Canada has one of the largest Ukrainian communities outside Ukraine, and its dance ensembles are famous for spectacular staged folk dance: the Hopak with its acrobatic jumps and spins, regional dances from the Carpathians, Bukovyna and Poltava, and colourful costumes with embroidered shirts (vyshyvanky) and flower crowns. Hundreds of schools teach children from the age of three.
Ukrainian immigration to Canada began in 1891 with Ivan Pylypiw and Vasyl Eleniak, and over the next decades tens of thousands of families settled the Prairies of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. In the 1920s the dance teacher Vasile Avramenko toured Canada founding schools and staging folk dance, which became a powerful way to keep identity alive. In Edmonton, the Ukrainian Shumka Dancers, founded in 1959, became a professional company known for theatrical productions; Toronto’s Barvinok and Vancouver’s Cheremosh are among many other ensembles. Festivals such as Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival in Dauphin, Manitoba (since 1966), Vegreville’s Pysanka Festival in Alberta, and the Bloor West Village Toronto Ukrainian Festival bring thousands of dancers together every summer, and since 2022 performances have also raised support for Ukraine.
