He/Him Jacob August began his dance career when he was three years old, and although at the time he took more of an interest in the stage lights, on some…

She/Her Courtney Basaraba can still recall the day Wendy Kolonsky came up to her at the age of 5 and said “you would be a great Ukrainian Dancer”. From that…

She/Her Annikka Dobko began her dance training at the age of 4 years old in Grande Prairie. There she studied ballet, modern, tap, jazz, lyrical and contemporary in addition to…

She/Her Elyse Dzenick started her dance career at Dance Unlimited at 4 years old. She trained in many styles of dance, which gave her many performance opportunities and eventually led…

They/Them Lauren Dzenick started dancing at three years old at Dance Unlimited, where they trained in many different styles. They danced competitively for 15 years, and spent the summer of…

He/Him Joseph Ewaskiw began dancing at four years of age with Dance Unlimited’s Ukrainian program.  In 2018 he joined Shumka School of Dance where he was taught by company members who…

He/him Taras Geleta started Ukrainian dance at age 4 in the Athabasca Ukrainian Folk Dance Club. He first discovered his passion for Ukrainian dance around age 13 and since then…

She/Her Originally born in Ukraine, Viktoriya Glozhyk has cherished her background by speaking Ukrainian, being a part of Plast (Ukrainian Youth Association of Canada), and of course- Ukrainian dancing. Viktoriya…

She/Her Since the age of three, Natasha Grant has been encouraged to connect with her Ukrainian heritage through music and dance. Shumka School has helped shape her into the individual…

She/Her Ashlyn Grummett has been dancing since the age of three. Starting with ballet, jazz and tap, she quickly grew a liking for Ukrainian dance as well. Through the years…

He/Him Nick Hynek, originally from Lloydminster, AB, has been Ukrainian Dancing for 20 years. Most recently dancing with the Viter Ukrainian Dancers for the past 8 years and travelling all…

He/Him When Maksym Kadziela was 11 years old, he began to lose interest in Ukrainian dance. But when his parents surprised him with a ticket to Shumka’s 50th Anniversary show,…

She/Her — Emily began Ukrainian dance at the age of 3 in her hometown of St. Paul, Alberta. Since then, each instructor she has had was a Shumka dancer. The…

Calynn Lirette always knew she wanted to dance with Shumka. She started dancing at the age of three with Shumka School of Dance and for two years as a dancer in…

She/Her Taryna Marko joined Shumka in 2018. She began dancing at the age of four, taking ballet, tap, and Ukrainian, with her dad being her Ukrainian dance instructor for twelve years.…

She/Her Arlyssa McArthur joined Shumka in 2016. While growing up, she attended Shumka’s productions and enjoyed the shows immensely. She began dancing at a young age, training and competing in…

She/Her Abigail’s dance career started when she was just four years old with the Avrora Ukrainian Dancers in Fort McMurray. Following her family to Edmonton, Abigail joined the Shumka  School of…

She/Her Ava began dancing in Fort McMurray at the age of three, taking ballet and tap lessons. After going to see her first Shumka show that year, she fell in…

He/Him Joshua Pacholok has been dancing in Shumka since 2019. At the age of 6, he enrolled in grade 1 at the Shumka School of Dance.  He continued to dance…

He/Him Nicolas Pacholok began his dance education at the Shumka School of Dance, and upon graduation in 2016, he was offered an apprenticeship with the Ukrainian Shumka Dancers. Since then, Nicolas’…

She/Her Mara Palahniuk has been training in the styles of ballet and Ukrainian dance since she was three. Her love of dance has taken her all over the world including…

She/Her Ukrainian dance has been a part of Malia’s life for as long as she can remember. She began dancing at the age of 3, and later started ballet training…

She/Her Growing up, Daria Podilsky’s involvement with the Ukrainian Youth Association CYM allowed her to share the customs, history, and language of her grandparents with the next generation of Ukrainian…

He/Him Mark Rachmistruk began his dance career at the age of 5 at Dance Unlimited, under the instruction of Douglas Rachinski. At the age of 13, Mark joined the Shumka…

He/Him Being the middle child in a trio of brothers, family has always been a core value for Adam Samoil. In the past two years he has spent with the…

She/Her — Breanna Senko started dancing at the age of 3 at rural dance clubs in Westlock and Thorhild. While there, she took part in jazz, ballet, contemporary and Ukrainian…

He/Him — Joe started dancing with the Thorhild Ukrainian Dancing Club at the age of 5, and then continued to dance with Shumka School of Dance when he turned 10.…

She/Her Alyssa Shukalek was first introduced to Shumka as a student in the Shumka School where she danced for many years. She grew up watching various Shumka productions which never…

She/Her Julianna Shukalek’s dance journey began at the age of 5 with the Shumka School of Dance. After having the opportunity to be a part of Shumka’s Nutcracker twice in…

She/Her Dancing in the Shumka company is not only a dream come true for Danica Skitsko, but also a family affair as her brother Jacob is involved as well. Touring…

Rachel began dancing at the age of 3 in Beaumont where she trained in RAD ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical and contemporary while dabbling in Ukrainian dance with various Edmonton groups…

He/Him Alex Stasiuk’s passion for Ukrainian dance started at the age of three when he had seen the Ardrossan Yatran dancers in a parade and joined the group that fall.…

He/Him Murray Steele has been in Shumka for over 13 years, but has been involved in the Alberta Ukrainian dance community his whole life. Murray began Ukrainian dancing over 30 years ago…

He/Him Samuel Stychyshyn began his dance career when he was 6 years of age at Dance Unlimited’s Ukrainian program. He danced there for many years until he decided to make…

She/Her Since she was a little girl watching from the audience, Leda Tarnawsky has aspired to be a Shumka Dancer. She began her dance training at the age of four…

She/Her Summer 2020 marks Ashlyn Waller’s one year anniversary of dancing with Shumka, where she first got involved after hearing of the company through our involved alumni. She is extremely…

She/Her Kieran Waller began her dance training at the age of three. She started to train competitively at the age of six in ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary, lyrical and acro. Throughout her years of competitive dance,she received multiple scholarships to expand…

She/Her Vanessa Wynnyk has been dancing with Shumka for two years. After growing up in the Shumka School and watching Shumka perform, she knew it was the place she wanted…

He/Him Zachary Wynnyk has been dancing with Shumka since 2015. He started training in the Shumka School when he was six years old and it was always his goal to…

He/Him The beginning of Michael Zukiwsky’s dance career began at the age of four in the basement of the St. Andrew’s Ukrainian Orthodox church. Wanting to progress even further in…