Rachel Caklos for NP-UN.
Art is a powerful form of expression that drives cultures and individuals to indulge in the freedom of communication without the use of words. In a computer-driven logical world, it can be challenging to find an outlet to enjoy the creative and innovative movements of art and its various forms. Amid the war in Ukraine and the focus on the country's survival, many Ukrainian artists continue to work and create new paths for the development of their art and share it within their new communities.
Yevgen Karyakin and his sister Kateryna were born in Dniprodzerzhynsk, now Kamianske, an industrial city with a focus on the production of metals and fabrics, with few outlets for the arts. Yevgen was nine and Kateryna was six when they first started dancing. Ballet was the first genre Kateryna engaged with and then joined Yevgen in becoming partners in ballroom dancing. Throughout their 10-year dance career, they became five-time Ukrainian champions in various categories and winners of numerous dance television shows. Alongside their dance careers, the two siblings went on and graduated from the medical academy, earning degrees in dentistry.
Kateryna began practicing as a dentist directly after graduation, while Yevgen travelled to Germany where he worked as a solo dancer, choreographer, and assistant director for stage shows at a theme park. He later worked on television projects in Georgia and Ukraine.
Танцюють всі! (Everybody dance!), also known as So You Think You Can Dance, was a Ukrainian television show that began in September 2008 and ran for nine seasons. When auditions were promoted for the first season, Kateryna attended and made it to the top 100. Sadly, she broke her leg and was not able to continue the competition. Yevgen agreed that they would both return a year later for the second season the following year. During season two, both Katarina and Yevgen made it to the live shows, reaching the top 10 and top three from 13,000 participants. This major success influenced their careers as dancers where they both participated in numerous dance shows. Kateryna was also inspired to open a dance study in their home town and Yevgen became a choreographer for several TV projects in Kyiv such as Dancing with the Stars, X-Factor, and Ukraine’s Got Talent.
Yevgen Karyakin and Kateryna Khruzina in the Ukrainian Think you can dance
When the war began, many Ukrainians fled to the borders to leave the country. With great uncertainty about what lay ahead, Kateryna and her three children left Ukraine immediately. After a few months of attempting to seek employment in Europe, Kateryna decided to join their friends in Calgary. Canada provided extensive support to new Ukrainians and became a viable option for the family to consider. Wanting to find stability, Kateryna decided that either Vancouver or Toronto would be the new place her family called home. The decision was made following a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors and it was Toronto that won.
With new beginnings came new career opportunities for Kateryna and her passion for dance. She began a new dance company called, Dance by Khruzina and opened her first dance studio in Etobicoke. Many of the interested students were Ukrainians from the current and previous waves of immigration. The studio’s development took time, also attracting clientele from diverse roots and other cultural backgrounds.
The first studio opened in 2022 which included Kateryna’s own three children and only one other student from the community. She broadcasted her studio on social media and numerous platforms to gain exposure. Her main goal was to appeal to all dancers who either wanted to dance for fun or serve more ambitious goals of performance and competition. The studio encourages dancers of all ages. The company also creates choreography for events such as weddings and hosting concerts for parents and the local community. With the help of Yevgen and his extensive experience in dance and production, Kateryna was able to expand. In two years, the company has opened five studios across Ontario: Etobicoke, Oakville, Vaughan, Thornhill, and Waterloo, with over 100 clients and continues to grow.
Alongside his work with the dance studio, Yevgen searched for local artists and events that appealed to his line of work, looking for ways for himself and his sister’s dance studio to get involved in the local art scene. He came across an audition call for Dusk Dances, an annual outdoor dance festival that takes place in Toronto parks. The festival invites choreographers to create a piece to be performed in front of a local audience in an open-air space. Yevgen took this opportunity to create an 11-minute performance called “The Path” with Kateryna and her dance students. The dances created for the festival are guided by the inspiration of the park’s nature, providing a safe creative space for dancers to share their art with the local community.
The dance was broken down into three parts expressing the path of life. First, the journey of a person through life is explored and expresses how people have their own individualized experiences and memories. The performance then moves on to the journey of people as a family unit and the way life can include challenges such as war, immigration, the changing of locations and building a new life from nothing. Finally, the performance presented humanity as a society, looking at civilizations through history, combining each element into the portrayal of life and its multifaceted individualized path for each person.
