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Shumka, which means whirlwind, presents full-length professional dance theatre touring productions as well as intimate concert repertoire across Canada and around the world. Shumka is a self-governing charitable society established in Edmonton in 1959.
Shumka’s mandate includes the commitments:
- To create professional opportunities for dancers, directors, choreographers, composers, musicians, set and costume designers and lighting designers to showcase their art in Edmonton, in Alberta, in Canada and on the professional world stage.
- To return artistic, administrative, and technical knowledge to our community and to Alberta’s cultural industries as dancers, choreographers, dance teachers, and professional resources.
- To create a distinct style of dance that will be recognized as a permanent cultural entity; an expression of Shumka’s contribution to the richness of our citizens’ daily lives
Under the direction of Artistic Director, Gordon Gordey and Associate Artistic Director, Dave Ganert, Shumka believes in taking artistic risks to bring new choreographic works to diverse audiences from coast to coast. Within our art form, theatrical presenters and producers regard Shumka as a leading world dance company in North America.
Shumka’s mandate for developing youth through dance, includes the training of young dancers though the curriculum-based programs of the Shumka School of Dance in Edmonton, and the involvement of our dance teachers in other dance schools in the community at large.
Shumka’s summer dance camps and workshops are open to all young people in Edmonton and surrounding communities,
In 2004 and 2007, Sulyma Productions Inc. (SPI) toured Shumka’s Cinderella in China, to glowing reviews, following its very successful world premiere which toured across Canada in 2000. Deirdre Kelly of Toronto’s Globe and Mail said, “Everyone of the dancers is a virtuoso (Shumka’s) $2 million remake of the fairy-tale classic is a mega dance spectacle that promises to do for Ukrainian folk dance what Riverdance did for Irish stepping: Catapult it into the big time… As they say on the Great White Way, this baby’s got legs.” In 2007, Shumka’s Cinderella toured in Ukraine, playing at the prestigious National Opera and Ballet of Ukraine in Kyiv, and the Donetsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre.
Shumka received rave reviews for its appearances in Christmas touring specials in the United States with such stars as Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Robert Goulet, Shirley Jones and Charlotte Church. A Royal Christmas 2005 brought Shumka together with world-renowned vocalist, Andrea Bocelli.
Shumka is revered and respected by the mainstream performing arts scene, the media and its audiences. From official performances for Prime Ministers, Presidents, and Queen Elizabeth II, to national and international television broadcasts to millions, Shumka has often been called upon to represent the internationalization of Canadian culture.
Shumka thanks its patrons and donors for their attendance and their generous, ongoing financial support. Shumka also thanks the Alberta Foundation for Arts, The Lottery Fund of the Province of Alberta, The Edmonton Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts for their ongoing grant support.
Shumka is proud to be the benchmark of the spirit of Ukrainian dance in Canada and proud to be Canada’s only professional Ukrainian dance company.
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