Gordon Gordey serves as the first Vice President of the Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Shevchenko. He is recognized in our community as one of the 100 most influential people in the development of theater in Alberta in Theatre 100: Celebrating 100 theatre practitioners over 100 years. Formerly Shumka’s Artistic Director, he worked with immensely talented choreographers, dancers, composers, stage and costume designers and producers to set a benchmark for original Ukrainian dance in Canada.
“We are united through a passion to create original work with a Shumka voice that is alive, innovative, and reflective of a changing world. Today’s Ukrainian dance form is enriched with an interdisciplinary blend of: genres from folk dance to ballet, new techniques from world theatre to mixed media, and music from symphonic orchestration to digital manipulation. In this century we believe Canada’s plurality of cultures and communities welcomes this evolving phenomenon of dance style that offers insight into our lives, our emotional and physical relationships, and the fascination of our present linked to our past.” — Gordon Gordey from Dance Current Magazine
After retiring from Shumka in 2012, Gordey serves the broad Ukrainian dance community in Alberta through his mentorship and executive board duties with the Alberta Ukrainian Dance Association (AUDA).
In 2014 Gordey was accepted as a board member to the Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko. In February of this year the Foundation set plans to join various levels of government, countless community organizations, families, and individuals to stand with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people in their fight against the imperialist aggressor whose goal is to annihilate the Ukrainian identity. Through a major fundraising event, The Tryzub Awards Gala held in Toronto, the Shevchenko Foundation in partnership with The Myhal Family Foundation raised approximately half a million dollars. These proceeds were split evenly between the Canada Ukraine Foundation and the Shevchenko Foundation, and were designated for humanitarian and cultural initiatives. This month the Temerty Foundation generously added $100,000 to the Shevchenko Foundation for initiatives.
Gordey spearheaded the Shevchenko Foundation’s grant and scholarship programs from this fundraising to support the custodians of the Ukrainian creative community who find themselves displaced in our Canadian communities. Among them are young aspiring musicians, dancers, artists, and creative culture makers. These creative youth have the opportunity to grow their talent and to: “…enrich the Canadian experience with the beauty, passion, and diversity of Ukrainian culture”. The Shevchenko Foundation encourages application to these support programs at: shevchenkofoundation.com
The Shevchenko Foundation, along with my fellow Alberta board members Andriy Hladyshevsky and Oryssia Lennie, look to these young people to embody Ukraine’s eternal cultural identity and to be the new sculptors of its bold future. We look to them to challenge all of us in the diaspora to embrace the birth of a new dynamic cultural expression inspired by our blessed ancestral homeland – Ukraine.
