Canadian Feature Film - "Enemy Aliens" -

Finally, there is a film planned to portray the historical events from the Enemy Aliens episode of Ukrainian Canadian history!  In mid October the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Foundation granted support to Actor/ Film Maker Ryan Boyko in his mission to produce a new Feature Film about Canada's First National Internment Operations of 1914-1921.  "Enemy Aliens" will tell the story of brothers who leave Ukraine just before the declaration of war in central Europe in 1914.  Ambitious and aspiring to a better life in Canada, the boys arrive and have their hopeful dreams dashed.  Like the stories of many new immigrants of the time, the ramifications of their arrival in Canada at this strategic juncture in world history are daunting.  The movie is a fictional account, full of adventure, love, betrayal, hopes, and dreams.  One alarming event after another will forever change their lives - and the lives of many more who were engulfed in this sorry experience. 

The Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Foundation has contributed a sum of 25 thousand towards this film.  If you should choose to support it too, you can donate directly to UCCLF ( Donations to "Enemy Aliens") , a not for profit organization that will issue tax receipts for donations.  The Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund has also supported this project - check it out at www.internmentcanada.ca.

For more information on the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Foundation, please visit their website at www.ucclf.ca. For more information on this and other upcoming projects, please visit www.ryanboyko.com and www.armisticefilms.com. rmisticefilms.com.

Where is Calgary's Internee Plaque?

Calgary's first Ukrainian church rang its bells in 1912, in what is currently Tuxedo area.  Local Calgarians of Ukrainian ethnicity, coal miners, labourers, farmers and ranchers joined in prayer together - celebrating their ancestral faith.  However, this high moment was short lived.  The many men, women and children who celebrated the liturgy together, were soon engulfed in another tragedy - the WW1 war time internment of "enemy aliens".

Newly minted Canadians, people of Ukrainian ethnicity from the breadbasket of Europe, holding a variety of citizenship papers including those of Austro-Hungary (WW1 enemies of the British Empire) were declared enemy aliens. During World War 1, these people were gathered in 24 internment camps across Canada, and some of them were, if not locals, then itinerant workers in the Calgary area.  Who were they? What are their names? What became of them?

The Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association has been a leader in the Ukrainian Canadian struggle for government ackowledgement of what happened to Ukrainians and other East Europeans during Canada's first national internment operations of 1914-1920.  With over twenty years of service to the community the UCCLA has gained public attention, but only recently, in 2008, did the signing of a technical document establish a $10 million dollar endowment fund within the Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko.  With these funds, UCCLA has been instrumental, with the Canadian government, in establishing memorial sites, and permanent markers at the various sites across Canada to pay tribute to those internees.  One such site is at the Castle Mountain Internment Camp site near Calgary, but most recently another marker was unveiled and blessed in the Whitney Pier district of Sydney, Nova Scotia. 

Like Calgary's 1912 establishment of its first Ukrainian church, the ethnically Ukrainian congregation at Whitney Pier in Sydney, Nova Scotia celebrated its church's first Divine Liturgy in 1912.  Sydney was grievously affected by the internment operations, and now there is a monument to acknowledge that fact, thanks to UCCLA and the local community.

Calgary's Ukrainian community suffered too.  During the First World War, many people were interned, leading to the closing of the first Ukrainian church in Calgary.  The community life of Ukrainians here in Western Canada was forever changed.  Some say that even after nearly a hundred years have passed, this event still resonates in the minds and hearts of families and friends here..  Could it be that this trauma led to immediate assimilation, and intentional loss of ancestral culture, language and family ties?

In defence of the human rights and civil liberties of the entire Ukrainian community here in Canada, but specifically Calgary, I wonder where in the city of Calgary there is such a place of honor? 

For more information, check THE NEW PATHYWAY, Thursday, October 11, 2012 page 6 for two more articles.  Also check www.infoukes.com/newpathway
And CAPE BRETON POST, 21 September, 2012

SHUMKA, MATVIENKO, KYTASTY - Could you ask for more??

Ukrainian dancing in Alberta has never looked brighter!  Just think about the lineup for this Shumka's amazing fundraising Gala this November 17, 2012! Celebrating Ukrainian dance in Alberta is one thing, but when you enlist steller Eastern European greats like Matvienko, North America's bandura activist Julian Kytasty, and the amazing list of collaborators for this event's premier performances, you are headed for uncharted territory! I am breathless just thinking about the themes Shumka will feature in this Season of New Creation! 

As a former Shumka dancer, I can tell you the inspiration to dance is probably universal.  However, inspiration is certainly not enough.  Finesse, professional preparation, talented choreography, contemporary theatrical influences, and the deeply embedded ethnographic soul of Ukraine steps on stage with every Shumka dancer. And they deliver spiritually moving performances you remember for a long time after the event!

I have always admired Nina Matvienko for her touching and tender interpretations of Ukrainian folk tradition - you can't listen to her voice and not be moved. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjkL5LKIDys&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXnkDO29lYU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7R1lsYIk2M&feature=related

And when Julian and Victor Kytasty came to Calgary in the summers around 1980 there was a huge bandura movement here!  Perhaps there is a bandura in your future!
Fantastic videos to help you understand Bandura!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYAQVzplFDo&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws_wEA9pkHI&feature=relmfu

Really, can you afford not to go to this Gala!!!

Shumka's Fundraising Gala - A Season of New Creation Join the Ukrainian Shumka Dancers for Shumka's 13th Annual Fundraising Gala: A Season of New Creation on Saturday, November 17 at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (11455-87 Ave).

Shumka's Fundraising Gala is the company's only annual fundraising event with proceeds supporting the creation and development of original music, choreography and costumes. The 2012 Gala will be hosted by Global's Lorraine Mansbridge, with Honorary Patrons Tommy and Ida Banks.

Nina Matvienko

The Gala program includes Koliada: Winter Celebration in the Carpathian Mountains - a special collaboration with Virlana Tkacz, founder and director of the Yara Arts Group of New York. This unique premiere piece features Eastern European vocal legends Nina and Tonia Matvienko from Kyiv, Ukraine, and Julian Kytasty, a Ukrainian-American composer/banduryst, and Cecilia Arana, a conductor and vocalist, both from New York City.

Tonia Matvienko

Voices of the Silenced - Canada's Forgotten Internment Camps brings a poignant work to the stage, recalling the crippling legacy of the thousands of Ukrainians and other Eastern Europeans who were not permitted to serve in WWI but instead interned as "enemy aliens" by their own country.

The evening continues with Oi susidko (My Neighbour), a high-stepping new piece blending the spirit of a favourite traditional folk song with a soaring symphonic score.

After the performance, patrons will enjoy scrumptious appetizers and visit with friends while bidding on amazing silent auction items with opportunities to win outstanding raffle prizes.

Cocktails: 6:30 pm

Performance: 7:30 pm

Food, Silent Auction, Raffles & Much More: 8:30 - 11:30 pm

Tickets are $100 each or $1500 for a table of eight. Corporate tables include premium seating in the auditorium, a complimentary glass of champagne for each guest at the table, and table signage with corporate logo or name. Tax receipts are available for the allowable portion.

Tickets available by phone at 780-455-9559 or email tickets@shumka.com