday August 25th
In the morning we were free to visit the market to buy gifts and souvenirs and to witness how different a Ukrainian market operates. After lunch at 2pm we departed for the town of Berezhany to perform a full concert for the locals and relatives of members of the group. The people greeted us at 3pm and we commenced the concert at 3.30 pm. I was asked to give an introductory speech to say why we were here in Ukraine and what our aims of the tour were. We performed a Hutsul flavour in the first half with Welcome, Kolomejka, Arkan, Honyviter, Verchovyna (musical item) finishing the first half off with younger boys Chumak. After the interval we performed national dances which included Zaporozets, Polka dance, younger boys dance from Kiev, Duet, Musical medley of Ukrainian Insurgent (UPA) marches and finally Hopak. A thank you speech was given by one of the deputies and flowers were handed out to the dancers after a great concert. I said a thank you speech on behalf of the Dance Ensemble and highlighted the link between Hoverla Derby and Berezhany (i.e. the Postolan Family). I then presented a book and pennant from Derby City Council as a souvenir to remember our visit to this quaint town. They presented us with a book on the town of Berezhany. After the concert we all sang Mnohaya Lita and ate a buffet they prepared for us. We also took some general photographs outside in the beautiful sunshine since many members had families and relatives in the audience. They then showed us around the town giving us a guided tour of the more important historical buildings and significant landmarks of the town and area visible around. We left at 7pm and returned back to our hotel for supper at 8pm.
Sunday August 26th
After breakfast we went to the shops and church in the centre of Ternopil. After lunch we all got ready for our final concert of dances pseudo named Chervona Kalyna (Red Guilder-Rose) in the famous Spivochij Park in Ternopil. This was the main Day’s festival of the City called Den Misto (The Day of the Town). In total there were 11 collective groups participating and everyone was invited on stage for the opening of the festival. Each group was given an introductory talk. Majority of groups were Ukrainian but there were also Dance Troupes from Bulgaria and Moldova. We were welcomed with great applause from the audience (5000+ in total) when it was stated that we were from Great Britain. We were then given the honour to perform first. We opened the show with the Welcome Dance, the girls then performed the Polka dance, the younger boys Chumak and we finished of with the mixed Bereznyanka (Wedding) dance. Other groups included the famous local Chervona Kalyna dance troupe (of which the festival is named after) performed before we were invited to do a second spot. The girls danced Vasylky (the flower dance), younger ones the duet and lads the Kozak dance. Here I must say the audience went mad after the lad’s number. It was the best ever Kozak Dance performance I have witnessed.
Joseph Kupranec (Leader & Choreographer)