Introduction

Pavlo Pavlovych Virsky (1905–1975) was an innovative dancer, balletmaster, choreographer, and founder of the P. Virsky Ukrainian National Folk Dance Ensemble, whose work in Ukrainian dance was groundbreaking and influenced generations of dancers.

Pavlo Virsky and Myko1a Bolotov, the famous ballet dance masters, has joined the choreographic team of folk dance around themselves for the first time in Ukraine. That team had been reorganized into the Song and Dance Company of Ukraine in 1940.

It was reorganized again into the State Dance Company of Ukraine in October, 1951, after the Decade of Ukrainian Art and Literature in Moscow .

Pavlo Virsky, National Artist of the USSR , the Winner of the State Reward of the USSR, the Winner of the State Reward of’ Ukraine named after T.Shevchenko, was the organizer and permanent leader or the Company since 1955 till 1975.

1. Biogeography and creativity P. Virsky

Pavlo Virsky was born on February 25, 1905 in Odessa, Ukriane. After graduating from the Odessa Music and Drama School in 1927, he continued his studies in Moscow, at the Theater Technicum, from 1927-1928.

Beginning in 1925, state theaters began to be organized throughout the Ukrainian SSR, allowing for gainful employment for artists, and upon his return to Odessa in 1928, Virsky joined the Odessa Opera and Ballet Theatre as a dancer and choreographer. It was at this theater that he collaborated with Mykola Bolotov in their first joint production: Gliere’s The Red Poppy. Virsky left the Odessa in 1931, and worked as a balletmaster at various theatres, including those in Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kiev, working on productions of ballets such as Raymonda, La Esmeralda, Le Corsaire, Swan Lake, and Don Quixote [1, с. 525].

The Kiev Opera and Ballet brought two productions to Moscow in 1936 as part of the first festival of Ukrainian Literature and Art: Mykola Lysenko’s opera Natalka Poltavka, and Semen Hulak-Artemovsky’s opera Zaporozhets za Dunayem (A Zaporizhian [Kozak] Beyond the Danube), the latter which included choreographed Ukrainian folk dances by Pavlo Virsky and Mykola Bolotov. The following year, Virsky and Bolotov founded the State Folk Dance Ensemble of the Ukrainian SSR, with which they developed an entire program of staged Ukrainian folk dances. With the outbreak World War II, and in the build-up to the Great Patriotic War, many ensembles suspended activity, as performers were enlisted to entertain the troops. Virsky continued his work with folk-themed choreography as the director of the Red Flag Song and Dance Ensemble of the Kiev Military District beginning in 1939. In 1942, he left as that ensemble, and became the artistic director of the Red Army Song and Dance Ensemble dancers, and remained in that post for many years.

In 1955, Virsky returned to Kiev to helm the State Folk Dance Ensemble of the Ukrainian SSR he founded, which had been reconstituted by others after the conclusion of the war. For the next 20 years (until his death in 1975) Pavlo Virsky developed the concepts of Ukrainian folk-stage dance further than had previously been imagined. He founded a school to train dancers in the technique he developed. He toured the world with his dancers, influencing Ukrainian dancers the world over.

Virsky died on July 5, 1975 in Kiev. The State Folk Dance Ensemble of the Ukrainian SSR was named after him in 1977 [3, с. 23].

2. National Honored Academic Dance company of Ukraine, named after P.Virsky

The main purpose of activity of the National Honored Academic Dance company of Ukraine, named after P.Virsky, is collecting, investigation and maintaining the national traditions, customs and rituals of Ukrainian folk, and creating of folk dances and new choreographic miniature shows as we1l as the great canvases about past and contemporary life of Ukrainians, at this basis. The initial sources of the Company foundation are considered as appeared in June, 1937.

Pavlo Virsky and Myko1a Bolotov, the famous ballet dance masters, has joined the choreographic team of folk dance around themselves for the first time in Ukraine. That team had been reorganized into the Song and Dance Company of Ukraine in 1940.

