Multicolored round dancing

“The Ethno-Disco evenings are becoming famous near and far,” says Oleh Skrypka, the leader of the rock group Vopli Vidopliasova (VV). His latest ethno-disco evening took place at the Kyiv art gallery Lavra as part of the Land of Dreams Festival. The guests were welcomed by real Cossacks wearing sheepskin coats, moustaches, and oseledtsi (topknots).

This time Skrypka took up his usual accordion and guitar, ignoring the DJ’s stand, where he revved up the audience the last time. DJ Bingi took his place on the Jew’s harp and played an unusual set called “Hutsul dub.” Vopli Vidopliasova put on a special ethnic dance program, and the band called Boots of a Bull was one of the other guest performers. The audience was captivated by the interesting combination of disco beat and folk melodies — not just Slavic songs but Eastern ones as well. Nobody was able to walk around the big round dance whirling along the perimeter of the hall.

The Ethno-Disco attracted a big crowd, including Ukrainian celebrities. On previous evenings you could encounter Fahot from the group TNMK (Tanok na maidani Kongo) and the former head of the Presidential Secretariat of Ukraine, Oleh Rybachuk. This time around Sashko Polozhynsky, the leader of Tartak, Oleh Tiahnybok, the head of the All-Ukrainian Association Svoboda, and TV host Ihor Pelekh with his family were all out in force on the dance floor.

Of course, Skrypka’s ethnic evenings cannot be compared to his brainchild, the Land of Dreams festival, or other ethnic summer festivals, but everyone was talking about the positive atmosphere of this show. “The atmosphere at these evenings is always friendly and if a person has ethnic clothing on, has come wearing an embroidered shirt or full costume, she or he is already in the right mood, which is oriented at something positive, at the Ukrainian idea. This idea is not hurrah-patriotic, just something super. This is the way it should be. I also think it’s a very positive and right thing that you have to pay to get in. This is a very big step forward. When a foreign band or simply a rock or pop band is performing, nobody thinks it will be a free show. This is the moment when you start to appraise folklore. People who come and are ready to pay will appreciate everything that is taking place here,” said Oleh But, the leader of the band Buttia.

Like the previous evenings, which took place at Kyiv— Mohyla Academy, the hall was shimmering with all the colors of traditional Ukrainian costumes and ornamental patterns of Ukrainian embroidery. Guests wearing national costumes or sporting a few individual elements got a reduction on their tickets at the door. Partygoers also had an opportunity to purchase traditional Ukrainian and contemporary clothing.