Lehenda Ukrainian Dance Company brings show to Bendigo

That vibrant soul will be on show in Bendigo in October when the Melbourne-based Lehenda Ukrainian Dance Company visits the city for the first time to perform at Ulumbarra Theatre.

Full of colour, energy and colour - and the strength and grace of Ukrainian Cossack dancers - Lehenda's 'Ukrainian Soul, Australian Soil' concert promises to be a spectacle.

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The company's artistic director Melanie Moravski Dechnicz visited Bendigo on September 19 to check out the venue where the dance group will perform and she came away impressed.

"The theatre is absolutely stunning," Ms Moravski Dechnicz said.

"It's interesting with the jail. It's a gorgeous building."

The dance company chose to perform in Bendigo because of the city's close links to Ukraine which has been at war since Russia invaded the country in 2022.

The Thales Australia factory in Bendigo has produced the Bushmaster military vehicles which have been sent to help Ukraine in the conflict.

"We know the Bushmasters are produced here and we were looking for somewhere regional to perform," Ms Moravski Dechnicz said.

"We wanted to thank the Australian Government, Thales Australia and the many people of Bendigo who are responsible for the production of the Bushmaster protected vehicle and the decision to supply the vehicle has been an incredible help.

"Our dance company turns 10 years old in January and we haven't done an awful lot of regional (venues) which we want to explore and get into.

"The experience so far (in Bendigo) has been warm and welcoming. It's been lovely."

Although Australian by birth, both of Ms Moravski Dechnicz's parents are of Ukrainian heritage.

She attended a Ukrainian school, a Ukrainian church and performed in a Ukrainian choir as a child and, of course, learnt Ukrainian dance.

Her passion led her to train with Virsky, Ukraine's most prestigious dance company in Kyiv in 2001. She was even awarded with the Merited (Performing) Artist of Ukraine in 2009 for her role in promoting Ukrainian heritage in Australia.

"I was in Melbourne on the Monday and got a phone call asking if I could be in Kyiv on Friday," Ms Moravski Dechnicz recalls on learning of the honour.

"I nearly fell off my chair. It was an incredible honour and even now I feel very undeserving.

"I was on stage in front of everyone and got to shake the Ukraine president's hand. It was like being in a dream."

Ms Moravski Dechnicz teaches at the Australian Ballet School but Ukrainian dance is her favourite style.

"I am passionate about it because it is my culture but I love the dance style - it is technically amazing, it's energetic, skilful and challenging," she said.

While the war in Ukraine has been a tragedy and several of Moravski Dechnicz's cousins and friends have been caught up in the fighting, it has made the Ukrainian people even more determined to preserve their culture.

"When the war first started we had a dance performance the next week," Ms Moravski Dechnicz said.

"It was the hardest thing I had ever done. It was so emotional but it showed how important we keep doing it."

It has also widened the Ukrainian community in Australia.

"There are two recently arrived Ukrainians in our company," Ms Moravski Dechnicz said.

"One of them had just arrived in Australia and was waitressing. We were doing a fundraiser nearby and she saw us.

"We have three teachers at our dance school from Ukraine and students who came out with their mothers. Their fathers are fighting the war back home so they haven't seen their dads for a year-and-a-half.

"In all this tragedy it has been a beautiful experience to welcome Ukrainians you would never have met otherwise, particularly from the east which is highly affected (by the war)."

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Lehenda is made up of more than 30 dancers and crew members of Ukrainian and non-Ukrainian heritage.

The performance features a wide repertoire of regional Ukrainian dances, video interviews as well as the work "Kyiv" which premiered in 2018 which tells the legend of birth of the Ukrainian nation through its capital.

It's a performance which shows Ukraine's endurance through the country's constant battle for freedom.

'Lehenda - Ukrainian Soul, Australian Soil' will be performed in Bendigo at the Ulumbarra Theatre on Sunday, October 22 at 3pm.

Tickets at gotix.com.au

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