It was reorganized again into the State Dance Company of Ukraine in October, 1951, after the Decade of Ukrainian Art and Literature in Moscow .

Pavlo Virsky, National Artist of the USSR , the Winner of the State Reward of the USSR, the Winner of the State Reward of’ Ukraine named after T.Shevchenko, was the organizer and permanent leader or the Company since 1955 till 1975 [5].

P.Virsky had produced more than five concert programs, having the folk and national traditions as a basis; the programs, among others, contains the clear choreographic compositions like «My z Ukraine» («We are from Ukraine»), «L’al’ky» («The Dolls», «Moriaky» («The Sailors», «Hopak» (Ukrainian folk dance) and «Sestry» («The Sisters»). Delicate humor embellishes the dances like «Chumats’ki Rudoschi» («The Joy by Steppe Travel1er»), «Oi, Pid Vyshneiu («Oh, under a Cherry tree»), «Povzunets» («The Crawler»); delicate lyrica1 mood is characteristic for dance «Podolianochka» («The Nice Girl from Podi1l’a»); dance «Pro Scho Verba Plache» («What about the Pussy-Wil1ow Tree is Crying») is romantic and ru1l of slight melancholy. The great works with heroic and patriotic themes are widely known, like «Zuporozhtsi» («Zaporozhian Cossacks»), «My Pamyataiemo» («We are Remember») and some more [4, с. 8].

The Company has developed into matured professional team under the arts leadership by Pavlo Virsky. The art works of the Company has captured the souls of many spectators from a lot of villages, cities and countries of the world.

Myroslav Vantukh, the National Artist of Ukraine and the Winner of the National Reward named after T.Shevchenko, had came into leadership of the Company Since 1980. The fundamental point of his working is aimed search of new artistic Solutions. Due to the correct situation created in the team, the Arts Manager has Achieved that dancers performance is extremely high, clear performing of the Characters, creative and exacting attitude to the dancers working. M.Vantukh has Producer the new choreographic compositions at this time; its included to the “golden Treasury” of Ukrainian folk choreography. Among them are: “Ukrainian dance with Tambourines”, “V Myri ta Zlagodi” (“ With Peace and Accord”), “Ukraino Moya, Ukraino”, (“Ukraine my, Ukraine), “Lita Molodii”, (“The Years of Youth”), Ukrainian Lyrical dance, “The Carpathians”, “Volyns’ka Pol’ka%E, (“Polka from Volyn’”), “Gutsulka” and others, which renewed the repertoire of the Company and are successful very much among spectators in Ukraine as well as abroad, far from Ukraine’s borders. More then ten items of the concert program out of compositions staged by P.Virsky, Had been renewed under leadership by M.M.Vantukh [2, с. 5].

The famous art painters of Ukraine, such as: A.Petritskiy, F.Nirod, T.Yablons’ka, G.Nesterovs’ka, L.Pysarenko, M.Tsirikus, L.Vig, A.Domashneva and L.Khimich, took part in maturing the Dance Company of Ukraine and in artistic decoration of it’s programs. Owing to them, the spectators of concerts of the Company are enjoyed with beautiful and perfect performance, as well as with the. wonderful dressings, which are, of course, the integral part of the show.

The arrangement of folk music and new music for the dances had been created and is created now many composers of Ukraine, especially — H.Z.avgorodnii, the National Artist of Ukraine, Yu.Levytsky, A.KheJemsky, Ya.Lapinskyi, B.Yarovinskyi and others. All the dance compositions are accompanied by the symphonic orchestra; during long time in the past, it was directed by Ihor Ivaschenko, the fellow-campaigner of P.Virsky , composer and the National Artist of Ukraine. Oleksandr Cheberko, the Honoured Arts of Ukraine , is a director of the orchestra since 2001.

