Kozak Talks Podcast
Ми знайомимо вас з українцями, які побудували тут неймовірне життя - підприємцями, професіоналами, громадськими лідерами та відомими українцями.
Їхні подорожі та інсайдерські поради покажуть вам, як боротися з викликами, відкривати можливості та реалізовувати свій потенціал - і все це з повагою до свого українського коріння.
Kozak Talks Podcast
Танцюємо по-українськи у Англії
Відкрийте для себе яскраву енергію українського танцювального колективу "Пролісок", що базується в Лондоні! Заснований Іриною Янкович та Антоніо Гресько, "Пролісок" об'єднує танцюристів українського та британського походження зі спільною пристрастю до своєї української спадщини.
Налаштуйтеся на мій подкаст, і я поспілкуюся з учасниками "Пролісок". Вони розкажуть про свій шлях, радість українського танцю та про те, як ви можете долучитися до нього! Незалежно від того, чи ви досвідчений танцюрист, чи просто цікавитесь українською культурою, цей епізод для вас. Відчуйте дух України тут, у Лондоні!
Пролісок контактів
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prolisoklondon@gmail.com
Let's start our episode 38. The organization is called ProLysok. It's a London-based Ukrainian dance group.
Speaker 2:Dance ensemble.
Speaker 1:Thank you. You are with me today on the Kosovo Talks podcast on the Kosovo Talks studio radio. I would like you to tell us your story how you founded it, what you are doing now, what you will do later.
Speaker 2:And ideally you also have your own story bit about yourself and how you founded this organization. Thank you. In a very famous Ukrainian collective in Ivano-Frankivsk region in Kolomyia, there is a collective called Pokutya, the head of which is a well-deserved president of culture, dana Demkiv. She is an older woman today, but the collective still exists. The collective visits the whole world and presents the culture and traditions of Ukraine in different countries, which no one has ever heard of. I came there as a little girl. It fell into my soul and I danced for 24 years.
Speaker 2:I danced in Ukraine. It was my hobby, but I loved it very much. I even wanted to learn it, but my life turned out to be so that my parents made me study another profession. I graduated from law school, I have a higher education in law and, in addition, I also have a higher education in management of state administration. I was a manager of state administration, but my life was full of problems. Life was like this when I got married and my husband wanted us to come to the UK. We came here and, like all Ukrainians, I didn't know what to do at first, because to go further in my profession I needed money and we didn't have that kind of money and I didn't know English very well. I had to start something.
Speaker 2:I went to church for the first time in a month. When I came to church I saw that there were a lot of little children and I felt so warm and close to my soul. I felt at home, at home in Ukraine. I thought to myself, why not pass on a little bit of this culture that I know that I worked with in Ukraine, because, besides working there dancing in a group, I used to work with little children helping my boss, and I decided to make an announcement. I made my first announcement in the Orthodox Church in Akton because it was closer to me to get there. Children agreed. Unfortunately, I could not work in the church premises because there was no noise. Children are noisy, so to speak and I rented a room near the Aktoonsk church. There was a men's working club On the second floor there was a large hall, a floor that allowed dancing. That is not a kilim, but a parquet, a small and very close to the church. After the service was over, the children were studying at a Ukrainian school and after school they all ran to me for a rehearsal with pleasure, and this group consisted of about 10 little children from 4 to 7 years old and we started to study and somewhere in a very short period of time, there were Christmas holidays.
Speaker 2:It was 2013. There were Christmas holidays, we prepared one dance and the very first concert we gave at the first sewing workshop. It was at Trafalgar Square. The children danced there. The dance was called Solokhy, and then they started to approach us from the inter-channel. They took an interview, did a little video shoot and already started to show, to popularize that here in the territory of Great Britain there is a collective that shows our Ukrainian culture, and this was the first concert we had. And after that I started talking to a little older children and the group had five girls. We started with something very easy Ukrainian. What was it? It was a birthday party. I wanted to bring these children, teach them some culture too, because because all these children are born here or came here at a very young age together with their parents. And then we did another dance and we were invited. They told me that there is a festival called Dance Around the World at Camden around the world, 2014. It was already 2014. And we danced this dance for the first time.
Speaker 2:But in parallel to all this, I came to the Ukrainian club and that Saturday I met the team Svitanok. The team belonged to the sumo department. I met Tony and him where I was from. Tony said can you watch the rehearsal? I said, of course I can even help. He said, please help, we will only be in this council. And so it all started. We started working together and today we are together. I started dancing in SUM, let's say I started to dance in the SUM, the Ukrainian Youth Association, and now it's been 10 years I'm still dancing there.
Speaker 2:Ukrainian children, and Prolisok was like my personal team. I wanted these adult children to study and know what it is. Why is it a birthday party dance? Why do we bring bread at the end? What does this tradition mean? Why salt is put on bread? In what cases is it done, that is? It became interesting for the children and here we performed in the very first concert at this Camden Festival. Together with us, svitanek danced. We already created a few dances. Right, there was Hutsul polka. You know I recently found a video on my computer just by accident. I looked it up and found Tony there with a Ukrainian flag and he told all the Englishmen there because there were many different countries at that concert. Among them were, of course, english-speaking people and they understood. We told them about Ukraine with the Ukrainian flag. This was such a moment for me personally in my life. I saw how it all happens, how people with such big eyes sit and look and say someone said to the audience then is Ukraine not Russia. I remember it to this day.
Speaker 4:I have goosebumps now and we say together with some guys, we had new dancers, including Maxim, who was still young to the pro-lis To the Svitank. Svitank was 10 years old.
