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Springtime Sensational Malanka Performance
Main Photo: A Malanka character dances. Inset: Malanka introduces herself by performing a dance. (Rosanne Fortier/photos)
Rosanne Fortier News Correspondent Ukrainian New Year and springtime both speak of freshness, joy, and new life. After a bitterly cold winter where school buses didn’t run on certain days when Malanka is usually performed, Mr. Howell’s Grade Six Ukrainian Bilingual’s students met the challenge of presenting an impeccable performance of a Malanka skit which really sparked the frame of mind of warmth and new life the celebration wanted to deliver on March 21. The students’ narrators explained that Malanka is a Ukrainian New Year’s Eve’s celebration which is celebrated on January 13 according to the Julian calendar. The ancient legend is about goddess named Lada whose happiness brings perfect peace on earth. Lada’s daughter, Malanka was born in spring. Then Malanka’s life was changed by winter and a fierce dragon that kidnapped her. That is until a brave young man saves Malanka from the dragon and earth returns to a condition of warmth, beauty,
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