Below is a presentation by Veselka's founder Mrs Natalia Tyrawski at the Ukrainian Dance Forum in Melbourne (29th March, 2003) translated into English.
Mrs Natalia Tyrawski
In the not too distant future the Ukrainian community will be celebrating the 55th anniversary of migration to Australia. Indeed, it is difficult to believe that a half century has passed from the time that Ukrainian migrants, looking for a brighter future settled in this the most distant continent from the then enslaved Ukraine. For the majority Australia was an unknown continent. This was so to speak “terra incognito” because of the lack of printed literature and it was impossible to formulate a clear picture of the place. In some this was a cause for alarm. 
Mrs Natalia Tyrawski
There was no doubt, that unlike Canada and the US, Australia had no previous Ukrainian immigrants which meant that a huge effort was required to build solid foundations for our community structures.
It is well known that migration always poses a serious threat of assimilation and for this reason it was important to concentrate much energy on our youth, to instil in their hearts a love for Ukrainian culture and their unknown fatherland, the land of their parents.
It is important to note the mammoth role of Ukrainian dance ensembles in this patriotic upbringing.
Ukrainian dance- the harvest of Ukrainian spirituality – thanks to our youth became one of the main factors in maintaining the identity of our Ukrainian community and by presenting the beauty of Ukrainian culture to the Australian people it evoked an interest in matters Ukrainian from an historical perspective.
From childhood my life was closely associated with the theatre, especially dance, so it was no surprise that on the journey to Australia my thoughts were filled with clear visions of creativity in a new land. A book can be written about the history of Ukrainian dance in Sydney. A history so closely tied to my life. It is also a history of my life. But to no fear, as my address will be fairly brief.
After arriving in Australia in 1949 I settled in a displaced Persons camp in Great NSW and almost immediately began representing Ukrainians at Multicultural festivals. I performed at Maitland, Newcastle, Singleton and Greta. After moving to Sydney I joined a small Ukrainian dance ensemble, which was part of a drama group attached to the Associations of Ukrainians in Sydney. This was the first dance ensemble to be formed in NSW and was under the directorship of Eugene Nowiczweskyj. I not only danced in this ensemble but was also appointed the artistic advisor to the director. I still remember several very successful performances with the drama group in the Railway Institute Building in Sydney.
In 1952 Eugene Nowiczweskyj, for reason unknown, left the ensemble. The ensemble remained active and I became its director.
Under my directorship we encouraged many new members to join the ensemble. We adopted the name, Ukrainian National Ballet and began top prepare a new repertoire.
It is fitting to mention, today, some of the pioneers of Ukrainian Dance who were members of our ensemble: the late Mykola Sviderskyj whoe was also a leading member of the Ukrainian community; Yarosloav Solowyj, who was also a member of my dance ensemble in Germany; the Majno brothers, who formed a professional group in Melbourne under the name Zaporozsky Kozaky; Halyna Simanovska who later became the director of the dance ensemble in Newcastle; Alla Dubyk; Nadia Teodorowycz; Halia Yskewycz; Valja Spasyva; Valya Kulyk and many others. Viktor Angel, a preofessional dancer, came into contact with Ukrainian dance and joined the Ukrainian National Ballet. The administrator of our ensemble was the prominent Ukrainian Serhyj Cymbaljuk..
The Ukrainian National Ballet was active at a time when the average Australian didn’t recognize the difference between Ukrainian and Russian. As far as they were concerned we were also “Russian”. For this reason we considered it our obligation, at every opportunity to pass on to the audience not only the beauty of our culture but also to disseminate information about the real history of Ukraine. I recall one incident, when at the beginning of a performance we gave a brief description of the difference between the Ukrainian and Russian nations. The audience was very attentive and enthusiastically greeted each of our dances. After the performance an Australian lady approached me and when congratulating me on our performance said, “I just love Russian dancing”. This incident gave our dancers encouragement to emphasize even more our Ukrainian heritage at future performances. And we had many such opportunities. We regularly performed at the “Good Neighbour Council” festivals, winning first prize; on television variety programs; and our own concerts.
In 1957, under my direction, the Ukrainian community in Cabramatta organized a School of Ukrainian Dancing, which worked very closely with the Ukrainian National Balle”. Both ensembles began intensively working to arrange combined performances. For a short time Mykola Swiderskyj and Klavdiya Foljc assisted me with the “Ukrainian National Ballet”.
The Cabramatta School of Dance produced many talented dancers, some of whom as soloists thrilled not only Ukrainian but Australian audiences. Among these were Mykola schpizmaher, Yurko Kyryczenko and Hrycz Stankeycz.
