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Gordon Gordey documents his dance libretto and director’s vision in Ukrainain, including performance photographs, for the creation of a contemporary original dance theatre work titled Eve of Kupalo - a Midsummer’s Night Mystery Masque. This dancework was created for The Ukrainian Shumka Dancers of Canada. Eve of Kupalo – a Midsummer’s Night Mystery Masque premiered at the 2,700 seat Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on March 19, 2009. Since then it has toured across Canada and has toured to China, where it played 22 performances in major theatres in 14 cities carrying the Kupalo metaphor of the spirituality of renewal, ritual, and love.

First Draft Concept/Libretto was created in 2007.
Premiere Performance, Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, Edmonton: March 19, 2009.

Gordon Gordey autobiographical reflection of a 40-year creative journey with The Ukrainian Shumka Dancers of Canada recounts his experiences creating his original artistic works with The Ukrainian Shumka Dancers of Canada. By documenting his dance concepts and librettos Gordey reveals his challenge to contribute original works to the canon of Ukrainian dance that is spiritually connected to generations of continuous cultural practice and resonates with 20th and 21st century audiences in Canada, Ukraine, Russia, and China. He speaks to evolving dance stories that embed themselves in viewer’s minds and become shared cultural touchstones in the evolution of our Canadian identity at home and abroad. Dance concepts and librettos for: Shumka’s Cinderella, Pathways to Hopak, Girl in the Red Dress TANGO, Vechornytsi (the multi-works in Life is a Cabaret), Eve of Kupalo - a Midsummer’s Night Mystery Masque and Voices of the Silenced are enhanced with photographs and video excerpts of the dances in performance.

This work was published in Ukrainian as a peer reviewed chapter in Collected Papers on Ukrainian Life in Western Canada, edited by V. Polkovsky and M. Soroka, Ostroh Academy National University Press, 2014, Vol. XLVII, Part Seven, pp. 242-275. All rights reserved. The English text was revised in 2016 for the deposit into the Archives. We have digital and physical access copies.

Gordon Gordey documents his dance concepts and libretto, including performance photographs, for the creation of the original dance theatre work Girl in the Red Dress TANGO. Created for the Ukrainian Shumka Dancers of Canada.

First Draft Concept/Libretto was created in 2006.
Premiere Performance, Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, Edmonton: November 10, 2007.