Ukrainian folk group Gerdan Theatre tours across Canada with latest stop in Sault Ste. Marie

Margaret Kirk,
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A Ukrainian folk theatre group, Gerdan, is touring across Canada while five of their members fight on the front lines in Ukraine’s war. The 40-city tour, from Charlottetown to Victoria, aims to showcase Ukrainian culture and support the ongoing war effort through donations to the Ukraine-Canada Foundation.

The two-hour event in Sault Ste. Marie, which drew about 50 attendees, opened with three dances from the Marichka Ukrainian Dancers, a local club that has been active for over 50 years. Anastasia Pasiak Bellini, the group’s director for over two decades, expressed her excitement for her students to meet Gerdan performers, describing the music as sounding “like home.”

Mariia Chuchman, deputy chairman of the Ukrainian Community Council, said the Ukrainian community of the Sault had felt “thirsty” for the culture they miss. Despite the modest turnout, she emphasized the importance of bringing Gerdan to northern communities like Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay to show Ukrainians they are “supported” here.

Since Russia’s 2022 invasion, about 40 Ukrainian families have relocated to Sault Ste. Marie, says Chuchman. She anticipates more Ukrainians who are already in Canada will come to the Sault in the next year for job opportunities to extend their stays beyond typical three-year visas.

The Gerdan tour was largely organized by Vincent Rees from Victoria B.C., a long-time member of the Ukrainian folk dance community. Rees, who danced with the renowned Shumka Dancers from Edmonton in the ’90s, frequently visited Ukraine for training.

“It was crazy over there — it was the wild west — it was good times,” Rees told The Sault Star about Ukraine in the 90s. He later started Cobblestone Freeway Tours, which brought Canadians to Ukraine up until COVID. Now, he brings Ukrainians to Canada.

Gerdan did a shorter Canadian tour in February, which was a “huge success,” so Rees decided to expand on it and travel to more rural towns.

The tour is completely funded by ticket sales. At the show, the performers were selling t-shirts, silk bandanas, stickers and beaded jewelry.

Rees described the show as “celebratory,” but also says that he “feels the weight of the war.”

“Everyone knows what has to be done. We won’t know the cost of it until it’s over, but there’s no going backwards, it’s only forwards. The only way to go forwards in life is with a smile, you know, and a laugh.

“We get an email, text — open the news every day. You never know what you’re going to find out about a city that’s been bombed or a friend that’s been killed, or someone that’s been hurt.

“We don’t talk about the war much. Everyone understands. There’s nothing to talk about. What we can do, is do our best to support ourselves and each other and Ukraine, and spread the good word of what Ukraine is all about,” said Rees. “Ukraine is the biggest country in Europe and people know so little about it, and it’s because it’s been suppressed by Soviet and Russian propaganda for centuries.”

Rees said he is happy to play a part in Ukrainians showcasing their culture.

“I think now there’s going to sort of going to be a new dawn for Ukraine,” he said.

For 22-year-old Pavlo Garadzahii, the tour is “very personal” given the threat facing Ukrainians and their cultural identity.

Without five of its key members, Garadzahii says, “The sound is different… but the most important thing is that they are my friends,” said Garadzahii, who says he becomes emotional thinking about what they are experiencing.

The group’s origins are rooted in Ukraine’s rich folk traditions. Garadzahii explained that when Gerdan was formed, it was unique for integrating folk elements into their performances. “Now, we set a bit of a trend for many other groups, which we are happy about,” he said.

The theatre’s repertoire includes centuries-old songs, as well as newer ones, with one piece created specifically for the Canadian tour that blends traditional Ukrainian folk with Canada’s country-western style.

Gerdan theatre is a tight-knit group and Garadzahii says that the Canadian tour has given them a chance to spend quality time together outside of rehearsals. “First we are friends and secondly, we are artists,” he said.

For Garadzahii, this is his third time in Canada, though for most of the others it’s their first or second. “We feel the Ukrainian diaspora is very big here and it feels like second home, honestly,” he said. He is enjoying the “magnificent” autumn and noted that each city seems very different from the next.

Back in Chernivtsi, a city near Ukraine’s border with Romania, the group meets regularly for rehearsals on top of their full-time jobs.

“We have doctors, dentists, managers, teachers, professors, so many occupations,” said Garadzahii, who is a chemist and a project manager.

“Some members moved abroad when the war began, and others changed professions in order to be more useful,” Garadzahii said, “It is a completely different life, now.”

Currently, it’s illegal for men to cross Ukraine’s borders without permission, because “at some point we have to go to army” said Garadzahii. Gerdan members received a special allowance from the Ministry of Culture to embark on this tour.

He said they risked everything to come to Canada and stresses the importance of showing the world that Ukrainian culture exists. “Ukrainian culture is strong, and it survived so many years of Russian aggression and it was prohibited but it still survived,” he said.

“You never know what to expect in the future,” said Garadzahii. “Every day you’re on the edge.”

Lyrics from their last song of their performance were, “Let’s hold together, let’s keep together, let’s be together Ukrainian warriors and enemy will not win,” said Garadzahii. “So, we will go through this, and we will win.”

Margaret Kirk,
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Sault Star