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After the rituals in the bride's room everyone involved in the wedding gathered and followed the "viltse", (wedding tree) to the church. The procession, including the wedding couple, the wedding party, fam ily and friends, walked several miles through fields and yards then down a muddy road to church. They were accompanied every step of the way by the lively sounds of the wedding band. Neighbors peeked out their windows and ran to look over the fences to see the happy procession. The ceremony took place at St Michael's. Af terwards there was one more wedding ritual outside. The bride and groom were given a "korovai" and told to pull it apart. Who got the larger piece, would be the dominant one in the relationship. It seemed to me that Svitlana pulled in such a way to let Ivan get the larger piece. The young couple posed for pictures under the "viltse" and then drove off for official pictures. The rest of the wedding procession followed the "viltse" back to the homestead. As they walked down the hill, the group stopped at a little cross near the road to leave flowers. I walked up afterwards to see what the monument commemorated. It was erected in 1848 and was a prayer of thanks to God for the day serfdom was fi nally abolished. I would see these type of crosses in many of the other villages we visited. Since we had stayed up late the previous night, we decided to nap before heading out to the wedding party. The nap turned into some solid sleep and it was after midnight when we walked through a pitch black night to join the wedding revelry and get some videos of the dancing. One of the highlights was the "Holubka," a pairs dance, during which one of the musicians called out various tasks for the couples to perform. The mu sician was very witty so the dance was great fun. I shot the members of our team really enjoying themselves. The "Hutsulka," a very fast traditional dance, was an nounced as a special for the "Americans." One of young men, a great dancer, invited Andrea to dance. He figured he could show her a thing or two about Ukrainian dancing and would exhaust her in a few minutes. What the poor "Hutsul" didn't know was that Andrea had eight years of experience with the Vo- loshky Dance Troupe of Philadelphia. Soon he was begging her, "Don't spin me so hard, I'm just a little guy." His friends and neighbors found this hilarious. The music paused at dawn for another tradi tional ritual. The bride's veil was cut off and she put a white kerchief on her head. Then she danced with all the unmarried women in tent, holding her veil over their heads. Meanwhile the groom danced with all the young males. Then the "viltse" was brought out into the yard and fastened to the top of a tree which gave the most fruit. An old man started running desperately around the yard trying to gather the young folk to dance around the "viltse" in the apple tree. He kept yelling "a teper musete tantsiuvaty," (now you must dance ). The ritual must be done correctly to have the desired effect. A ritual that is not completed properly can have dire consequences. His desperate attempts soon yielded results. A ring of young people, as well as the bride and groom and their parents, started danc ing around the tree. They stomped through the mud in their high heels, dance shoes and sneakers, wishing the new couple a fruitful marriage as the sun rose in the pale morning sky. Soon the tables were set again on what had just been the dance floor. We were more exhausted than hungry and were about to escape when they brought out the "banosh." All four of us sat right back down, spoon in hand, and launched into our favorite little bit of heaven. Virlana Tkacz is the artistic director of Yara Arts Group, which is currently working on a new show, "Song Tree," based on traditional songs the group recorded in the villages of Ukraine. It will be shown at La MaMa Experimental Theatre in New York in December. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! A special birthday greeting to Barbara Michaluk Gruchowsky who is celebrating her 105th birthday on November 11, 2000. One of the oldest members of the UNWLA, Mrs. Gruchowsky was a long-time member of Branch 72 of New York City. She currently resides in North Port, Florida.
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