The Company contributes very much to the aim of spreading the knowledge and gathering the national cultures of many nations, with it’s art affirming the ideas of humanism, telling about the history and present time of Ukrainian nation, about it’s everyday life and traditions by means of dance. This efforts had been rewarded with the Honorary Document by the World’s Council of Peace in 1959. The Company had been rewarded with honorary title «the Honored» for it’s merits in the development of Ukrainian choreographic art in the same year; and they had been rewarded with the honorary title «the Academic» for their outstanding level of performance in 1971. The Company was rewarded with the «Friendship between Nations» Order in the year 1987 [5].

The National Honored Academic Dance Company of Ukraine, named after P.Virsky, is well-known abroad, even far from Ukraine.

The Company has visited more than 60 countries in the world with the honorable mission of peace envoy; among them are: Vietnam, Korea, China, Cuba, Austria, England, Canada, USA, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Portugal, SwitzerlaJ1d, Denmark, Andorra and others. The Company shown the achievements of national culture, and contributed all possible efforts to the world’s culture development with honor, every time, in each of this countries.

At the present time the National Honored Academic Dance Company of Ukraine, named after P. Virsky, is on the top of it’s artistic abilities, and is working energetically over improvement of it’s professional rating, is adding the new art works to the repertoire,; is providing energetic artistic activity and is propagandizing of Ukrainian choreographic, art in Ukraine as well as abroad, under the leadership by Myroslav Vantukh, the National Artist of Ukraine.

The choreographic studio affiliated to the company had been founded in 1962; and many talented artists has graduated already from it; they have joined the main team of the Company.

And the Children’s Choreographic school founded by M.Vantukh, had been opened in 1991; more than 200 talented children are learning there. The pedagogic team of the school, containing among others, the National and Honored Artists of Ukraine, has reached the significant success during less the 10 years under leadership of V.Vantukh, the National Artist of Ukraine.

The students of the school has became the winners of many prestigious international festivals on children’s folk choreography; they took part in many concerts in Ukraine as well as abroad, far from Ukraine; and together with the Dance Company they had a concert. tours to Germany, Denmark, Spain, France, Portugal, Italy. Austria, Luxembourg and many others countries of the world [5].

Deduction

P.Virsky had produced more than five concert programs, having the folk and national traditions as a basis; the programs, among others, contains the clear choreographic compositions like «My z Ukraine» («We are from Ukraine»), «L’al’ky» («The Dolls», «Moriaky» («The Sailors», «Hopak» (Ukrainian folk dance) and «Sestry» («The Sisters»). Delicate humor embellishes the dances like «Chumats’ki Rudoschi» («The Joy by Steppe Travel1er»), «Oi, Pid Vyshneiu («Oh, under a Cherry tree»), «Povzunets» («The Crawler»); delicate lyrica1 mood is characteristic for dance «Podolianochka» («The Nice Girl from Podi1l’a»); dance «Pro Scho Verba Plache» («What about the Pussy-Wil1ow Tree is Crying») is romantic and ru1l of slight melancholy. The great works with heroic and patriotic themes are widely known, like «Zuporozhtsi» («Zaporozhian Cossacks»), «My Pamyataiemo» («We are Remember») and some more.

The Company has visited more than 60 countries in the world with the honorable mission of peace envoy; among them are: Vietnam, Korea, China, Cuba, Austria, England, Canada, USA, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Portugal, SwitzerlaJ1d, Denmark, Andorra and others. The Company shown the achievements of national culture, and contributed all possible efforts to the world’s culture development with honor, every time, in each of this countries.

Literature

1. Бондарчук П. М. Вірський Павло Павлович //Енциклопедія історії України. — Т. 1. — К.: Наукова думка, 2005. — С. 575
2. Бурбан С. Світ у полоні українського танцю //Сільські вісті. – 2005. —  25 лютого. – С.  1,5
3. Олексюк М. Ювілей славетного хореографа //Музика. – 2005. —  № 3. – С.  23
4. Станішевський Ю. Геній українського танцю //Урядовий кур’єр. – 2005. — 26 лютого. – С. 8-9
5. http://www.virsky.com.ua