Zhyto Band CD Release Party

Zhyto Band of Calgary is having
a CD release party this Friday at Lord Nelson Pub located at
1020 8 Ave SW, Calgary AB, Phone: 403-232-6704.

Friday night is a time to be a booster for our friends in the Ukrainian Community of Calgary!  You may have heard of Calgary's most recent Ukrainian Band, they are great!  Band members Stephan Bots, Toma Lebedovich, Erik Smistad, Jordan Welbourne (yes he is Ukrainian too) have created a unique sound, a hybrid of sounds like Gogol Bordello, Great Big Sea, Mad Heads XL - УкраїнSKA / UkrainSKA, Flogging Molly, Vopli Vidopliassova.  This Friday evening is Zhyto's Home CD Release at Lord Nelsons Bar, with some Special Guests! 

Bring your friends and remember to purchase a CD for the parents!!  Or maybe take the parents out to the bar!!

They are also performing in Regina on August 25th at the Victoria Park, and at the Toronto Ukrainian Festival on September 14th!  Get your dancing boots on!

http://www.reverbnation.com/zhyto

Debut Album for Zhyto - Calgary's Ukrainian Zabava Band

Another reason to celebrate Zhyto!


via Jordan Welborne on Facebook

The traditional melodies and rhythms of a people's music contain deeply embedded reflections of the language and culture of its origin.  Kodaly said it, Kolessa said it, Bartok and probably a whole lot of other music people too.  That is why Ukrainian music is so dear to Ukrainian Calgary. And when young people love it, and sing the lyrics to tell the stories, there are a million reasons why that is good!

wisegeek.com

"Zhyto" is a Ukrainian Zabava band based in Calgary, Alberta. Actually the root word probably says "life" too. To live, to enjoy, to prosper, to pass it forward!!  The group brings together flavors of rock, dance, pop and classical into Ukrainian folk music to create a sound entirely their own. Delighting audiences across Canada, the band has an uncanny way of understanding their audience needs, and delivering high energy performances that make guests very happy.  Excellent communicators, with great stage chemistry, Zhyto is a young band with an already impressive list of satisfied festivals and zabava audiences.  http://www.reverbnation.com/zhyto

Zhyto is proud to be releasing their debut album on Friday, August 3rd at the 2012 Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival at Selo Ukraina in Dauphin Manitoba.  www.cnuf.com 
If you haven't been at the festival yet, perhaps this is the year!!

If you are in Calgary or Edmonton, you could catch a ride on the OHUCS Dauphin Bus Tour and party the entire trip there and back! 


Later in August, Zhyto will also perform at Ukrainian Day at the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village east of Edmonton.  See you there!!

Calgary's "Zhyto" at Toronto Ukrainian Festival (September 14-16,2012)

They say it takes a village to raise a child.  Well, Ukrainian Calgary has contributed in some small way to the successful rise in  musicianship for some of our young community members.  Support, enthusiasm, appreciative audience!  But we all know it it the dedication of family and the home that helps children get a footing in life.  Still, this Calgary Ukrainian village has for years enjoyed watching Cathy and Bill's kids grow up and become the generous people they are!  Amazing musicians with big hearts, and enthusiasm to share!   Raised in a Ukrainian Calgary home, the violinist and her brother have gathered friendships and together formed a great band that now gains accolades across the country!  The last time I saw them was in Edmonton and the kids kept the dance hall hopping until all hours - but a friend in Chicago heard them and loves them too!  I suspect their list of performances has grown considerably in the past few years - time to check out their website!  http://www.reverbnation.com/zhyto  You can also find them on Facebook. 
 

Formed in the fall of 2008, Zhyto brings together musicians and sounds of every style, including jazz, rock and classical to create a unique sound in the Western Canadian polka scene. With such versatility, Zhyto is as comfortable playing the polka favorites everyone knows and loves, as well as english hits, both new and old.

Toronto's Ukrainian Festival really knows how to pick their bands!  Calgary's own "Zhyto" is playing for the September annual Ukrainian festival on Bloor West Village - great east west community building!

If you haven't planned for January of 2013 - maybe you should!

This is the same band that will play at PLAST Calgary's Malanka in January of 2013.  See you there!!

Alberta Summer Ukrainian Dance Programs 2012



Chelsie Dowler/Rocky View Weeklly

Ukrainian dance sisters, Kassidy and Kierra Bayda pose in costumes they wore at the Southern Alberta Ukrainian Dance Festival, March 17, at Bert Church Theatre. http://www.airdriecityview.com/article/20120314/ACV0302/303149955/0/acv

Both my daughters participated in Ukrainian dancing, but it seems I missed the Southern Alberta Ukainian Dance Festival this year!  In the past I recall great performances, super adjudicators, family and friends all there to pass on a love of Ukrainian dance, a love of Ukrainian culture, the community of Ukrainian friends!  Even now one of my daughters' friends is a girl she danced with a while back. 

The story goes this way.  My daughter and her friend were the silly girls in Ukrainian dancing, couldn't stop talking.  Had fun!  Enjoyed the learning, but really enjoyed the company.  So they danced into their teens, but couldn't remember when they met.  My daughter was looking at photos from when she was very little.  Turns out this friend was a little girl from my daughter's first Ukrainian dancing lessons, when she was a preschooler!  Turns out that the friendships you make through Ukrainian dancing are frequently the ones that follow you through life. 

If you haven't yet filled your August with Ukrainian Camp ideas, here is another one that is sure to please your young Ukrainian Dancer!!  ALTANETS'!  For summer dance workshops featuring exceptionally qualified dance teachers from Ukraine, this is Alberta's tops!  Teachers are members of this Canadian Ukrainian Dance Academy (http://www.cudacademy.com/) with a proven dance curriculum, and leveled programs for growth in dancing ability!   Alberta Ukrainian Dance Association (http://www.abuda.ca/) again presents its annual Ukrainian Summer Dance Program.  Workshops to improve technique, learn about the dance styles of various regions and styles, and learn about the Art Form that is Ukrainian Dance in Canada!!

Meeting other Ukrainian dancers from across Alberta and the provinces of Canada, enjoying Ukrainian dancing together - what fun!  The cultural program includes crafts, songs, and fun activities to help dancers capture the Ukrainian spirit in a Canadian setting! 

WORKSHOP #2: OVERNIGHT CAMP
CAMP OSELIA, LAKE WABAMUN, AB
AUGUST 5-10, 2012
INSTRUCTOR: VOLODYA MAKAROV
PRICE: $395