From the time Roxanne Rachinski joined Shumka in 1979, she knew she had found a community. With her contributions to Shumka through dancing, choreographing, and serving on the executive, Roxanne was given new opportunities that helped her explore her cultural heritage. She travelled to Ukraine, worked with Ukrainian dance company Virsky, and helped create magic for Shumka. She also had the pleasure of dancing with two of her sisters in the group.

Roxanne’s father, Colin Maclean, was an arts and cultural reporter with CBC, who spent a good deal of time helping Shumka with several projects, like performances for Tommy Banks, Queen Elizabeth II, Karen Kain, Anne Murray, among others. He has also been the emcee for galas and banquets over the years.

In Shumka, Roxanne met her husband Doug. He grew up in Glendon, Alberta, and like Roxanne, Doug found a home and family in Shumka. In the company, Doug held many special roles in productions including Travelling Chumaky, Night of Perun, and Cinderella, but his talent and passion for dance reaches beyond the walls of the studio.

“I’ve never had a better time on stage than with Russ, Zinch, and Evan in Travelling Chumaky, including joking around on stage and behind curtain. It was the greatest privilege and pleasure to be able to play out that particular storyline. During that piece, the audience seemed to be right there, experiencing every dance move and plot development up on stage with us. And with Hopak immediately after, the connection was taken even further.”

Over the years, Doug has choreographed a number of pieces for Shumka. His creative side led him to develop the Shumka Curriculum with Tasha Orysiuk. The project started off as just an idea, and after years of researching traditional Ukrainian dance as well as ballet; researching the regions of Ukraine and choreographic differences across the Ukrainian diaspora; and working with musicians, editors, and designers, it’s become a widely-recognized Ukrainian dance syllabus.

After their retirement from Shumka, Doug and Roxanne opened Dance Unlimited, where they spent 23 years training and sharing their love of dance with students in ballet, jazz, tap, and many other styles of dance, including Ukrainian. They’ve trained many dancers over the years, one who moved on to Alberta Ballet, and some of whom did, or still do, dance in Shumka.

We are thankful for Roxanne, Doug and all they have done for Ukrainian dance over the years!