Springtime Sensational Malanka Performance

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,

After this, the students sang Ukrainian Christmas and New Year’s songs, as well as songs from the Feast of Jordan which is celebrated on January 19. An interesting accent supplemented this when they included a hand-bell performance.

The students expressed with tact and timing, the joy of being alive through their Ukrainian dancing which was well-received by the enthusiastic audience.

A student, Jaime said they have been practicing this Malanka skit for about two months. She said this was a challenge because since the busses were cancelled for a while in the cold weather, they would forget some parts and had to go over the parts a couple of times. Also, it was a bit hard to learn the hopak because this is a big group dance and they had to learn to practice it in fairly small areas. Otherwise, she really enjoyed the battle between the dragon and the young man who saved Malanka, as well as, creating the whole performance.