Virsky Ukrainian National Dance Company performs Nov. 17 at Penn State

University Park, Pa. -- Virsky Ukrainian National Dance Company, a folk dance ensemble based in Kiev, Ukraine, and founded in 1937 by ballet master Pavlo Virsky, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 17, in Penn State’s Eisenhower Auditorium.

Tickets for the Center for the Performing Arts presentation are $36 for an adult, $15 for a University Park student and $26 for a person 18 and younger. Buy tickets online at www.cpa.psu.edu or by phone at 814-863-0255. Outside the local calling area, dial 1-800-ARTS-TIX. Tickets are also available at four State College locations: Eisenhower Auditorium (8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays), Penn State Tickets Downtown (10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays), HUB-Robeson Center (11 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays) and Bryce Jordan Center (10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays). A grant from the University Park Allocation Committee makes Penn State student prices possible.

Visit http://www.cpa.psu.edu/events/virsky.html to learn more about the company.

“At root, most folk dances have something to do with making the crops grow. But when theatricalized with a touch of genius and a great deal of creativity, they become part of an international dance repertory,” a New York Times dance critic writes. “To watch the fabulous virtuosity of this company’s young men and women in their vibrantly colored costumes … was, as a cheering audience showed, to appreciate great dancing by any definition. Like Igor Moiseyev, his contemporary in Moscow, … Virsky knew how to capture the essence of folk dances and recreate them for spectators….”

Ukraine didn’t become an independent country until 1991, but the culture of the Ukrainian people has been evolving for more than a thousand years. The Virsky company embraces the charm, beauty and folk dance traditions of its homeland and shares them with audiences in the four corners of the world.

Clad in colorful clothing and blessed with grace, the company performs dances filled, in turn, with romance, optimism, humor and occasional melancholy. Since 1980 Myroslav Vantukh, a choreographic ethnographer, has served as artistic director of the company his mentor created. Under Vantukh’s leadership, the company of 85 artists continues to create dances that enrich an already broad and deep repertoire.

Audio description, which is especially helpful to patrons with sight loss, is available for this performance at no extra charge to ticket holders.

Designer’s Studio sponsors the performance. The Penn State International Dance Ensemble Endowment underwrites dance presentations at the Center for the Performing Arts. Artistic Viewpoints, an informal moderated discussion featuring a visiting artist or local expert, is offered in Eisenhower Auditorium one hour before the performance and is free for ticket holders. Artistic Viewpoints regularly fills to capacity. Seating is available on a first-arrival basis.