Positive Energy Pulsates at UNYF’s Talent Show

By Taras Babyuk

The talent show organized by the youth of the Ukrainian National Federation of Canada on June 19^th, at the UNF Hall on Evans Avenue in Toronto was the first of its kind since the organization’s revival a year earlier.

The show featured performers as young as 5 all the way to 18 years old. Many of the participants were members of the Shotokan Karate Institute and the UNYF, but others were simply enthusiastic and ambitious Ukrainian children who were determined to show off their rich talents and enormous potential.

The program included a rich collection of piano performances varying from the big classics such as “Moonlight Sonata” played by Nastya Pysartchik to the smaller classics such as “Timid Little Heart,” played by Andriyko Bilyj and “Freddie the Frog,” performed by the day’s youngest musician Bohdanchyk Lyashenko. The programme also featured a vocal duet by Sofia and Yaryna Datsyuk, a solo by Larysa Kurbabich, a dance to the “Wild Dances” song of the Ukrainian Eurovision 2004 winner Ruslana, a bandura performance and a skit by the Luczkiw children, all intertwined with karate performances of different katas and techniques of self-defense learned at the UNF’s karate club.

The audience had an opportunity to hear a somewhat different type of music when Orest Bilyj and his band took the stage. Equipped with modern rock-band electric guitars, drums, and loud amplifiers, they entertained the audience with some contemporary rock pieces but also with a couple of popular Ukrainian tunes every audience member could identify with.

At the end of the show, as the beloved Ukrainian music continued to pulsate throughout the hall, the guests treated themselves to hot coffee and sweets from the bar.

Overall, the positive energy of the show left a smile on everyone’s face, and gave everyone something to talk about. The proceeds collected from the tickets will assist the Ukrainian National Youth Federation in its attempts to get more youth involved and familiarized with their Ukrainian heritage. The organization also hopes to make concerts such as this one a yearly event in the Ukrainian community, so keep your schedules open and expect us to be back next year.

The UNYF (MYHO) is an organization geared to youths aged 14 to 25. It was revived at the 34th annual UNF convention last year.

Since then, the UNYF executive, headed by its president Taras Babyuk, a York University student, meets monthly. They organize dances, movie nights and other activities regularly for young people. Other individuals on the executive are: Andriy Drozduk, vice president; Anna Tarnowska, secretary; and Kateryna Tarnowska, treasurer.

The group is aiming to increase membership. Interested young people can pick up a registration form at the UNF office at 145 Evans Avenue, Toronto.