"Here was a fiddler and a guitar player, both performing as equals. It was straight ahead, honest, pure. Technically it was excellent, musically moving with dynamics and buildup and release of tension. No unnecessary showing off, just the joy of making the music coming through."
STILL THE RIVER FLOWS
by Ihor Slabicky
Ukrainian Weekly January 18, 2009Virlana Tkacz’s productions with the Yara Arts Group are always astounding and brilliantly executed. This year’s offering Still the River Flows was no exception. The three-act piece created by Ms Tkacz is based on the timeless Ukrainian Christmas traditions.
The first act, “Cosmos” presented the Creation Story – when there was no world, nothing , except an endless expanse of water – as it is sung in the koliady. This featured Lilia Pavlovsky (as the Sun) with dancer Inka Juslin (as the Breath) and Kayla Ankeny (as the Moon).
Act 2 was “Cave,” the “vertep” Nativity play that is usually presented with puppets. Here, Virlana Tkacz had the actors playing those roles: Herod (played by Taras Pavlovsky), the Three Wise Men (who spoke three different languages), Rachel (Lilia Pavlovsky), the Angel Antonina Ermolenko), seductive Death (portrayed by Nina Arianda) and the Devil (Brandon Vance, who's violin plays the deadly song that ends Herod’s life). The chorus was directed by Julian Kytasty. All were serious and profound.
The third act, “celebration,” was light-hearted entertainment to ease the solemnity of the second act. This allowed the performers to highlight their own talents. The third act began (or the second act finished) with Nadia Tarnawsky coming out of the wings, dressed in a smock, sweeping the stage with a huge broom, exclaiming: “That’s a wrap!” The first impression was that the piece had ended. Ms. Tarnawsky then took off her smock, revealing her beautiful folk costumes, and started singing “Mii Mylenki” (My Beloved), gracefully dancing with the broom, in a reveries over her loved one. As she danced off stage, Mykhailo Tafiychuk and Dmytro Tafiychuk came out and played traditional Hutsul fiddle tunes. Svitanya performed “Sadi Momo,” accompanying themselves on dumbek, guitar, tambura and gaida. Ms. Ermolenko sang “Kazala Meni Maty” (As Mother Told Me) with accompaniment by Mr. Vance on violin, and Ms. Juslin danced “Time Passes,” to name just a few.
This they did against the background of a set designed by Watoku Ueno that imparted the dynamics of a river flowing through the snow-covered Carpathians, flowing through and around mountain and valleys, surrounded by birch trees.
Several things truly impressed about this work by Ms. Tkacz. First was the sheer size of the cast. I counted 30 members on the stage for the final curtain call – all dressed in authentic and ornately detailed costumes. They were balanced by the minimalist set design. Most impressive was the fact that the cast members were performers of various ethnic backgrounds from all over the world. Although Yara Arts Group is based in New York City, for this piece Ms. Tkacz brought the Svitanya Women’s Ensemble from Philadelphia, Nadia Tarnawsky and Brandon Vance from Cleveland, the Shepko family from upstate New York and the Pavlovsky family from New Jersey. Inka Juslin is from Finland, Kat Yew is of Korean background, and of course, the Koliadnyky from Kryvorivnia, arrived from Ukraine. Ms Tkacz must be lauded for assembling such a talented ensemble and inspiring them to perform at their best.
"The music sounded fresher, and in a fascinating way more modern, than ever...he [Chagnard] and the Sinfonietta are a combined force to be reckoned with on today's orchestral scene."
-The Seattle Times, October 2, 2010