A group of unatstvo from Melbourne and Geelong hiked at Wilsons Promontory under the guidance of vykhovnyky Ivanka Buczma, Jenny Skorobogaty, Sophia Lubzenko, Damian Pavlyshyn & Mekola Matiszak over the Easter weekend!

'A fairytale of love, loss ...and a mysterious blue fox'. That's the intriguing byline for Lehenda Ukrainian Dance Company's exciting new production KAZKA, set to entertain audiences in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney in April and May.

KAZKA is an original folk ballet, inspired by traditional Ukrainian fairytales. Artistic Director Melanie Moravski Dechnicz, together with her creative and dedicated team of composers, costumiers and set designers, has been working tirelessly on this exciting new production for well over a year now.

In producing KAZKA, Melanie aims to present a new and unique full-length folk ballet that will captivate and engage Ukrainian, Australian and international audiences alike. For Lehenda's 39 dancers, it will provide an extraordinary opportunity to showcase traditional Ukrainian dance and folklore in a fresh and creative way, the likes of which have never before been seen on an Australian stage.

KAZKA is the creation of a group of mostly young Australian Ukrainians: Melanie Moravski Dechnicz – Choreography, Symon Kohut – story, Nicholas Buc – music, Stephan Moravski – set design, Natalia Moravski – costume design and Keith Clark – lighting design.

Apart from staging the production in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney, Lehenda will tour North America with KAZKA, with performances in Toronto, Chicago, Wilmington (near Philadelphia) and New York in June and July. The international tour will conclude at the Soyuzivka Heritage Centre, where the ensemble has been invited to perform selected pieces at the largest Ukrainian Cultural Festival in the USA.

Making KAZKA a reality has been a passionate undertaking by a team of around 60 individuals, who have come together voluntarily with a common vision to promote our rich culture and heritage through dance.

A significant number of plastuny are involved in the production of KAZKA including:
Dancers: Lydia Wasilenko, Marichka Bakay, Maryana Kasyan, Nadia Levkut, Katia Oversby, Alexander Dechnicz, Jarema Pryslak, Bohdan Myroniuk, Hanya Oversby
Music: Nicholas Buc
Story: Symon Kohut
Production Manager: Alexander Dechnicz
Costumes: Maria Popowycz, Romana Hiluta, Taiisa Moskaljuk, Katya Slipetsky, Marie Rostek, Larissa Radion
Sets & props: George Fedyszyn, Daniela Fedyszyn, Daniel Magalas, Eva Abbinga
Sound & Lights operators: Stephan Chomyn, Tanya Pyk
Tour Admin: Alexander Dechnicz, Larissa Radion
Sponsors: Plast NSW, Plast – KPS Australia

KAZKA will be performed as follows:
Adelaide – Saturday 18th April at the Scott Theatre, Adelaide University
Melbourne – Saturday 2nd & Sunday 3rd May at the National Theatre, St Kilda
Sydney – Saturday 16th May at NIDA Theatres, Parade Theatre
Toronto – Mon 29th June, Hammerson Hall, Living Arts Centre, Mississauga
Chicago – Thurs 2nd July, North Shore Centre for the Performing Arts, Skokie
Wilmington – Tues 7th July, Copeland Hall, Grand Opera House, Wilmington
New York – Thurs 9th July, Skirball Centre for Performing Arts, New York City

Ticket bookings at lehenda.com.au/kazkabookings

Youth under 18 years of age can go into the running to win two tickets to see KAZKA as part of the Lehenda Legacy Program - aimed at introducing Ukrainian Dance and making it accessible to all youth. Lehenda encourages all to enjoy Ukrainian Dance as a participant or as an audience member.

To enter, post an image of yourself in your favourite Ukrainian Dance pose (costume optional) to the Lehenda Facebook page

Holovna Plastova Bulava has set up a fund to assist Ukrainian Plastuny in the Ukrainian Armed Forces and Volunteer Units. Funds will be used to support Plastuny serving in the armed forces in Ukraine, particularly to help the injured recover and acclimatise after returning from war and support the families of those that have been killed. More information: https://www.facebook.com/PlastFront

Дякуєм Олександра та Анни Сухарські які пожертували $1000 для потреб пластунів-військовиків!