The Ukrainian National Ballet from its inception worked closely with renowned representatives of Ukrainian culture in Sydney to either arrange joint concerts or to invite each other to be a guest performer at concerts. Worthy of note are pianists: Klara Skrpczenko, Anatolyj Miroshnyk and Maryjka Namuryn; soloists: Tayisa Taras, Wolodymyr Rychtowskyj and Wasyl Matiasz: and poetry readers Klavdiya Foljc and Valyntyna Kravchenko.
IN 1958 we organized, with the abovementioned artists and the famous Kuban Cossacks from Melbourne a successful concert/review. During their stay in Sydney the members of the Kuban Cossacks, Wasyl Kawalenko and the Kumpan brothers, helped instructing dancers of the ballet company. Towards the end of the fifties the Ukrainian Dance Academy was enriched by the inclusion of 2 non Ukrainian members, Andrew Van Owen (Dutch) and Julie Taparrel (Australian)
Among the successes of the Dance Academy and the school of dance in Cabramatta were a concert at the Cooma town Hall in 1060 and their first concert in Melbourne. IN the mid fifties a new school of dance was established in the Sydney - Merylands district of NSW under the directorship of Nina Dynysenko under the name Dnipro. Also in the late fifties the Ukrainian Youth Association (CYM) organized a dance school under the directorship of one of my students, Stephanie Zuk.
In time, the young dancers of the Cabramatta School joined either the CYM group or the Ukrainian Dance Ballet. The latter became an autonomous section of the Choral ensemble Boyan. This event had a very positive effect on Ukrainian dance because it provided the opportunity to hold joint concerts with the Boyan: choir. These were very successful and included concerts in Melbourne, Canberra and Newcastle, not to mention our performance at the opening of the Opera House in Sydney. During this time I was invited to direct the CYM group, Zahrava, and commenced working with children at the Ukrainian school in Sefton which later named itself the Ukrainian youth Dance Ensemble of Sydney under the umbrella of the Association of Ukrainians in Sydney.
Working with children wasn’t easy and required much tolerance. I can recall many enjoyable and even satirical moments. I remembers a rehearsal without musical accompaniment having to sing “Tra la la…” and a youngster approached me and asked in a very serious tone, ‘excuse me madam, do I dance this step to ‘tra’ or ‘la’?” these children, in time, became members of the Ukrainian National Ballet ensemble which eventually changed its name to the Ukrainian Dance Ensemble ‘Veselka’ and still exists under the patronage of the Council of Ukrainians of NSW. The administrator was the late Ivan Shestowsky. I want to emphasize that from the very beginning my main objective was to keep our youth within the confines of our culture and to instill within them a love for our Ukrainian culture and to use the Ukrainian dance form to proudly represent it before no Ukrainian audiences. Being the director of 3 Ukrainian dance ensembles gave me the opportunity to combine them for performances for non Ukrainians and provide spectacular entertainment.
Mr Ivan Shestowsky
Our performances in the Sydney opera House were very popular and they provided the opportunity to give courses of Ukrainian dance to Australian ballet schools which I readily facilitated. We even had invitations from Auckland, New Zealand after which some dancers that I had taught came to Sydney and joined ‘Veselka.
It is worthy to note that attendees of our courses in Sydney were Natalka Moravski from Adelaide, Eugenia Bobeshko from Brisbane and Paul Kulhawyc. The latter now directs, with his wife Peggy, the Ukrainian Dance ensemble Tayissa.
After my tenure at the CYM ensemble Zahrava, Rita Dubovska from Ukraine directed the ensemble. She was followed by Arkadij Novyckyj. For many years now the ensemble is directed by former student Mariyka Shushnyak and Chirstina Brecko-Cassar. With respect to “Veselka”, my work with the ensemble in the 80’s and 90’s was concentrated with performances before non Ukrainian audiences. The highlights were performances at the Folkloric Festival at the opera House, the Carnivale Festival in the Sydney town Hall, various television performances in the Sydney Entertainment Centre, tours in USA and Canada with the “Tschjka” choir from Melbourne and its ultimate performance in Ukraine.
After my retirement Natalka Rybak, a dancer with “Veselka” became director. Currently the ensemble is under the directorship of my former student Slawko Sywak, who after completing his choreography studies in Kyiv returned to Sydney. The current administrator of Veselka is Slawko Iwanec, a former dancer of the Ukrainian National Ballet and whose sons now dance in Veselka.
This address is testimony to the fact that the effort of the Ukrainian pioneers in Australia to instil Ukrainian culture in our youth was successful. Our ‘youth’ should also be congratulated for continuing the work of the pioneers. And needless to say, none of this would have happened if it wasn’t for the parents who believe in the necessity to encourage their children to be part of Ukrainian Dance.
