There are more than 70,000 Ukrainian-Americans living in New Jersey, according to the 2010 Census, making the Garden State home to the fourth-largest Ukrainian population in the nation. On March 31, 2016, the Clement A. Price Institute on Ethnicity, Culture, and the Modern Experience at Rutgers University–Newark (RU-N), in partnership with the Rutgers-NJIT Theatre Program, will acknowledge this vibrant community with a full-day symposium featuring the world-renowned Voloshky Ukrainian Dance Ensemble: In the Spirit of Kyiv: A Symposium on Ukrainian Dance & Culture.

The symposium will begin with a Ukrainian Dance Workshop at the Paul Robeson Campus Center, 3rd floor Dance Studio from noon to 1 p.m., open to Rutgers students and the general public. In the evening, Voloshky Ukrainian Dance Ensemble will present a concert at 7:30 p.m., in the Jim Wise Theater, NJIT. The one-hour program will begin with a pre-concert lecture by Voloshky’s artistic director, Taras Lewyckyj, on Ukrainian culture and the ways in which recent political unrest has impacted their cultural survival.

Based in the Philadelphia area, Voloshky portrays the rich culture of the Ukrainian people through dance, combining superb technique and presentation with the national character of Ukraine. Founded in 1972, the company fosters and promotes cultural exchanges between Ukrainians and the global community through the art of dance. Voloshky’s unique blend of styles has positioned the company as a leading cultural ambassador, simultaneously representing Ukrainian culture along with the rich dynamic pluralism of the United States.

Dances from the many regions of Ukraine will be featured during the performance, including ones representing the Eastern Carpathian Mountains ("The Lark"), Ukrainian Kuban Cossacks ("Broken Promises"), Bukovinia ("Village Dance"), and the spectacular Hopak, the quintessential Ukrainian art form.

Lewyckyj has been artistic director of the Voloshky Ukrainian Dance Ensemble since September 1995. He first joined the Voloshky Ukrainian Dance Ensemble as a dancer in 1974. His dance training began in 1966, at the Roman Strotski School of Ukrainian Dance in Philadelphia.  In addition to becoming a member of the Voloshky Ensemble, he attended numerous dance workshops; most notably with Mykola Zhukovin and Roma Prima Bohachevska, whose choreographies dominate Voloshky’s repertoire. Lewyckyj has worked in Ukraine with Myroslav Vantukh, artistic director of the Virsky Ukrainian State Dance Company. He is a graduate from the Kirovograd State Education Complex in Ukraine with a degree as balletmaster and artistic director. In 2003, Lewyckyj was the first foreigner to receive a degree in Ukrainian Dance Methodology from the Kiev University of Culture and Performing Arts.

In addition to his dance training, Lewyckyj brings an extensive aesthetic background to his position of artistic director. He studied fine arts at Tyler School of Art of Temple University in Philadelphia. He received his degree in painting and sculpture after studying abroad in Rome, Italy. Subsequent to his studies, Lewyckyj taught anatomy and sculpture at Temple University’s Tyler Campus in Philadelphia.

All events are free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Marisa Pierson at 973-353-3896 or visit www.ncas.rutgers.edu/iceme.

In the Spirit of Kyiv: A Symposium on Ukrainian Dance & Culture with Voloshky Ukrainian Dance Ensemble is presented by the Clement A. Price Institute on Ethnicity, Culture, and the Modern Experience at RU-N, in partnership with the Rutgers-NJIT Theatre Program, and co-sponsored by the Office of Student Life at RU-N. The symposium is supported in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; and administered by the Essex County Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs, and by the Cultural Arts Programming Fund at RU-N.