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UKRAINIAN DANCE

Since the age of seven, I've studied Ukrainian Folk Character dance and ballet with some amazing teachers and dancers from the dance world.  Learning Ukrainian dance was a cultural must in my family and I took to it from a very early age where it went from hobby to part-time job...sometimes even full-time.  Teaching Ukrainian character and ballet at numerous schools and camps has given me the experience needed to become artistic director of the Mriya Ukrainian Dance Ensemble on Long Island in the early 2000's and currently the Zorepad Ukrainian Dance Ensemble in Albany, NY where I started long ago.

 

My dance highlights include performing in various venues such as Lincoln Center, Jacobs Pillow, Pepsi Arena, The Egg and various opera houses in Ukraine.  Studying Ukrainian character and ballet gave me unique opportunities to perform many Nutcrackers through NY and NJ where I have earned roles as party scene parent, Trepak variation, Cavalier and Drosselmeyer. 

Arkan Dance

Ukrainian Festival, Glen Spey, NY

My training...

Roma Pryma Bohachevsky:

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Roma was an internationally recognized Prima Ballerina and Choreographer. Having started her career as a ballerina in Ukraine, she recieved a diploma from the Vienna Academy of Music and Performing Arts, and continued her studies in the United States. Ms. Bohachevsky's stage appearances have included solo performances and concert tours of Europe, North America and Central America. Eventually, she turned to teaching and choreography, deeply influenced by the methods of Agrippina Vaganova and Martha Graham, with whom she studied.

Among Mrs. Bohachevsky's many choreographic creations are "Peer Gynt," "Kvit Paporoti" (Blossoming Fern), and "Cinderella," which have been danced over the years by hundreds of her students. At each summer camp, Mrs. Bohachevsky brings to life a Fairy Tale, weaving traditional and classical themes with imaginative staging, choreography, and costumes.

But, the most impressive choreographies are unquestionably those that she created specifically for the Syzokryli Ukrainian Dance Ensemble, comprised of her most talented students. Each choreography brings out the beauty of the Ukrainian theme developed in the dance, interwoven with elements of ballet, modern and stylized folk dance. Among her creations are "Battle for Freedom," a dramatic ballet commemorating the tragedy of Chernobyl, and "Icona," a historical recreation celebrating the millenium of Christianity in Ukraine.

David Otto:

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David started his training at the School of American Ballet at the age of eight. He graduated from the North Carolina School of the Arts in 1979 and joined the New York City Ballet the same year as an apprentice. Taken into the corps de ballet in 1980. David began working with such notable choreographers as George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Peter Martins and Twyla Tharp. He became a soloist in 1986. David left the company to open his own studio, the Albany Dance Institute in 1990 and was also the Artistic Director of the Saratoga Ballet Academy. David has choreographed numerous ballets, a full length Nutcracker and has guest taught at several colleges and Universities.

Valentina Pereyaslavec:

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Prima ballerina of Ukraine. Born February 10, 1907, in Yalta, she was accepted at the age of 9 at the Imperial School of Ballet in Moscow. Upon completing her training and education in 1926, she was engaged by the Kharkiv Ballet and embarked on a 22-year career as prima ballerina in Kharkiv, Kyiv and Odesa. With the outbreak of War, she was sent to work in a factory by the Germans and by the end she was in a camp for displaced people, where she taught children, forming a small dance group, no charge. This group gave numerous performances under the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Agency. With $11 with her she arrived in the USA and found work in a factory in Philadelphia, cleaning peaches and then packing cigarettes. In 1949 she moved on to New York where she got a teaching position at Tatyana Semyonova's Studio, Carnegie Hall. The in 1951 she was invited to the newly formed American Ballet School to teach, under the direction of Lucila Chase. She taught there for over 30 years. On her diamond jubilee the Ukrainian community honoured her at an event organized her her former students. A very respected teacher. At her 11.30 classes some of the world's greatest dancers attended including; Margot Fonteyn, Carla Fracci, Anton Dolin, Rudolf Nureyev, Erik Bruhn and Alicia Alonso.

Bio by: Medora

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Peff Modelski:

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Peff Modelski was a former professional dancer with the Royal Ballet, Berlin Opera Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Joffrey Ballet and Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Mme Modelski has Broadway performance credits which include the original company of Fiddler On The Roof, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever and Camelot. She is now a Master Teacher of Classical Ballet. As a Nationally Registered Dance Educator and Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner (Feldenkrais Method ®), she teaches professional performers in pure classical ballet technique and style and conducts Teacher Trainings, and public Awareness Through Movement workshops. She taught ballet at Steps NYC for 30 years. Recently relocating to Chicago she has been at Visceral for two years. Peff is a published author on Pointe work and ballet teaching, and will be the Teacher Trainer at the 2010 International Ballet Competition including competitor’s daily class. As author of teaching materials on teaching pointe work, Mme Modelski, in association with David Howard has written a series of notebooks entitled PeffPointe to accompany her CD's for Roper records. 

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