“Guelder Rose Summer on the Dnipro”

“Guelder Rose Summer on the Dnipro” has become the calling card of the city of Komsomolske in Poltava oblast, pulling in thousands of visitors from 40 countries in the past seven years. The idea of holding this festival belongs to Leonid Kotovsky, ex-director of the municipal Palace of Culture and Art, who has been the festival organizer for four years in a row.

This year’s festivities began with a special liturgy at St. Nicholas Cathedral. Afterwards the festival procession visited the Cossack Grave, laid flowers and wreaths at the Eternal Flame, and marched through the city streets. Various ensembles performed one number each from their repertory at every intersection.

GUESTS

This year festival visitors were enchanted by the Portuguese ensemble As Salineiras de Lavos from Figueira da Foz. The group, whose name means “the women who extract salt in sea lagoons,” was founded in 1959. The members make their own costumes based on 110-year-old patterns, and their shoes (sabots) are made of cork. The seven-kilogram baskets that the women hold on their heads during their performance are filled with real sea salt. Before every appearance, the dancers wet the salt to keep it from crumbling; that’s why it looks artificial. Throughout the 47 years of its existence, this Portuguese folklore group has toured Spain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Sweden. This was their first visit to Ukraine.

Toradi, a traditional Korean dance group, also wowed audiences. The dancers speak Korean, Russian, and Ukrainian (they were born and raised in Kyiv). Toradi was founded six years ago under the aegis of a Kyivan-Korean association to encourage Ukraine’s ethnic Korean women to study their ancestral culture and traditions. The ensemble’s repertory consists of 10 numbers, including dances performed at Buddhist temples and imperial palaces, as well as shamanic and folk dances.

This is the girls’ second appearance in Komsomolske. The audience especially liked their “Dance of the Three Drums.” The history of this dance dates back to the days when shamanism was widespread in Korea. It was thought that the sound of drumbeats could drive evil spirits from people and their dwellings.

The Polish regional folklore group Nawojowyczi performed folk songs and dances, many of which are well known to Komsomolske audiences.

The exotic group Kobama presented the cultural heritage of Central Africa’s Republic of Togo. The ensemble is named after the old singer Kolani Baba Mamadou, who used to sing for the king of the Mandingo Empire of Mali. Since their repertoire consists of traditional ritual dances, the group is often invited to perform at festive events, such as weddings and birthday parties. The group’s members are French-speaking.

The folk song ensemble Vechorka from Chalna, in Russia’s Karelia region, was founded in 1988. All the members, aged 15 to 20, studied singing. The ensemble has a serious repertory. Toward the end of the festival, the group performed a game involving some city residents, including Mayor Oleksandr Popov. After their performance the Vechorka singers said that Karelian folk songs are the star feature of their repertory. Owing to the fact that previous governments did not encourage the Karelian language and traditions, they began to die out. A large number of Karelians moved to Finland. Now Karelia is populated by Pomors, Vepses, Finns, Russians, and even Ukrainians. Our Karelian guests were very glad that there was balmy weather in Ukraine because it was already snowing in Chalna.

The folklore group Matitsa from Kaliningrad was founded in 1989. Its 15 young members perform songs, and dances, and enact games and ritual and calendar feasts from Russia’s different regions.

AWARDS

The program of “Guelder Rose Summer on the Dnipro” featured guests from the near and far abroad and two Ukrainian groups: the folk dance ensemble Besarabsky Souvenir (Bilhorod-Dnistrovsky) and the Slavutych Folk Choir from Komsomolske, which added national coloration to the festival program. During the final gala concert, the jury named winners in the nominations “Oldest and Youngest Festival Participants,” “Miss and Mr. Festival,” and “Audience Prize.”

The youngest participant was Sergei Fomin, 11, from Karelia (Russia), while 82-year-old Bronislaw Bukanski from Poland was the oldest.

Gbteglo Saso from the Republic of Togo (Africa) was chosen Mr. Festival, and Hanna Nedialkova (Bilhorod-Dnistrovsky, Ukraine) was proclaimed Miss Festival.

When the festival ended, the visiting performers left the city, but not all of them left the country. The groups from Portugal, Karelia, and Togo are going on a tour of Ukraine and will take part in the international folklore festival “Polissian Summer and Folklore” to be held in Lutsk.