Ukrainian Troupe Shakes the Stage

Enter leaping. And whirling, twirling, cartwheeling, squat-kicking, no-hand flipping and circle dancing. Canada’s Ukrainian Shumka Dancers--”shumka” means whirlwind--certainly lived up to their name at Cal State Long Beach’s Carpenter Center on Saturday afternoon, when the uber-energetic troupe of 50 performed two technically proficient, if exceedingly repetitive, works under the artistic direction of John Pichlyk.

The dancing, accompanied by “happy face” implant smiles, was so dizzying at times, a dose of Dramamine might have helped. Set to original taped music by Yuri Shevchenko--employing half a million notes, so said the press kit--the works strived for the rhythms of Stravinsky and the lyricism of Tchaikovsky but settled, instead, for melodic cliche and bland orchestrations.

“Cycles of the Sun,” choreographed by Pichlyk and guest artist Victor Litvinov, depicted seasonal themes, heralding a toe-tapping Christmas, a muscle-flexing Easter bear, the flying ribbons of summer and an autumn harvest with swirling-skirted peasants decked out in gobs of whites and golds. There was, to the company’s credit, some notable partnering, while busy spatial arrangements occasionally filled the stage with Rockette-like precision.

“Katrusia,” also choreographed by Pichlyk and Litvinov, is the tale of a village girl who is kidnapped by Tatars and taken to a sultan’s palace before ultimately being freed. Kathy Kowalishin comported herself gracefully as Katrusia, while Dave Ganert’s buffoonish turn as the sultan was reminiscent of Buddy Hackett in a turban. The entire harem scene, replete with stilted belly dancing and a slew of Tatars disguised under sheets, proved a riotous respite from shawl-sporting maidens and sword-brandishing lads doing the Hopak. Altogether, a unique, if not always compelling, afternoon.