Speaker 2:Svitank. You see, he was 10 years old. We met at Svitank and I said Maksim, maksim, would you like to join the pro-lis team, svitank?
Speaker 1:what is Svitank?
Speaker 2:Svitank was a team that we called created during the Summa. No one knows about it, everyone knows the. Ukrainian Youth League. This is a Ukrainian organization that has been around for 75 years.
Speaker 1:This year we celebrated 75 years. They were created in the same year as the Ukrainian Youth Association and they are still in the process of being established.
Speaker 2:And they are still in the process of being established. This is a Ukrainian organization that has been around for 75 years this year we celebrated 75 years which were created by people who came after World War II. Ukrainian culture, ukrainian traditions. They met each other. At first, they probably went to each other's homes. They visited each other.
Speaker 2:After that, I understand that they were looking for a place where they could all meet together and have more of them, because you can invite 5 people to your home, not 25 people and, of course, the fact that they were all together.
Speaker 2:It was a very interesting experience and I think that this is the reason why I think that the Ukrainian people are very interested in the Ukrainian culture and I where they could all meet together and have more of them, because you can invite 5 people to your home, not 25. And in this regard, they were looking for a place. They were buying a place where they would all meet together and to meet all together. They wanted to call themselves someone and they created an organization so that it was all official, and among them was the Ukrainian Youth Association, the very first organization, and then later, the Ukrainian Youth Association in Great Britain was created, because the youth understood that they were dealing with small children and the adults wanted to have something of their own, something separate, and so that there was no such a plot, they made the Ukrainian Youthians of Great Britain, that is, who today exist in, learn Ukrainian history, ukrainian traditions.
Speaker 2:They do something with their hands, some manual work. For example, yesterday we had a class. We made angels which we want to hang in the Ukrainian Cathedral in memory of those children who died during the war. We did this last year and we decided that it would be a good tradition to continue this and do it every year to remember those little children, because we remember the soldiers of our dead and the children Thank you.
Speaker 1:thank you, irina Antonio, tell us about yourself a little. And children. My mother was Italian, but she supported Ukrainian traditions.
Speaker 3:I remember when it was Christmas Eve and my mother would make carrots, dumplings, borscht. She did Pascha, but she was Italian. When there was an Italian, not only my mother, but many Italian women At that time, there were very few Ukrainian women and that's how it was.
Speaker 1:And how did you? Because you are a tourist. Your mother is Ukrainian, right? No, my mother is Italian. Your mother is Italian. Who is Ukrainian? My father, your father, is Ukrainian. Your father met your mother here, right? Yes, yes, and you were born here. I was born here, yes, and how did you learn the?
Speaker 3:language A little bit at home. When I was little there was a Ukrainian school. I was a bit there in Ukraine when I was alone. I went to Ukraine many times and studied there better. I have a family there, but through the Sum I learned the language there. I remember how early on Saturday there was a Ukrainian school here. I live in Slava and there was a very small community Manchester was the largest, the largest community in the south, but there was High Wyck Slava once a year at the Demon Foothore. It was a big one. I remember that every center had a bus, there were a lot of people, there were a lot of people and the community had either a choir or an ensemble and there was a big competition. I remember there were maybe 200 buses, there were a lot of people, the atmosphere was very interesting, very positive, very good. And then the old people are already dying, the young youth is not as it used to be, and so on.
Speaker 2:I'll interrupt you. Tony said a lot, that a lot of people gathered for some Ukrainian events and they had a competition. They had some people among themselves. They came to sing, dance, advertise. At that time a lotians came to the meeting, although there were not as many as there are now.
Speaker 2:For some reason it is sad that now, if such a big Ukrainian event takes place a big competition, a meeting of all the participants of these organizations, of the institutions our Ukrainians either do not know about it or they are not interested in it, so that it continues to happen and and pass on to the next generation.
Speaker 1:I'm sorry. Maybe they don't know. I think your parents were teachers. You know Italian as well, right? Yes, that's right, you know Italian and Ukrainian and I'm very pleased to hear that you kept Ukrainian traditions. You went to different Ukrainian organizations that were established back then. I know that the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain has 38 or 39 small houses. Thank you to all of them for founding this organization and now they help Ukrainians who have come here.
Speaker 1:I'm so interested in hearing you because you were born here and your mother took you to a Ukrainian school. You not only learned Ukrainian, but also talked to different Ukrainians, also did something like that nationality and don't forget, most importantly, ukraine you know. Because I thank my parents too, because my parents, as I said, said guys, you will learn Ukrainian at home and there you will learn English. You will learn English very well when you are young. I already understand why. Because when I would also come to Ukraine when you understand Ukrainian and can speak it, ukraine becomes like a home for you and it's easier for you to speak with people. And people understand you. Because when you don't know the language because language means a lot, because, as Ukrainians are coming to the UK now, they don't know English, they don't understand the British mentality, they don't understand culture, and they tend to turn to their own, either to work or to communicate with their own, and so when you already know the language, it's easier for you to communicate. The more you communicate, the more you develop.
Speaker 1:You speak Ukrainian, you speak Ukrainian. You speak Ukrainian. You speak Ukrainian. You speak Ukrainian. You speak Ukrainian. You speak Ukrainian. You speak Ukrainian. You speak Ukrainian. You speak Ukrainian. You speak Ukrainian, you speak.
Speaker 3:Ukrainian. You speak Ukrainian. You speak Ukrainian. You speak Ukrainian. You speak Ukrainian. You speak Ukrainian. You speak Ukrainian. You speak Ukrainian. You speak Ukrainian. You speak Ukrainian. You speak Ukrainian. You speak Ukrainian. You speak Ukrainian. You speak Ukrainian. You speak Ukrainian. You speak Ukrainian. You speak Ukrainian. If I'm good, if I'm good at saying, if I'm good at ending, or how I'm a little ashamed that I didn't want to make a mistake on Ukrainian radio.
