This project was the core fieldwork collection phase of Jason Golinowski's master thesis.
A dozen or more dance competitions are organized in western Canada which include or focus exclusively on Ukrainian dance, with an estimated total of some 8000 entries per year in recent years. The number of competitions and competitors has risen significantly in the past five years. This increase in popularity raises numerous questions regarding the functioning of "ethnic" cultural activities in this country. Various theories explaining "ethnic persistence" and "ethnic revival" have been proposed. The present project is designed to develop an empirical base of data to test aspects of these conceptual models.
The project consists of asking competition organizers for competition programs and marks through their histories, information which is quite readily available to these committees. A detailed database of the competitors, their home group, instructors, their marks and placements, adjudicators, repertoire and other information will allow an analysis of behavior trends that will shed light into the functions of the competitions and the motivations of the various categories of participants.
This project is relatively self-contained and has been proposed as a Master's thesis by Jason Golinowski in the Ukrainian Folklore Program in the Department of Modern Languages and Comparative Studies. It is also connected to a larger study conducted by Dr. Andriy Nahachewsky, dealing with "new ethnicity" and Canadian Ukrainian dance.
(from Project proposal)
