One of our past Village Queens (now called Ambassadors), Nina Harris, has been sending her children ever since they were old enough to dance. This year Nina has joined our Senior Group and is rehearsing with them. It is not an easy transition from mother to dancer. We wish Nina well and hope that she sticks with it.
Could it be that maybe some of the returning Senior members want a final kick at the cat and may consider running for Village "UKRAINA" Ambassador? Has Taras's success this past year encouraged some of these young male dancers to also consider running for Village Ambassador? We will have to wait and see.
Again this year we have a new group of Little Pros. Tiny 4, 5 and 6 year olds who want to join in the fun. Because of the large number of dancers, we have had to split the rehearsals and have our youngest professionals come in on Wednesdays at 4:30 to 5:30. Learning the basics and even the simple 1-2-3 step is tough when you don't know even how to count. They look at you and say, "Yea. Right. What's a 3?" They very soon get over their shyness when they see everyone else trying so hard to follow the instructors. Come July, 1998, these guys will be the stars of the show.
We can't forget our Intermediate Groups. This year there is an "A" Group and a "B" Group. Last year the "B's" were Juniors but they have progressed so well and earned a promotion into the Intermediate Group. If our "A's" don't watch themselves, these "B's" will jump past them and could become our next group of Seniors.
The first year that the Intermediate - B Group was together, we performed in London during one of their many Ukrainian Festivals. They were Juniors at the time and the performance was going well until the Hall's amplifier suddenly went dead right in the middle of their number. Since we were playing the music from our own sound system, we unplugged the connection to their amplifier and turned up the volume on our ghetto-blaster. The music had continued to play and our dancers continued their performance during the interruption without stopping. Our instructors had emphasized that they should always go on with the show no matter what happens, and they did. When the volume came up, both music and dancers were in perfect sync. This was an amazing feat for 9 and 10 year olds.
Our Junior Group are the 2nd and 3rd year Little Pros who now recognize what a melody is and can count to 8. This is not to belittle their accomplishment, only to emphasize that most dance music follows 8 beats to the bar. We feel confident that these Juniors will continue the tradition and enthusiasm that has preceded them.
This years International Villages Festival in Brantford will begin on Saturday, July 4, 1998 and continue all week until the following Saturday, July 12th.
Watch this Web Page for more details as the dates come closer.
| Nicole Barker | Jessica Abram | Heather Bayliss |
| Nicole Biro | Anthony Burtnick | Jessica Clark |
| Blaise Burtnick | Claire Burtnick | Scott Garvey |
| Ksenia Choly | Ali Dzikowski | Lynda Harris |
| Catherine Giles | Adam Garvey | Vanessa Irish |
| Nick Harris | Mathew Garvey | Alycia Jacobson |
| Larissa Harris | John Harris | Leanna Lachowsky |
| Megan Janes | Alyshia Howard | Sheena McEachern |
| Rebecca Janes | Jessie Krutyholowa | Paul Namisniak |
| Megan Mancini | Stephanie Krutyholowa | Katie Nikota |
| Shandee Rosa | Colin Rosa | Kenny Robert |
| Shardae Rosa | Samantha Shiplo | Tanya Sitko |
| Callista Smits-Forchuck | Alex Tohivsky | |
| Sarah Tohivsky |
| Bret Burtnick | Maya Disyak |
| Olenka Choly | Olya Disyak |
| Kailey Dzikowski | Steve Evanetz |
| Ana Edey | Pam Fredendall |
| Brett Howard | Nina Harris |
| Mischa Jansink | Nadia Lachowsky |
| Amber Kane | Katie Lamb |
| Lindsay Keba | Joanna Lavoie |
| Nathan Lachowsky | Jamie Potoma |
| Rachel MacNeil | Andre Romanyshyn |
| Kayla McEachern | Andrij Wiwczaruk |
| Daniel Manisniak | Nadia Wiwczaruk |
| Matthew Potoma | Taras Wiwczaruk |
| Matthew Sitko |
