Modernism and Ukrainian Dance | Kultura 2026
Date and time:
Wednesday 9 December, 2026
18:30 - 20:00
Location:
ONLINE
The seminar examines the subject of Ukrainian dance from two perspectives. On the one hand, modernist dance can be ‘Ukrainian’ by geographical criteria—by being danced on Ukrainian territory. On the other hand, modernist dance can be thought of as ‘Ukrainian’ by symbolic criteria—symbolising Ukraine or Ukrainian culture while using modernist aesthetics and tropes. The first phenomenon will be studied through Bronislawa Nijinska’s productive five-year period in Kyiv (1915–1921). The second will be explored through the Soviet choreographer Pavlo Virsky, most famous for his folk-staged work with the Ukrainian State Dance Ensemble.
General £35 Student £25
Lecturer
Dr Andriy Nahachewsky, University of Alberta, Canada
Andriy Nahachewsky is Professor Emeritus at the University of Alberta, where he occupied the Huculak Chair of Ukrainian Culture and Ethnography (1990–2018) and served as founding Director of the Kule Centre for Ukrainian and Canadian Folklore (2001–2016). His research interests and publications deal with Ukrainian dance, the Ukrainian Canadian experience, diaspora, changing Ukrainian traditions with modernity, and ethnographic methodology. He has conducted fieldwork projects on Ukrainian culture in Ukraine and in ten countries of the Ukrainian diaspora and was the curator of the Bohdan Medwidsky Ukrainian Folklore Archives, a large multimedia repository of resources on Ukrainian culture.