Speaker 1:No, we all make mistakes, don't worry. And now, what are you doing here at this organization? What do you do?
Speaker 3:I was recently the head of the Vred, the club in Reading, not far from London. There is a Ukrainian club there. The celebration begins there. I was the head of the club in Reading. I took the role in November and then two or three months later, the war begins and I thought I will take this role, it won't be a big problem. And three months later the war started. It was completely different. It was completely different.
Speaker 3:There were many interviews on the radio. They asked what do you think about this war? And a lot of people came to the wedding and we needed help. We collected a lot of money. We had a concert in Reading. I want to say that the city council in Reading, the mayor, they were all for Ukraine. They helped us. We had a big concert. We collected money and a soldier helped us in Ukraine and we bought a car there. And then I thought I can't go to Reading and to Prolisok. And before that time in Reading I helped in Svitano, in Sum, and then on Prolisok. I thought I can't do both. I thought where is the best for me? I like the ensemble more and then I left for Reding and started on Prolisok.
Speaker 1:Thank you, you do a great job, maksim. A little about yourself. You told me some information about you. You are the third generation here, right, third generation. You were born here and your parents were born here.
Speaker 4:Yes, that's right. Good afternoon. My name is Maxim. As you said, I am a third generation Ukrainian. My grandparents and grandparents were born in Ukraine. I have a family in the Starnopils region and my father's family in the Lemkivshtina region, which is on the border between Ukraine and Poland. After the Second World War, all my grandparents and grandparents came to the UK. They found other here, had a mother and a father. Mother and father were born here and then I was born here. So yes, third generation.
Speaker 1:How did you support everything Ukrainian? You even know Ukrainian. How do you know the language?
Speaker 4:I would say it all starts with mother and father, with the parents. They had very strong support for the culture of Ukraine. They were the same generation as Antoni. They had the same culture as he had. All the organizations were formed when I was born. They wanted Ukrainian school, which was also the school that taught the Ukrainian youth, and then everything started to go.
Speaker 1:Where do you live in England? I live in London. Oh, you live in London. Why did you go to the Ukrainian school?
Speaker 4:Yes, I went to the Ukrainian school in London at the Holland Park Sumtak too. Since I was very young, I was a child from the community. The Ukrainian community in London was like my second home.
Speaker 1:So you studied at an English school here in Pianica. Your parents and those who attended Ukrainian schools took part in all the Ukrainian organizations that supported Ukrainians here, right.
Speaker 4:Yes, and I also started speaking Ukrainian at home. I'll tell you a short anecdote when I was born, my mom and dad only spoke Ukrainian at home and when I started going to kindergarten, to English school, when I was three years old, I spoke very little English. I spoke very little English for 3 years and my teachers told me oh, he's not born in England Because he doesn't know English that well. My parents said you need to speak a little more English.
Speaker 1:And what's your background?
Speaker 4:My background starts with Sum. As I said, I started being a member of Sum when I was a child. When I was 10 years old, tony came to learn Ukrainian dance. It was the first time that there was Ukrainian dance in London in more than 30-40 years, I would say something like that. So I started dancing 15 years ago. Then, after 5-6 years, ira came to the dance club in Sumy and told me I have a second group about the forest. Do you want to come and do it? What was my answer? I said thank you, but no, I was 15-16 years old. You know, guys, in these years it's better to go home and play on the computer than to keep dancing. It was great there. The people were great, the dancers were great, the atmosphere was great. I came, I continued and 10 years later I was still there.
Speaker 1:Wow, thank you for what you do, irina. Thank you for founding such an organization. You help Ukrainians. Many Ukrainians have come. I want to ask you, irina, when you founded this organization in 2014,. Were there any other organizations that did the same thing you did?
Speaker 2:No, there were no organizations. When I started asking everyone, our diasporans, everyone told me there is nothing like that. Do it, do it as you want. But to be honest, there was no such big help. That is, all the accommodation, costumes, all sorts of organizational moments, search our own expense, and there was no help. But, as Maxim said, the atmosphere was very good In the team. In fact I would even say that we are there like a family and when something happens to someone we try to help each other, whether it's physically or materially. And we all got so close that we in fact, like a big family, danced, bought costumes, sewed everything, paid rent for the premises and over time we started to perform more and more.
Speaker 2:And when we started performing we were in some newspapers, interviews. For some reason, everyone wrote in newspapers that we belong to the sub-department. The English don't know that well, and even the Ukrainians themselves, those who had newspapers or made small posts to put somewhere on the Internet. They somehow joined our team to some organization. They all thought that we were related to some organization, although we were created on ourselves. Let's say we didn't relate to anyone at that moment and I decided that it would be right if we join such a team to a Ukrainian organization and that it will be all united. We are all Ukrainians, we all have to unite, we all have to be together. And then I turned to the head of the department of the SUP, mr Vlodko, and I tell him we were already friends because I was a dancer in the SUM. I say how do you look at the fact that you should unite the collective to the department of the SUcommittee so that we don't feel separate? Still everyone writes and says, ah, prolis is a collective of the sub-committee. He says you know, I'll only be proud if you join us because in the collective there are already young people, not children, but also not adults. There is already such a youth which goes more to the growing generation, which should be interested in coming to the club, and you will be a great example for all these other young people who are growing up, to come and visit the Ukrainian home, continue the traditions and bring culture, pass from generation to generation. And we, having already had our fifth anniversary concert, our first little anniversary, we started working in the Ukrainian club. Every week we had rehearsals there. We were allowed to have rehearsals in the evening for free, akton, where we rented a place and so that there were at least two rehearsals a week it was convenient for the children to get there. Most of the children who were in the western part of London came there for rehearsals and we had rehearsals both in Akton and in the Ukrainian Domivka and it all lasted until today, let's say. And then it happens, but we've already got more and it's very good.
