EVENT

Haidamaky perform in museum

The Art Class charitable project involving the rock band Haidamaky turned into a soiree with a warm and friendly atmosphere, an acoustic chamber concert during which everyone donated to the Ivan Honchar Museum’s fund, reports Haidamaky’s press service. “Culture is boundless, rich, diversified, highly creative, and freedom-loving… May everything you see around you fill your heart with an impassioned love for Mother Ukraine,” wrote Ivan Honchar describing his museum collection.

In the 1960s this display became an alternative to the official ideology, fueling the Ukrainian national revival. Haidamaky’s performing principles and ideas are closely associated with the worldview of this gorgeous museum. The Art Class soiree proved to be made up of sudden serious and funny dialogs on a question-and-answer basis, songs from the increasingly popular Unplugged Program, and a number performed by the children’s ensemble Zerniatko that took Haidamaky and the audience completely by surprise.

Zerniatko has been around for 20 years now and has toured half the world, winning awards and an enviable press. The children danced and sang Haidamaky’s song “Nekhai-nekhai” from their first album. The band musicians picked up the tune and did the accompaniment. In the end 15 lucky ones in the audience who won the Art Class draw sang with the Haidamaky “Sumny sviaty vechir” (The Solemn Holy Night), a Ukrainian carol dating back to the UPA period, which is performed all over Carpathian Ukraine, from Bukovyna to the Hutsul region to the Lemky region. There are so many verses in it that it takes an entire night to sing the carol to the end.

Gogolfest headed for Russia, then Finland

Gogolfest’s producer Vladyslav Troitsky said recently that a music and drama program of this Ukrainian project will be presented in Russia, specifically in Perm in May 2010. Troitsky plans to show the drama program consisting of performances prepared by the Dakh Contemporary Art Center: King Lear; the third part of the project “Mystic Ukraine” involving the DakhaBrakha ethno-chaos band; the drama productions Almost a Play, Almost after Pirandello. Death Dance. Resuscitation, based on Luigi Pirandello’s short stories; and play Theater of Laughter and Sin. Love Puppet Show, or the Ukrainian Decameron, based on KLIM’s play.

Gogolfest’s drawing card will be a “synthetic show” with laser animation The Dreams of the Lost Road, featuring DakhaBrakha. Troitsky also spoke about his plans to promote Gogolfest in Europe. As arranged with Anne Durufle, the French embassy’s cultural counselor, Gogolfest will tour France in May–July 2011.