“It was a very harmonic and natural collaboration…I have lots of experience in production from little investment to millions of dollars in production costs, and I know what it means to have real relations between people. When you feel honest and open, and it’s not just work, but also connectivity, you can see that they [Dusk Dances] really love what they are doing and that they thought about all of their participants. They did not focus on the final result. It was very important to be inside the here and now and enjoy the moment and the process.”
The group danced in the evening at Withrow Park where they performed their dance to a few thousand visitors. Yevgen expressed his gratitude to the organizers as it was a unique and incomparable experience to perform in an open space with the sunlight illuminating the dancers and being surrounded by nature. He felt very connected with the audience as he could feel their reactions and see their enjoyment. “For us and our students, not only was it a great experience artistically, but also a great platform to talk about important topics without words, just movement.”
When asked about the move to Toronto, Yevgen was very happy that Canada had a very large Ukrainian community. He felt that Canadians of all backgrounds were warm as many helped them with their move to Canada. “Human relations are strong in Canadians and they care to help.” Regarding culture, Yevgen noticed a strong difference between Europe and Canada regarding the connection to the arts and how they are enjoyed. His experience in dance and production varies strongly in comparison to the way dance and theatre are produced in North America. However, this does pose a challenge in finding work, Yevgen is prepared to learn the new processes and ways of the Canadian system. He is positive about his new life in Canada and is excited to create and learn through new connections and sharing his passion for the arts.
When asked about his best memories in dance, Yevgen recalls his childhood, dancing with his sister. “She is my best partner and my best friend.” He articulated the importance of dance, the ability to learn and understand human connection, using movement to communicate with others. Communication goes beyond just the physical, incorporating the mental and emotional state of each individual. Working as a team, understanding your partner and having the same goals will help achieve success.
When asked about dance and its place in Yevgen’s life, he responded:
“I am an art person. I can play the guitar, paint, write scripts, dance, teach, direct and create stories for stage performances. It is my language and how I communicate with others. Everything I do is interpreted through art. I see everything through art such as nature, relations between people and business. I live my life through art and creativity. It is not only about dancing. That is only one part of it and how I express myself. I can say the same for my sister. You need to be a disciplined and organized person because art doesn’t really work the best as a career.”
To help younger and new artists, Yevgen and Kateryna are in the process of creating an online course teaching how to use creativity, not only in art classes but also in life. He believes that with confidence in one’s work, what was just an idea will come together and become something beautiful. To him, that is what it means to be an artist.
Art is a unique character that tends to thrive in devastating and challenging times. The war in Ukraine has amounted to an abundance of loss of culture, art and the lives of people who were not soldiers but artists. However, as creatives continue to produce and disseminate the richness of Ukrainian culture and talent, the hope for the Ukrainian people continues through the hearts and passions of its people and the diaspora.
Yevgen Karyakin and Kateryna Khruzina with their studio participants
When asked about the war and the main message he would share with the rest of the world, Yevgen had a profound response:
“Many things have taken place during this war. We can talk about many different things about Ukraine, but we shouldn’t change our focus being that the main problem is because of Russia and their invasion of Ukraine. Everything started from it… My wish is that everyone should understand the situation clearly and focus on the main issue at hand. If we focus on the main problem, then all of the other smaller ones fall away… Many friends of mine have already died on the battlefield. They are not only soldiers. They are dancers, service artists who were singers, administrators of TV projects and I’ve known them personally. It is our reality… I do support Ukraine and do what I can do without weapons.”
Thank you to Yevgen for his openness to share his and Kateryna’s story and their perseverance in the continuation of sharing their passion for dance. The future goals are to “nurture a new generation of creative and free-thinking individuals, unite people through art and creativity, give children unforgettable memories of a happy childhood, and provide them with valuable knowledge that they will carry into adult life.”
Instagrams:
@yevgenkaryakin
@khruzina_ekaterina
@dance_khruzina
@duskdances
Links:
–https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-aJntexvEf/?igsh=c2x5eG1obG9wMHVx
–https://dancekhruzina.com/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaYhB62awHq3kSLbNFXQeXaKBk1PDmcDs8hhsm7VmasB581esas0pyGbQDU_aem_LxIZjG9qjvlQ3gpyzyit4w
–https://duskdances.ca/en/
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