Speaker 2:That hall wouldn't fit us at Acton. Why did we leave it? Because in that room where South Working Men's Club was, the council decided to destroy it and build a building for the council. So we left from there. But I want to say that we were very happy there. That room was a small house for us and the owners of that room were English. They came to us for rehearsals. They looked at us. We were wearing suits. They came to see what we were doing. They were interested in our costumes, our dances. They even we were there at that time when they had a little misunderstanding with the premises. They asked us and we agreed to help them with the newspapers to save that room because it was also very old. They wanted to show that Ukrainian culture was taking place there. They wanted to show the English that in that era there was no such thing at all and we, the only Ukrainians in the whole of London, were working there. That's how it all happened.
Speaker 1:Where are you now? Now, we are in the Holland Park.
Speaker 2:Yes, Ukrainian home. What days are you doing the you now? Now we are in the area of Holland Park. Holland Park yes, Ukrainian home.
Speaker 1:And what days are you doing the dances now?
Speaker 2:We have rehearsals every Sunday evening, but of course if we have some concerts, then we have them on Saturday and on Sunday and even on weekdays. We are already looking at how convenient it is for everyone, so that most people can come to the rehearsal.
Speaker 1:Question Irina. I want to ask you a question, Irina. You have a rehearsal for children and adults, right?
Speaker 2:I have a rehearsal only for adults. We have different ages. We have dancers starting from 12 years old and up to 40. And already, little kids, with little kids I work in SUM and all these little kids in SUM who dance and who like it and who see themselves further, that they want to continue dancing, I slowly transfer them to the running.
Speaker 1:You can say scouting, maybe you do it slowly, lessay. You can say that you are a scout, you are doing it slowly, but you have a team that invites you to different organizations. You have your own team that dances professionally in different organizations.
Speaker 2:Look, all my dancers are members of different organizations. I have a lot of dancers. I have a very Plast you say Plastonivsky Plast. Plast is another Ukrainian youth organization.
Speaker 1:It's wonderful that you're on the podcast, because all these organizations will tell their stories, ukrainian knowledge, who are Ukrainians, what they represent?
Speaker 2:what is the goal of Ukrainians? Why? We gather they teach young people how to survive in difficult situations, life situations, if something happens, if they get into some difficult life circumstances, how to behave and how to get out of this situation in a positive way. Variant Czy ty popal, наприклад, в тебе зломалась автомобиль и в тебе нема никаких ручных засобів. Ну, наприклад, до прикладу так Як ты выйдешь z цей ситуации. Тобто, вони навчают у цих маленьких детей выживать в теперешнем соцсетях не име, which is very important too, because our children are all very computerized and they are very engaged. They like to sit on the phone, as Maxim said, and play games.
Speaker 1:Yes, maxim said he played games. I didn't think about games. I thought about going out for Ukrainians, but generally, as people is like that.
Speaker 2:Plast Sum. They are more of a group of these children and teach them, let's say, communication between themselves, some kind of manual creations, how to go to the forest and light a fire without having any candles Something that children don't learn on the phone. They teach children the knowledge we used to have when we lived in Ukraine, when we went out on the street, gathered together, played games hide-and-seek and so on.
Speaker 3:I want to say that in Plast and Sum our fathers bought squares. Plast has a camp in the north of the valley and Sum has a tarasivka and it's a big square and it's our camp, ukrainian Sumy camp. Once a year we have a gathering there and there's a two or three-week camp. There's a sports camp. But Maxim, he's the head, the Sumy in London. Maybe he will be better. Yes, maybe.
Speaker 4:Well, there is one weekend every year it's always the first weekend in July it's called the national move. This weekend we are on the terrace like a big festival. All the members of the Sumy came to the terrace. This weekend we are going to Tarasivka. It's a big festival. All the members of SUM came to Tarasivka. We have a concert there so all the children can show their work every year, for example, singing, dancing, recitation and so on. And then a little later in the summer, there are our summer camps. I learned to make summer camps there. I taught children how to make summer camps all year round. I taught them Ukrainian culture, ukrainian history. It was summer, it was a big square. You can teach children how to make plastic. You can teach them how to make such things in the yard.
Speaker 1:It's very interesting because I didn't know about Tarasivka until this year when I found out about Tarasivka. That's all. I'm such a person that when I go in I want to know everything. I want to know who the founders are, who they are. Maybe they will be on the podcast, because it's interesting to listen to Tarasivka and I thought to myself wow, not only in London Ukrainians we know that a lot of Ukrainians live in London, but many also live in Manchester. Manchester is the second largest city in Ukraine and there is Tarasivka near. I wonder if they built a square in Tarasivka or is a status in England and it is very old. I'm curious. Maybe you're also curious. How did Ukrainians, our grandfathers, grandmothers, how did they immigrate or come to Great Britain? How did they get up here at that time? Because going to another country, learning a language, starting everything from scratch, it's very, very difficult and the need to open organizations. Irina, irina, you came here in 2000. What year?
Speaker 2:did you come here 2012-13.
