Success in Plock: Kolos Song and Dance Ensemble Returned from the International Festival of Folk Arts

On August 18-24 the International Festival of Folk Arts “Plock-2014” took place in Plock, Poland. Kolos Song and Dance Ensemble of NULES of Ukraine were chosen as one of participants. 
When the ensemble returned to the university, we were able to talk with its heads – Senior Lecturer of the Department of Cultural Studies, Volodymyr Yakymchuk, and Senior Lecturer of the Department of Cultural Studies, Valeriy Muzalov, whose efforts made the participation possible. Master student of the Department of Power Engineering and Automation, Sergiy Derkach, also willingly shared his impressions.

- Valeriy Oleksiyowych, Volodymyr Yakovych, how were you greeted? What are your first impressions of the city?

- Our ensemble participated in this festival for the first time. We were surprised by nice and warm welcome. Organizers took good care of us: the bus that took us to Plock waited for us in Lutsk, we lived in a camp with very good facilities and we were always accompanied by the students-philologists.

We were hospitably met by the President of Plock, Andrzej Novakovski, who we presented with souvenirs from the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine. In his greeting speech Mr Novakovski expressed his deep conviction that “Plock 2014” gathered the brightest amateur groups and that folk art can unite the world.

The city is also very beautiful. The bridges and roads are clean and well kept; the road marking is fresh, as if it was painted yesterday. The city blossoms!

- Which ensembles represented their countries during the festival?

- The festival has 45-year history and this year Riyeda folk dance ensemble (Lithuania), ShengDong band (Taiwan) and an art ensemble from Italy participated in it. Poland was represented by two bands. Among the participants were those who took part in festivals in Germany, Poland, Spain, Austria, the Netherlands, Israel, Estonia, Russia, Moldova, Korea and other countries.

- How did the audience respond to Kolos’ performances?

- Each song or dance caused considerable applause. Poles constantly sang some songs they heard during the festival. «Kolos» always performed the last, so we tried to bring more joy to the audience. The last song was performed together with Polish ensemble.

By the way, Plock Intercultural Weekly Newspaper wrote about the ensemble: “Humorous and patriotic songs along with popular dances that make up the repertoire of Ukrainian team presented the history, richness and uniqueness of culture and folk customs, special image of different regions of Ukraine.”

- Valeriy Oleksiyowych, what was the program of Kolos dance group like?

Of course, it is impossible to imagine a folk ensemble without such dances as polka, Bukovynskyy or Zaporizkyy dances. Also the dancers performed a wonderful dance “Nese Galya vodu”. At the end the male part of our ensemble showed a traditional Cossack hopak.

- Sergiy, please, describe your impressions in a few words.

My soul rested during the festival. I do not speak Polish, but it never was an obstacle. We demonstrated our creativity and found a lot of new friends. And each delegation received small gifts. Our university prepared souvenir booklets, T-shirts with the logo of university and sweets for the participants. Such trips inspire and motivate, and, as for me, after this festival I decided I want to travel the world.

- Did the ensemble participate in some other activities?

Apart from the activities listed, Kolos took part in multiconfessional prayer in a church in Plock. They prayed for peace in Ukraine. The ensemble gave a charity concert at the nursing home and even brought support from Italy (pictured). There were performances at the town square and at the mall. So we are proud to say that our students can represent Ukraine at different levels! To sum up the festival the organizers arranged a farewell barbecue party.

Interviewer – Olga Nakonechna