Leda Tarnasky and Nicolas Pacholok in ‘Canada’s Ukrainian Nutcracker by Shumka’. Photo by Ryan Parker.

‘Canada’s Ukrainian Nutcracker by Shumka’. Photo by Dodd’s Eye Media

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca

There are shows built into our holiday DNA. The frozen-hearted Ebenezer Scrooge stars in one of them, a classic ghost story cum tale of last-minute redemption (A Christmas Carol, now running at the Citadel). The other polestar of the seasonal galaxy is The Nutcracker, the indelible Christmas Eve coming-of-age fantasy that dances its visions of sugarplums onto stages annually as a classical ballet — OR in the case of the lavishly appointed, large-scale production that lights down on the Jube stage this weekend, a huge-cast Ukrainian folk ballet version of the magical 1892 classic.

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By now Canada’s Ukrainian Nutcracker by the Edmonton Ukrainian dance company Shumka is a tradition in the west of the country. This year the production directed by Tasha Orysiuk, Shumka’s artistic director has already played Victoria (accompanied by the Victoria Symphony), Medicine Hat, and Camrose. This weekend the cast of over 70 Shumka dancers (and choristers from the Kappella Kyrie Slavic Chamber Choir) will be home for Christmas, as the song has it.

Not only is the corps entirely from the Shumka company and school, the lead roles are for the first time occupied by Shumka dancers, too, instead of guest stars from Ukraine. At the centre of Nutcracker is the young girl Clara who finds herself under the Christmas tree in a magical realm of dolls, toys, and an army of mice, and the Nutcracker Prince with whom she falls in love, are played by Leda Tarnawsky and Nicolas Pacholok.

In addition to the famously aerobic physicality and style of Ukrainian dance — “really fun, high energy, high octane,” as Pacholok says — both dancers find “the intense focus on the story and the theatre of it” one of the most distinctive features of the Ukrainian Nutcracker. Unlike many Nutcrackers, where the story of Act I cedes to a virtuoso ballet showcase in Act II, “the story continues through the entire show,” says Tarnawsky. “You really get a chance to invest in these characters and their journey, their emotions and their stories.”

Leda Tarnawsky in ‘Canada’s Ukrainian Nutcracker by Shumka’. Photo by Ryan Parker

“A pretty cool way to tell the story,” she says of “Clara’s coming-of-age story, becoming a young woman and falling in love.” As Pacholok points out, the Prince, too, has “more to do in the second act,” where he and Clara take over some of the dance normally assigned to the Sugarplum Fairy and her Cavalier. “Which helps tie the story together.” And the production’s interest in characters, acting, storytelling set it apart from traditional, more dance-centric Nutcrackers.

“The choreography and (technical) level required are definitely a cut about what we’re used to in our corps dancing. But the corps choreography is quite demanding and explosive too!” Pacholok says. “That’s not reserved for us!”

A couple of times this past year the show’s original choreography team of Victor Litvynov (of the National Ballet of Ukraine) and John Pichlyk (the former Shumka artistic director) have worked with the corps, and with the leads, including Joshua Pacholok as Drosselmeier (Clara’s mysterious magus godfather), to make this year’s edition unique.

Nicolas Pacholok and Leda Tarnawsky in ‘Canada’s Ukrainian Nutcracker by Shumka’. Photo by Dodd’s Eye Media.

Both Pacholok and Tarnawsky bring to Shumka’s Nutcracker long histories with the company (which was recently inducted into the Canadian Dance Hall of Fame). Pacholok started dance training  age six, at the Shumka school, “and started taking it more seriously at 14 or 15.” He started in the company as an apprentice, then a full member. He remembers his “accidental” first role in the Mouse Battle “when someone injured their toe and couldn’t go in…. I was onstage for a few seconds, catching someone in a life and running back off.” He landed the story role of Fritz, Clara’s brother, in 2019 when it was vacated by its guest star occupant of many years.

Nicolas Pacholok in ‘Canada’s Ukrainian Nutcracker by Shumka’. Photo by Dodd’s Eye Media.

After eight and a half years with the company, Pacholok, a U of A mathematics grad, has taken his Shumka training into the wide world of ballet. Since January he’s been a trainee, on scholarship, with the Joffrey Ballet in New York. “The next push for me is exploring the professional ballet space. Who knows from there?” He adds, “But Shumka will always be a big part of my future down the road.”

Tarnawsky, now in her fourth year of civil engineering at the U of A, has been doing Ukrainian dance since the age of four. She grew up in the Ukrainian dance world. Her parents, both former dancers, met there (Darka Tarnawsky is an ex-executive director of Shumka). “Engineering is fun,” she laughs. “But my heart’s always been in the arts.” And she has the resumé to prove it, including gigs teaching Ukrainian dance, working for the Alberta Council for Ukrainian Arts, helping organize the Shumka Dance Festival…. “Busy, for sure!” as she says. But then, that’s true of a lot of Shumka dancers, “who work for long hours before rehearsals.”

Like Pacholok, Tarnawsky started in Nutcracker as “an accidental mouse, jumping in for someone….” Through the years, she’s been a corps dancer, and graduated to bigger roles. “The last time we had a big partnering dance,” says Pacholok, “was when Leda was one of the dolls and I was Fritz, Clara’s brother.”

Nicolas Pacholok and Leda Tarnawsky in ‘Canada’s Ukrainian Nutcracker by Shumka’. Photo by Dodd’s Eye Media.

Both Tarnawsky and Pacholok refer to their new roles as “dreams come true.” The former describes playing Clara as “exciting but nerve-wracking. I never expected it to be a possibility!”

What they both find particularly striking in the Ukrainian Nutcracker is, as Tarnawsky puts it, “the way the story continues through the entire show.” Ah, and there’s the music. The Tchaikovsky score that’s ringing in your head when you read this is woven with Ukrainian music, including Carol of the Bells, and a version of the signature Ukrainian Hopak happens at the end of Act II. The sustaining theme, as Pacholok puts it, is “the expression of joy through dance.” 

In the performing, says Tarnawsky, Ukrainian dance is a total immersion experience: “every single part of the body.” And the theatrical extravagance of the Shumka Nutcracker, including its deluxe costuming, says Pacholok, is “a way of bringing the audience into the story.”

PREVIEW

Canada’s Ukrainian Nutcracker

Presented by: Shumka

Directed by: Tasha Orysiuk

Choreographed by: Viktor Litvynov and John Pichlyk

Starring: Leda Tarnawsky, Nicolas, Pacholok, Joshua Pacholok, Annikka Dobko

Where: Jubilee Auditorium

Running: Dec. 20 and 21

Tickets: ticketmaster.ca