Speaker 1:You've been here for 2-3 years already, until you started going to church. You saw that there are children that children need to develop. You are a dancer from Ukraine. You have talent. You want to develop too. We, we are people like that. We want to do what we like you know. You saw it and thought why not help? And so you start thinking, you become critical. It's very easy to tell you. When I started the podcast, I did it one-on-one, and now four of us are sitting here. You know it starts well now.
Speaker 1:For the first time it was a bomb. I was like, and so did you, antonia. I didn't know you personally, but I met you for the first time. I was in the studio. I met you for the first time. It was a bomb. I was in the studio. I met you for the first time it was a bomb. I was in the studio. I met you for the first time it was a bomb. I was in the studio. I met you personally when you are in the studio. The first time I met you was in Bombov. I think it was Bombov, and the same for you, anton. I didn't know who you were.
Speaker 1:I knew Vladko he is the head of London SUP and then I met Kristina. When she said she had lived here for 56 years, I thought what does she do here? Ukraine has lived here for 56 years. I thought what does she know? Ukraine lives here for 56 years. I only know one Ukrainian. She lives here for 41 years. When she said 56, I said what does she know? She lives here for 56 years and she knows Ukrainian language. Tooutyro said that there are also two different organizations that also train dancers. Did they start working before that?
Speaker 2:You know. First of all, let's say that these two dance groups, because they don not an organization, they also belong to an organization. They are in Manchester and this is Podillya and Orlik. Orlik also belongs to the sub-district. Podillya belongs to the sub-district.
Speaker 3:Sum I don't remember Maria.
Speaker 2:We don't remember their leader died. It was a big loss because that woman did a lot of work. I saw on the Internet and at the joint concerts that we were to a lot of interesting works, ukrainian works. Of course they are not so modern and not so classic. They are real, like when the Ukrainians danced in the village at a wedding, at some wedding where they met and they created a collective, they danced. They also have a lot of couples I think about 8 couples. They also have a lot of dancers. I am sure it happened through her school, through her hands, through her knowledge, and she passed it on to many dancers. I know that one dancer today in one of our communities also created his own children's group. He has boys and he continues to teach them and they dance. I am very proud of this and I am very glad that people in Manchester gathered together to ensure that Ukrainian culture continues to exist and that children born there pass it on to the next generation.
Speaker 2:I was very surprised that there was no such thing in London. There was another very large community in London but there was nothing like that. Besides the fact that I met Tony in Sumy where he taught dance. There was no one else. We had a collective with Bulgarians. Bulgarians invited us to their festival. We were alone. We danced three dances.
Speaker 2:They asked me can we do more? I said we are not ready yet. We were still very young. I wanted them to perform well and represent Ukraine at a high level. I asked Bulgarians, how many of you are here?
Speaker 2:Only in London, 11 Bulgarian groups who dance Bulgarian folk dances, folklore that is. It means a lot, not just Bulgarian dances, but folklore. Again, these traditions are passed down from grandmothers to grandfathers. Costumes, because in every dance and costume there is a story. And it's not just dancing because it's dancing, but it means something and it's very interesting. My leader taught me this and now we do some dance. We tell all dancers what exactly we have to show in that dance, what exactly the story is laid out in that or another dance and why exactly this or that step is done. So that they know, so that they are interested. And here Maxim, when he joined the team, he said he liked the atmosphere. He started to learn a lot of Ukrainian culture in these dances. Then we told him my English was very bad at that time, but I learned English from them and they learned Ukrainian from me, which is also a very big plus. As Tony says, when we meet with Ukrainians, we learn English from them. When I meet with Englishmen, I learn English from them.
Speaker 1:And it's like a change.
Speaker 3:I want to say sorry. I already remembered it was Maria Babich. She was the leader in Manchester, but not only in Manchester, but in Manchester. There was a big ensemble in Bradford and the conductor was Ostat Buriak. He was a very big conductor. He died a long time ago, but I remember that he went to Tarasivka and he taught different band and a different ensemble.
Speaker 1:I want to admit that he did a lot of work. He did, he did. Yes, he's gone, he's gone.
Speaker 2:Tony was the one you danced in His son.
Speaker 3:His son was our leader.
Speaker 2:You learned from him that you learned? Yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 1:You know, irina. You said about clothes what it means. Can I ask you? I've always been curious why, when you dance, men have red pants and red? It's not shoes.
Speaker 2:Shoes.
Speaker 1:Why? Why red?
Speaker 2:You know, it was probably passed on from generation to generation. In the everyday life, when people just worked and walked on the field, they tried to wear something dark, because when you work with the ground on the field you get dirty. And when there was a celebration, a wedding, a Christmas, new Year's Eve, everyone wanted to look beautiful, right, and the red color emphasized this beauty and people. It never happened that you went to the market and bought the shoes you wanted, right, and bought beautiful shoes or beautiful boots. It was necessary. It was the masters who did it, sewed it, and somewhere there was someone who sold only those red boots or those red scarves and people tried to buy it. Somehow it was necessary to pay a lot of money for it, to be well dressed, and mostly for such big holidays, in order to stand out, not to be in those gray or black pants or in black boots. It was at the holidays that they stood out and they had red to show. Here I bought myself some beautiful thing Because it was also a, you could say, a indicator of the Ukrainian's appearance when he went somewhere among people. And today, when we dress somewhere or go somewhere, I came to you in the studio. I want to show something beautiful, then I put on a embroidered shirt. That is, there was some measure of abundance at that moment, and so when we go on stage, we also want to show the beauty of Ukrainian culture, the beauty of Ukrainian clothes, and of course, we wear red pants and red boots. That is.
