Skip to content
Call Us Today! 212-533-4646 | MON-FRI 12PM - 4PM (EST)
DONATE
SUBSCRIBE
Search for:
About Us
Publications
FAQ
Annual Report 2023
Annual Report 2022
Annual Report 2021
Initiatives
Advocate
Educate
Cultivate
Care
News
Newsletters
Sign Up For Our Newsletter
Join UNWLA
Become a Member
Volunteer With Us
Donate to UNWLA
Members Portal
Calendar
Shop to Support Ukraine
Search for:
Print
Print Page
Download
Download Page
Download Right Page
Open
1
2-3
4-5
6-7
8-9
10-11
12-13
14-15
16-17
18-19
20-21
22-23
24-25
26-27
28-29
30-31
32-33
34-35
36-37
38-39
40
A VISIT TO UTOROPY: S a lt, S o n g s , a n d a W edding by Virlana Tkacz Dmytro Kuryshchuk, Yaryna Turianska, Virlana Tkacz, Andrea Odezynska, reporter from "Hutsulsky kray ” newspaper and Maryana Sadovska The village of Utoropy lies between the towns of Kolomyia, an ancient trading town, and Kosiv which prides itself on being the gateway to the Carpa thian Mountains. Last July a group of us spent several days in Utoropy as we traveled through the villages of Ukraine collecting material for a new show we would create with Yara Arts Group. The artistic team on our expedition was com posed of Maryana Sadovska, an actress who collected folk songs, Yaryna Turianska, an ethnomusicologist, myself and Andrea Odezhynska, a film and video di rector from New York. We picked Andrea up at the airport in Kyiv and drove to catch the all night train to Ivano-Frankivsk. From Ivano-Frankivsk we drove to Utoropy with Dmytro Kuryshchuk, who wanted to introduce us to his native village. A proud son of Utoropy, Mr. Kuryshchuk was first and foremost a journalist, so our first activity in the area was an interview with the local paper in Kosiv, "Hutsulsky kray" (Hutsul land). The in terview was conducted over lunch where we first tasted "banosh." This local delicacy, made of cornmeal that is cooked on fresh cream, is nothing short of heavenly. After our interview, we returned to Utoropy to the local school where we were to meet our host fam ily. The school walls were lined with children's art projects. There were displays dedicated to fairy tales, space and various holidays, as well as a fantastically shaped natural wood piece the children had found. A special exhibit was dedicated to "Smerichka," the school's renowned folk ensemble, which was celebrat ing its 40th anniversary. I was particularly taken with one of the art projects. A child had cut a village house and various characters out of a single piece of sheet metal. The characters included a soldier and death, a bride and groom, a couple of gypsies, an old man and a baba. The devil sat on the roof next to the moon. I assumed these were the worldly characters from the Christmas vertep. Later I learned that these were the characters of a more ancient tradition called Malanka. Obviously, a lot of love and care held this school to gether, because there were also signs that the school could use some serious financial support. We were delighted to learn that our host for the next three days was to be Maria Lasiychuk, the di rector of the school. We drove to her home up the hill and off the main road. Past the second stream that trickled across the dirt road we saw an orchard, a prancing horse, drying haystacks and a well-kept home. Mrs. Lasiychuk informed us that she had ar ranged a busy schedule for us. That evening, as an in troduction to the area, we were to meet the village eld ers who knew the oldest songs and tales. In the meantime, there were other things to see and do. We drove to a part of the village the locals call the "Bania." This is where natural brine bubbles up in Utoropy. For centuries it was boiled in the "ba- nias" till the water evaporated and the salt could be Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
Page load link
Go to Top
1 
2-3 
4-5 
6-7 
8-9 
10-11 
12-13 
14-15 
16-17 
18-19 
20-21 
22-23 
24-25 
26-27 
28-29 
30-31 
32-33 
34-35 
36-37 
38-39 
40 