Donations to the fund can be made to the following KPS account and will be periodically transferred to Ukraine to minimise transfer fees:
BSB: 704-235
Account: 00016319

Saturday 28th March was a busy day at the plastova domivka in Lidcombe. Downstairs novatstvo and junatstvo were busy making pysanky with their vykhovnyky, while upstairs starshi plastuny, seniory and parents were taking part in the annual AGM. We are pleased to announce that most of the old stanychna starshyna is back again with pl sen Hryc Huzij as stanychnyj, and pl sen Mykhailo Kasanczuk as the new hospodar. We were fortunate to have pl sen Jarema Polotajko, Melbourne stanychnyj with us, to pass on greetings from KPS and share ideas on the upcoming UMPZ 2016-17.

Lots happening in the next few months: moving domivky, skhodyny, Sviato Jurija …... Keep these dates free:

• Saturday 18th April – Final moving day this Saturday (hopefully), 10.30am at the church unit. Contact person Greg Huzij. A big thanks to the plastuny who helped out on the 6th and moved a great deal of PLAST belongings from the church unit to the domivka. The job is still not quite finished. It would be appreciated if some more plastuny and parents could come along this Saturday to try and finish the move.
• Sunday 26th April - Community get together to meet other Ukrainians and discuss ideas for the future of the Ukrainian community in Sydney. 12pm at the Domu Molodi, John St Lidcombe.
• Saturday 2nd May – Novacki & junacki skhodyny, - domivka- Unit 2 1-3 Nicholas St Lidcombe 2.30pm.
• Sunday 17th May – Sviato Jurija- arrangements to be advised
• Sunday 31st May – Zeleni Sviata -St Andrews Ukrainian Catholic Church Lidcombe
• Saturday 13th June - Novacki & junacki skhodyny - domivka- 2.30pm.

Novactvo & ptashenjata had a great day out at Bicentennial Park on Wednesday 15th April with sestrychky Slava, Myrosia, Tanya & bratchyk Andriy.

Пластуни Роман Бойчук, Андрій Стахурський, Адріян Ліщинський та сумівка Ніна Джиджора несуть плащаницю, Велика П'ятниця 10.4.15 храм св. Михаїла, Квінбіян

Sviato Yuria will be held on Sunday 31st May 2015, at Westerfolds Park, Templestowe.
Program:
Commence: 12.30pm
Lunch/BBQ (provided): 1.00pm
УПН i УПЮ занятта: 1.30pm – 3.00/3.30-ish pm
Walking distance to river, quite a scenic surrounding,
Апель: 3.30
Close: 4.00pm

Novatstvo
An excursion to the Melbourne Aquarium for Novatstvo & Ptashenyata will be held on Saturday 16th May at 2:30pm. Please register your interest by 9th May so tickets can be purchased

Unatstvo
Mother's Day Classic Fundraising Walk- 10th May 2015 For more than 15 years, the Mother's Day Classic Walk has provided communities with a great way to celebrate Mother's day and raise funds for breast cancer. We invite you to join us and walk together as our Plast family as we remember and pay tribute to those who have been touched by breast cancer. As well as encouraging all юнацтво to participate we invite all family and Plast members to join also!! Registration Instructions

A number of unatstvo from Melbourne and Geelong (Oryssia Pryslak, Andrew Bernyk, Deniz Uzel, Natalie Wenhrynowycz, Alex Wenhrynowycz, Roxana Levkut, Yuri Bakay, Nicole Pyrczak, Sonia Pyrczak) are currently participating in the Self Development Course being run by CYM Melbourne. The 2015 self development course commenced in February 2015 with weekly skhodyny. It consist of group activities, a weekend camp and dance practice for the Debutante Ball. Key topics covered in the course include: Identity, Values and Ethics, Tradition and Beliefs, Communication, Community, Self management, Family, Spirituality, Leadership. There are 22 debutantes (11 couples) in total participating in the 2015 program. The Debutante Ball will be held on 23rd May 2015. For booking details see here

A Pysanka masterclass was held recently in Brisbane organised by st.pl. Iryna Solar, pictured here with novachky Ola & Nadia Sapun.

Thanks to Dnister Ukrainian Credit Co-operative Ltd for your continued support of Plast activities in Australia.