Speaker 2:A lot of people now say that red is Sharovarshchina. What does it mean Sharovarshchina? What is it? Sharovarshchina is, let's say, some kind of Russian word. Ah well, yes, yes, that is when they met somewhere in Russia and dressed like that. It has nothing to do with Ukrainian red sharovars. It's not sharovarshchina. Sharovars are a form of red clothing. Cossacks also dressed like. When there were some celebrations. They wore red sharovary, blue sharovary, colorful. Something had to be colorful, not dark, to show beauty. But nothing is related. Ukrainian sharovary is not related to Russia. I don't know why people unite it like this at the moment, but I think it's all propaganda.
Speaker 1:You know, when you said Cossacks, I have in my head. When people say Cossacks, I have that cartoon, it turns out black. I saw one cartoon and it was interesting. And now do you only play at concerts or do you also play privately? Do people order you?
Speaker 2:Before the war, we tried to take part in everything At concerts, at festivals, people called us to a wedding Ukrainian. It's a very important task as a leader and in general. I would really like other countries, including the English, to know that we are Ukraine and we have our. It was an English company, nothing special, and they asked me what is your name? Where are you from? I said from Ukraine. And immediately they came to me with some Russian words that they know. They said you are Russian. I said no, I am not Russian, I am Ukrainian and we have our own. We have our own tradition, we have our own and we have our own traditions, our own culture, our own clothes, our own mentality. We are different from Russians. Yes, we know their language, because we lived together and it was all under one dome, let's say, but we are different and we have our own country, our own nationality and we are proud of it.
Speaker 3:I had the same situation when I was little. I was in school for about 8 years and my teacher saw my name, resko, and she said where are your parents from? And I said Ukraine, and she said it's Russia and I said I remember.
Speaker 3:I was so small. I was so young. I was so young. I was so young. I was so young. I was so young. I was so young. I was so young. I was so young. I was so young. I was so young. I was so young. I was so young. I was so young. I was so young. I was so young. I was so young. I was so young. I was so young. I was so young. I was so young. I was so young, I was so young, I and that's how it was.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, Because you had other times. You had times when you were a communist. Yes, in the Soviet Union, how did they treat you Communists?
Speaker 3:they said yes yes, yes, I remember when we performed in Vala. Our ensemble Metallic, was an ensemble in Reading and we performed in Vala. It was a big competition. It was called I State Langohlen. It was maybe 40 years ago and it was the first ensemble in Cherkass. I remember that in the Cherkass region there was a black log. I remember that they performed there for the first time in Vali and our ensemble performed there in Vali. We thought, we thought these are our sisters, our brothers. We wanted to communicate. We had a flag, a trident. The ensemble was there and they were very afraid of it and it's just starting. I remember that it's just starting.
Speaker 2:Only to the independence of Ukraine.
Speaker 3:Yes, yes, Horopochov. What was his name? Chernobyl.
Speaker 4:No, no, no. It's interesting to think about it 40 years ago, to think why we did all this. Because, as you said, at that time there were communists. Ukrainians in England could not return to Ukraine. They didn't let them. And then everything they did was to support the Ukrainian culture. And you can look at what is happening in Ukraine now and there are many people who come here and they can't go back to Ukraine and they need to support the Ukrainian culture, the Ukrainian traditions, and remember that they are in a different country, but they will still be Ukrainians. And this is what we did 40 years ago, this is what we are doing now and this is the goal of Prolisok to support Ukrainian culture.
Speaker 1:Thank you, and I want to ask you this Now a lot of different Ukrainians have come here because of the war in Ukraine. You can say that they were forced to come here, and there are a lot of Ukrainians who live here for a moved to Ukraine. How does the Ukrainian community influence you? Do they influence you? Many people have joined us who have come from the war Young people, boys and girls, who came to the collective and they were not afraid to come to Ukraine.
Speaker 2:They were not afraid to come to Ukraine. They were not afraid to come to Ukraine. They were not afraid. They just didn't know where. They came up to me and said Thank you for taking me to the collective. I feel at home here and I think this is a very big plus and very big means that when they came to the collective, they felt needed. When they came to the collective they felt needed Because when you come to England, you don't know where to put yourself, where to hide and what to do with yourself. And they felt needed.
Speaker 2:And today, without money, without you know when the war came, and they live with sponsors, for example, and they need to come to a rehearsal and they need to spend money on the road, that is, they Without that money, having felt this warmth in the team, having felt this Ukraine, having felt myself at home, they were ready to spend those 10 pounds, 5 pounds, 7 pounds. No matter how much old she is, from Dnipro, her husband is in Ukraine, she is here and she is the only one who was very, very accepted. She said I am just amazed how much you have organized it here and how you you work without any support from anyone. Everything is on its own enthusiasm. Yes, we are a sub-committee and they help us, but we hold most of it on our shoulders and now we are preparing for the concert, would like to dedicate this concert to help Ukraine with money, finances, with cultural shows.
Speaker 2:The collective worked not only to come and get satisfaction. Not children they are my children for me. They all came to help Ukraine to show that we support them in the first place, that we know about them, that we remember about them, that we pass it on and that we want Ukrainian to exist. Ukrainian culture existed, ukrainian dance existed, ukrainian songs existed, ukrainian traditions passed on and existed. That is we, having come here to England, we do not take their English and root it in our family and we continue Ukrainian and, of course, at the same time, we adjust, because we have to adjust, because we are in this country and we have to live according to their rules, but we don't forget about ours and we don't forget about our identity.
