Feisty Women

29th May 2023

Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland is delighted to shine a spotlight on the achievements of women in traditional dance as part of the 10th anniversary of Harpies, Fechters and Quines Festival running 3–9 June 2023 at Edinburgh Central Library.

We curated two unique events as part of the festival programme, entitled Feisty Trad Dance Artists of Ukraine and Trad Dance Pioneers Past and Present. This is our first collaboration with the festival which in turn is a collaboration between Bonnie Fechters – Edinburgh’s own women’s group, Glasgow Women’s Library and City of Edinburgh Libraries. Every year the festival aims to highlight the important social contribution of women, especially those based in Scotland. This year the theme is feisty women. These are women, past and present, who have faced a challenge and risen to it.

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Feisty Trad Dance Artists of Ukraine

5 June 2pm Edinburgh Central Library

Free Book now via Eventbrite here

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For the first of our festival contributions to Harpies, Fechters and Quines, join us on to meet two truly feisty women – Oksana Saiapina and Anastasiia Boiko, both originally from Ukraine but now settling in Edinburgh. Enjoy a set of Ukrainian folk dance duets, including Hoptsa Dritsa, a dance full of humour and cheek, as well as Hutsulska, a dance based on a folk tune with Scottish motifs. Selected and performed by Oksana and Anastasiia, these trad dances of Ukraine culminate into Soul Flower – a choreographed dance, set to live music with lyrics by Diane Golde and composition by Kostyantyn Meladze. See the duo perform Soul Flower to the accompaniment of the Ukrainian Community Choir Oberig led by Karina Cherviakova, creating collaborative magic on stage.

Oksana and Anastasiia are both fresh from their debut at Scotland’s Pomegranates festival of international traditional dance 28-30 April 2023. Acclaimed as ‘stepping into tiny time capsules, Pomegranates was ‘where each culture’s traditions, passion and personality spread like wildfire, leaving a lasting impression’. Our Pomegranates festival was also where Oksana and Anastasia met, taught and performed for the first time together. Watch them teach at Pomegranates workshops.

After sowing the Pomegranates seeds and sequins this spring, we caught up with the two dance artists and Oberig choir leader. First up, Oksana Saiapina said:

“I am a teacher of Ukrainian folk dances. I fled Ukraine in the summer 2022 and settled in Edinburgh where I now teach. Back home, I worked for more than 15 years in a dance studio with children aged 3 to 15 years. The group under my leadership took part in international festivals winning many high-level competition awards. I am delighted to perform as part of the Harpies, Fechters and Quines Festival, so soon after my debut at Pomegranates.”

Anastasiia Boiko said:

“I have been dancing since I was three years old, including ballroom, Ukrainian, folk, modern, historical folk dances…This year I will graduate from Serge Lyfar Kyiv Municipal Academy of Dance in Ukraine. Currently, I am based in Edinburgh and teach Ukrainian dances for children at the Ukrainian Community Centre (AUGB Edinburgh). I am really looking forward to my festival participation at the Harpies, Fechters and Quines, following the great start at Pomegranates”

Karina Cherviakova, professional singer and conductor, said:

“We are honoured to support the two dancers Oksana and Anastasiia with members of Oberig Choir at Harpies, Fechters and Quines festival. This is our first collaboration with Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland and we are already planning our next. Although our choir was reinvented under the new name of Oberig (meaning ‘talisman’ in Ukrainian) in November 2022, it was established by Ukrainian emigrants who came to Edinburgh after the Second World War. Some of the founding members are still performing with us and we remain open for new members.”

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Trad Dance Pioneers Past and Present

7 June 1pm Edinburgh Central Library

Free. Book now via Eventbrite HERE

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For the second of our festival contributions join us for the launch of our new Trad Dance Cast episode being produced especially for the 10th anniversary of the Harpies, Fechters and Quines festival. This podcast episode is dedicated to the pioneering dance artists from Scotland and beyond since 1805 till today, including Margaret Belford, Patricia Ballantyne, Ysobel Stewart, Jean Milligan, Natasha Khamjani and Kerry Fletcher.

Join us for an afternoon of trad dance on stage and screen. Meet and hear from the Trad Dance Cast podcast presenter Eleanor Sinclair, a trad dance artist-activist and Margaret Belford, the legendary leader of the Edinburgh branch of the UK-wide Society for International Folk Dancing. See traditional costumes handcrafted by Margaret, herself. Enjoy a set of Ukrainian traditional dances presented by the new generations of performers, including Oksana Saiapina and Anastasiia Boiko.

At the end, watch our short dance film To Begin the Dance Once More (Dir. Marlene Millar, 2023). Launched as part of our Pomegranates Premieres night, the film follows the climate refugees Beira, Isis and Bride, named after ancient mother and daughter deities of Scotland and Egypt. The dance film creatively reenacts the female creation myths visibly inscribed in the water cycles dominating the landscape around us – from the floodplains of the Nile in Egypt to the sea lochs of Scotland.

It is time to celebrate the role of women as tradition keepers and dance innovators in our contemporary world. In the meantime, do check our first episode entitled To Begin the Dance Once More which features interviews with five artists, including film director Marlene Millar and curators Iliyana Nedkova and Wendy Timmons.

If Pomegranates festival demonstrated there’s more to traditional dance forms than meets the eye, we believe that our contribution to Harpies, Fechters and Quines festival will transcend the differences between cultures and genders and embrace the commonalities shared through the joyful explosion of folkloric echoes in our contemporary world.

Harpies, Fechters and Quines festival programme at Edinburgh Central Library runs 3-9 June 2023. See the festival Eventbrite page for details of all events taking place. These are free events for adults aged 18+ years.

Images of Pomegranates festival workshops featuring Oksana Saiapina and Anastasiia Boiko. Images courtesy of Wangxiu Cheng and Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland.

Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland events at Harpies, Fechters and Quines festival were curated by Iliyana Nedkova and Wendy Timmons with the invaluable curatorial assistance of Cecylia O’May, Barrie Barretto, Olena Singh, Karina Cherviakova, Colin Mclellan, Karen O’Brien, Iain Duffus and all at Bonnie Fechters Edinburgh Group