When Joe Hoffman watched Shumka’s performance of the Nutcracker with Kyiv Ballet on the Jube stage, even at 5 years old, he already decided Shumka was the place for him. Joe auditioned and was accepted into the company in 2010, shortly after the Edmonton performances of Shumka at 50.

For the next 10 years, Joe was a part of many of Shumka’s shows and productions. His final performance, and one of the most memorable, was performing the Nutcracker with a live orchestra in Victoria in 2019.

As  Artistic Associate, Joe contributed his artistic talents, prepping and choreographing for various performances. Before Shumka premiered Ancestors & Elders in 2018, Joe was part of the team that spent about 2 years researching and collaborating on the storyline. When asked to be the production’s co-director with Barry Bilinski, Joe accepted, and the pair worked tirelessly on a very successful piece that became personal to them both. Though Joe recalls technical rehearsals being stressful, both Joe and Barry watched as the show came together to become successful and transcendent.

“Shumka has some things going for it that are going to bring it out on top. The willingness to be bold, to blaze trails, to keep pushing the envelope after it’s been pushed. Shumka gets people to think about their own opinion and backgrounds, and how they relate to each other, to the Ukrainian culture, and to other cultures.”

Thank you, Joe, for all your dedicated time and effort to Shumka and many of our productions.