Speaker 4:I also want to say that it's not just this concert where we collect money from Ukraine. Since the beginning of the war, we changed the focus that we will continue to perform, but we perform to help Ukraine. So every concert we do, we come and collect money for charity funds for Ukraine. From the beginning of the war to the end of 2022, we performed about 40 times because there was a lot of support from the British public. Many different places, communities asked us to come and dance to show the Ukrainian culture and we said, ok, we will come, but please give us something that we can give to help Ukraine. So from the beginning of the war, we are working very hard for this help. Thank you for that To help our Ukrainian children and our Ukrainians.
Speaker 2:The army the army too.
Speaker 1:Thank you for that Takia have you played in all of Great Britain? We have been to many places, yes, when you play in all of these different places in Great Britain, what is the reaction from the British to you? Very?
Speaker 2:good, very positive. They meet us and treat us very positively. They help. You know all the concerts that we went to for London. We couldn't sponsor them ourselves and SUP, of course, also couldn't sponsor all our trips. So all those communities that invited us to come, we always told them we will come to you, we are ready to come to you, just help us come to you. That is the buses, those communities look. It cost money, it cost pounds. They allocated money for buses and we were already doing costumes, rehearsals, the program, what it should be like. We already worked it all out with them. But the first help came from them. It was transport and this means a lot, because without transport we would not have come there, because without transport we wouldn't have come there.
Speaker 2:And already there, during the concert, we walked with cats. We didn't feel ashamed. We had Stepan, a guy. He was supposed to go to Ukraine but he left. He took a cat, we put it in our Ukrainian costume and he walked with that cat among people, or people sat on the ground, we had different scenes and he collected money. And we collected some money in this way which we could give to some organizations. Or we had some letter from the army from military units and they asked us who needs a drone, who needs medicines, who needs armors, helmets? We were already buying the money we collected and were sending it to Ukraine.
Speaker 1:So every pound of money from the English was a help and we are grateful for their help. Thank you, Especially when the war began. Other countries became interested in.
Speaker 2:Ukraine and Ukrainian culture, but we said we later and at the moment, the main task of the team was to help Ukraine, to help our military, to help Ukrainian children, and that's why we worked here. You say now to help Ukraine. You say when the war ends, then you can Do, you have that in mind, it will be a little different.
Speaker 1:It will be a victory, it will be a different awareness. It will be a you, a question that I have not asked you yet, which you would like to tell. What would you like to say? What question would you like me to ask you so that you can answer? What question have I not asked you yet which you would like to tell more?
Speaker 2:Well, let's probably talk about a concert that is currently planned. Yes, okay, on the 9th of March, which is what we want to tell all our Ukrainians and let's say Ukrainians, not only Ukrainians on the 9th of March. We are organizing a big charity concert on the 9th and 10th of March. We are preparing a big charity concert on March 9 and 10, which will take place in the center of London, different regions of Ukraine, to show that Ukraine is one. Ukraine is alive. Ukraine differs in terms of traditions in different regions, but we are one single goal. This day, we will not only dance. We will also have guests invited who will be with us, because the culture of Ukraine is not only about dancing, but it's also about singing, it's about music, it's about folk Ukrainian instruments. We will also have guests. We will have a trio of banduristas, with whom we also worked a lot and had concerts to help Ukraine, starting with the war and before the war, of course. And we will have Luka, a boy, a violinist. This is the son of one of the participants of the trio of banduristas, lukas Stepaniak. He is a wonderful child. He plays very well on the violin. We will also have a band of hutsuls in London guys who play on Ukrainian folk instruments, and we want to show you another star of Ukraine. This will be a guy called Igor Grochotsky. He is the winner of the Voice of Ukraine 2014. These are our guests and this is our concert, which will be directed further on the help of Ukraine. People who come to this concert will bring some small money to help Ukraine, the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the children who have become orphans.
Speaker 2:The concert will be on the 9th and 10th. On the 9th, I want to say all the tickets are sold. We are very happy. On the 10th, we will have another concert. We opened another concert. Many people wanted to come to the concert and see this event. We received a lot of calls from people. People even asked to stand in the hall. They are ready to stand for two whole hours to see the concert. But due to the fact that we are in England, it is not children. We have a family discount, family ticket discount. So please come, take all your families, children, grandparents, grandparents with you and we will be very happy to see you.
Speaker 3:And Nagila starts the concert at 1 am.
Speaker 2:Sunday at 1 am yes concert в першу годину Неделю в першу годину.
Speaker 4:так Як wy choczyte, znajte bilety idy na website eventparade I tam pyszy zroby krok w Ukryjni, abo po anglijski step into Ukraine, I tam mozna kupyty naszy kwytky. Abo idy na naszy strunka w Facebook-ci abo Instagram prolisoklondon I tam tozy, and there you can also find where to buy tickets.
Speaker 3:But don't expect that there are not so many tickets. If you want to go to a concert, you need to buy today.
Speaker 2:Yes, buy today because tickets are sold at a high rate.
Speaker 1:Maybe tomorrow there won't be any. I want to ask you four questions, which I always ask on Koza Talks, but I see that you are all different, but I'll try, irina. This question is for all of you. Irina, what did Britain teach you that Ukraine has not taught you yet?
Speaker 2:Britain taught me culture. When you go down the street and suddenly someone touches you, you can say sorry, and I was very pleased and very warm. When someone went and accidentally touched or pushed or stepped on the foot, people apologize, that people are ashamed to say. In Ukraine, for some reason, people are not raised in such a way. They are afraid to say the word sorry once again. It means a lot and, of course, well, I don't even know what to say. Aleksandr.
Speaker 1:It's okay, antonia, you have a question. What do Ukrainians who are coming to the UK, what do they, teach you Family?
