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O ur Young Talent 1964 I w as born in N ew Y ork C ity, and com pleted m y h ig h school ed ucation in D etro it, M ich. A t th e tim e o f grad u ation I had stro n g hop es o f stu d y in g m ed i cine, bu t, as fu n d s w ere n ot availab le for such an exten d ed cou rse o f stu d y , I en tered th e C ollege o f N u rsin g a t W ayn e U n iv ersity . In 1945 I received a g ra n t from th e F ed eral G ov ern m en t to con tin u e m y n u rsin g stu d ies under a sp ecial n u rsin g p rogram . In O ctober o f 1948 I w as grad u ated from P rovid en ce H osp ital School o f N u rsin g in th e top 10 per cen t o f m y class. M y sp ecialization w as su rgery, and in th e cou rse o f m y n u rs in g career I h a v e acted as p ri v a te su rgical n u rse to m an y em i n en t su rgeon s in h eart, eye, and bone su rgery. M y in terest in U k rain ian life I in h erited from m y p a ren ts — m y A m erican -b orn m oth er and m y fa th er, a proud B u k ovyn etz. U k rain ian folk d an cin g w a s al w a y s one o f m y m ain in terests, and I com pleted a cou rse o f b asic stu d ies under th e d irection o f P rof. T h eo fil O lsh ansk y. O ver th e y ea rs I did m u ch research on local dances fro m th e variou s p a rts o f U k rain e, and catalogu ed th is in form ation fo r fu rth er re f erence. A num ber o f folk ritu als becam e ch oreograp h ical th em es, as for exam ple, — w ed d in g cu s tom s becam e th e source for “V in k o p letten ia ” and “C hareev- na K v itk a ” w as b ased on th e rit u als o f th e N ig h t o f Ivan K upal. A sin gu lar honor o f w h ich I am exceed in g ly proud w as th e in v ita tio n exten d ed to m e b y th e C ecch etti Sem in ar, an annual exam in ation sem in ar fo r p ro fes sion al b allet m a sters, to tea ch U k rain ian folk dance tech niq ue. T h is w as th e fir st tim e a non p ro fessio n a l had been in vited to tea ch th e C ecch etti Sem inar. T w o yea rs la ter I w as in vited to tea ch a second 9-d ay Sem in ar. I la ter learned th a t th e E x a m in in g B oard had w atch ed th e U k rain ian F olk D an ce E n sem b le of D etro it w h ich I tea ch and direct, for several yea rs b efore th e in v ita tio n w as exten d ed . I am also g rea tly in terested in U k rain ian folk costu m es. M y in terest in th is field w as sparked b y M rs. Iryn a K ozachenko, w h ose k in d n ess and en cou rage m en t g rea tly aided m y research . F or one p articu lar p ro ject I ca talogu ed and film ed on 35 m m . slid es 20 U k rain ian region al cos tu m es and p resen ted th em , w ith a te x t, to th e F olk lore A rch iv es o f W ayn e U n iv ersity . D r. T h el m a Jam es, D ean o f th e F olklore D ep artm en t said th a t, to her kn ow ledge, W ayn e is th e on ly U n iv ersity in th e U .S . to h ave su ch a set o f slid es fo r tea ch in g p u rp oses. A second p roject, con cerned th e stan d ard ization of sta g e co stu m in g fo r our dancers. W e exp erim en ted w ith lig h t w eig h t m a teria ls to ach iev e th e lig h tn ess w h ich is n ecessa ry for sta g e costu m in g, and y e t reta in th e cla ssic ou tlin e o f th e U k rain ian costu m e. “P y sa n k y ” are still an oth er of m y in terests. G loria Surm ach- M ills o f N ew Y ork w a s esp ecial ly h elp fu l in ex p la in in g to m e th e color tech n iq u es, p a ttern s, and th e region al d esig n s o f th ese b ea u tifu l U k rain ian E a ster eg g s. M y collection o f “p y sa n k y ” nu m b ers w ell over 200 and th ey rep resen t alm ost ev ery reg io n of U kraine. O ver th e p a st 15 yea rs I h ave p resen ted cou n tless lec tu res and d em on stration s o f th is classic art. A fe w y ea rs ago I w a s nam ed b y th e G overnor o f M ich igan to th e G overnor’s C ultural C om m is sion. T h is w as to be a P ilo t C om m ittee fo r th e ca ta lo g u in g o f th e folk lore o f th e people o f th e U n ited S ta tes. It is hoped th a t in tim e a F olk lore A rch iv es of th e U n ited 'States m a y be esta b lish ed th ro u g h th is S tu d y C om m ission . F or th e p a st tw o y ea rs I h ave b een stu d y in g to p lay th e ban- dura under th e d irection o f M r. P etro K y ta sty o f th e S h ev ch en ko B andura E n sem b le and C hor us. In add ition to th ese in terests Joanna Draginda I am a ctiv e in a num ber o f U k - rain ian -A m erican organ ization s, am on g th ese, th e U k rain ian Y ou th L eagu e o f N o rth A m erica, in w h ich I h a v e served fo r m an y yea rs as N a tio n al P u b licity D i rector and N a tio n al C ultural D irector. A t th e L ea gu e’s 2 1 st A n n iv ersa ry C onven tion I re ceived th e title o f “M iss U k ra in e.” I rep resen ted th e local U k rain ian com m u n ity a t th e In tern a tio n a l In stitu te o f M etro p olitan D etro it for 12 y ea rs, and h ave prepared nu m erous ex h i b its th ere and a t th e D etro it H is torical M useum . I am a m em b er o f U N W L A B ranch 58, and for one term served as its p resid en t. L a st y ea r I served as th e C ultur al D irector fo r th e D etro it R e g ion al C ouncil o f th e U N W L A . I am v ery proud and h ap p y to h ave been nam ed “Y ou n g T alen t o f th e Y ea r” b y O U R L IF E m a g azine, and I sin cerely hope to be able to con tin u e m y w ork fo r th e b en efit o f th e U k rain ian -A m er- ican com m u n ity. J. D ragin d a IN L IE U O F F L O W E R S In m em oriam o f A n n a H aras, m oth er o f our m em b er M rs. M ary L . K rafton , w h o p assed a w ay F eb . 19, 1965, $5.00 for th e P ress F u n d o f O U R L IF E . B ran ch 37 U N W L A D etro it, M ich. Н А Ш Е Ж И Т Т Я — К В ІТ Е Н Ь , 1 9 6 5 17
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