Speaker 3:Family and culture In England. I think English has the same great culture, but we forget a little about our culture in England. English culture I think it's very bad. In Ukraine, I think they teach dance and choir at schools, but in English it's not like that. They mostly focus on American culture. I think it's bad. We need to. English is needed. They are not like that anymore. They are more like American culture and I think that's bad. We need to. English is needed. Don't forget that they have their own culture and it's different from American culture.
Speaker 1:Thank you, and Maxim, you have the same question. What was the question? What do Ukrainians teach you now? Who came here today teach you now? What do they teach you? How to drink a clean beer.
Speaker 4:Just kidding. To be honest, I would say that friends, friends are very different from how you treat your friends in England, in Ukraine, friends, when they are close, they are more like a family, and that's how it is with them and that's how it is with them, and that's how it is with them and that's how it is with them. There are many differences between how you treat your friends in England. In Ukraine, friends are more like family.
Speaker 1:Irina, one more question for you. What did Ukraine teach you that Britain didn't?
Speaker 2:Family, family Passing on these traditions, rizdvo. Otherwise, ukraine is my home. No matter how long I was here, ukraine is my home. My husband asks me do you want to go further to Ukraine? I say yes. If everything had ended and there was a better level of life, I would probably go gone to Ukraine.
Speaker 2:But I am still holding on to the fact that my child is already born here and his mentality is already English here and he loves Ukraine, he loves to go there. He really likes it when he goes out on the street and has the opportunity to play with children. You don't have to be with your mom and dad every two meters, that is. We have children there who can go out and play without their parents. There is no such thing here.
Speaker 2:Therefore, ukraine taught me a little bit of such, you know, you can say more of such freedom. In Ukraine we are free. Here we are free, but we have to live everything very according to the rules and we have no right to break them. In Ukraine, from some point it is a plus and from some point it is a minus, because there is this freedom but people forget that there are laws that we have to follow. Here there is freedom, but it is very limited due to the fact that all of us are very law-abiding. This is a very big difference between Ukraine and England for me personally. I agree.
Speaker 1:And I want to ask you all what advice would you give to Ukrainians who are now living in the UK?
Speaker 2:Ukrainian language, to open yourself up, not to be afraid to speak with mistakes, not to be afraid to go out into people. Ukrainians are all very smart, hardworking, creative and if we use it, we will have knowledge not only for ourselves, not only for England, but for all countries in the world, even for such countries that are very small and that don't even know that there is a war in Ukraine and Ukraine exists. To be yourself, to love Ukraine and to show Ukraine here and to everyone, and to tell people that Ukraine is a separate state, independent, sovereign national, with its own traditions, its own culture. We are not Russia. Don't forget that.
Speaker 3:There is no difference whether it is the West, the East, the. North we are all Ukrainians, and not only people who live and are born in Ukraine, but people who have brown Ukrainian blood 3rd or 4th generation. We are all Ukrainians, whether it's in Canada, argentina or England as long as we have Ukrainian blood we have Ukrainian souls.
Speaker 2:Don't be afraid of your own blood. Ukraine, so that we are a family, as Maxim said, friends. What did he find here? That Ukrainians are different? They are friends. It's like a family.
Speaker 4:Great Britain is an international country. There are many countries Hindus, muslims, africans, americans and Ukraine is even more so. Here you can show that you are Ukrainians and be proud that you are Ukrainians. Thank you very much for being on my podcast today. Sheplyusuden tudzi tut mozhna pokyazati shove Ukraintsi I buti hordis shove Ukraintsi.
Speaker 1:Duzi, dziakuju vam shubu lasoveni na mamo podcasti. Jak vas znajte, de vy nahodytese shob lydy. Mogli do vas zrnutyse Nasi slukhaci I hladaci de vas nahodyti.
Speaker 2:Znahodyti Ukrainian home. Don't hide from Ukrainian home. Come to Ukrainian home, support Ukrainian. Don't be ashamed, even if someone has met you wrong, don't be afraid. Don't run away. Gather together. Our strength is in unity. When the full-scale war started, we all gathered together and we still need to do so. We need to hold on, we need to gather, we need to go to protests. We need to support Ukraine. We need to gather and not show any dissatisfaction. Thank you, ukrainian house. You can find a show there every week at Holland Park. In the evening we have rehearsals at 4-5 pm. We have long rehearsals 4 hours. It can be up to 10 pm. If we have concerts, it happens. And please visit our Facebook pages Ukrainian Dance Ensemble show on Facebook. On Facebook Prolisok Ukrainian Dance Ensemble. On Instagram Prolisok Ukrainian Dance Ensemble. Maksim will say better about himself because he has a right hand.
Speaker 1:Yes, where is the social media?
Speaker 4:Online. We have on Facebook. It's in English Prolisok Ukrainian Dance Ensemble. On Instagram it's Prolisok, london, and you can also write to us on e-mail. It's prolisoklondon, and you can also write to us on email. It's ProLisokLondon at gmailcom. That's all. You can watch our work. You can also write to us. We will be glad to read what you want to tell us and we hope we can answer.
Speaker 1:Irina Antonio Maxim, thank you for being on Kozot. Thank you for your story. Thank you for telling us about the project, how you got together, how you founded it, how you will help Ukrainians today, now and in the future. Thank you. We have all the links for you below In the description. If you are listening to the podcast on Kozatox, you can find the Kozatox podcast wwwkozatoxcom. You can watch all this material below. If you watch these podcasts through YouTube, please subscribe to the channel like. Share this information Also. Leave your comments below. All the links for the poll will be below for you to find and support them. I always say in my videos hold on, don't give up, just move forward. Glory to Ukraine.
Speaker 4:Glory to Ukraine.
