June Eeles and her family have been involved in Shumka and the Shumka School for over 20 years. Even from day one, June knew she wanted to be part of the company. She started working for Shumka as a way to pay for her boys’ dance classes. Twenty years later, all three boys have been in the company, and June…

“Shumka was the highest calibre of Ukrainian dance and I wanted to be a part of that. Some of my favourite memories were from the 2004 China tour and the 2007 China/Ukraine tour. I got to share parts of those tours with my parents, so that was really special. Preparing for shows is a lot of hard work, but it’s…

Annette Bidniak auditioned for Shumka after two of her instructors, also Shumka dancers, encouraged her to do so. “I’ll never forget my first rehearsal. I walked in and immediately the older girls surrounded me and welcomed me. They felt like my older sisters. From that day forward, I was in the group. Every year that went by, I realized that…

“I had just started with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and was covering arts and entertainment for both radio and television. I recognized that Shumka was an organization that was different. They had artistic roots and roots in the community and they were able to bridge those together. They took it very seriously, but had great fun! Before I was done…

Jerry and Loverne Wowk joined Shumka shortly after moving from Saskatoon. They danced and choreographed together for many years. “We brought our backgrounds as not only dance teachers, but school teachers. We had some knowledge about organization and structure, plus experience with choreography, so we put that knowledge into Shumka. I had the ideas and Jerry did all the technical…

“I started contributing monthly to Shumka when I was a dancer… I was able to have these incredible performances and tours and such a high calibre of teaching, and I felt that if everyone gave just a little bit, it would add up to something substantial, and be really good for Shumka. To put on these incredible of shows, you…

Orest Semchuk joined Shumka in 1961. Over the years, he transitioned from dancer to Artistic Director and choreographer. After retiring from those roles, Orest continued to support Shumka as the stage manager for many of Shumka’s productions. “When I took over, I started throwing in more ballet-type movements. Not for the dancing, but for the preciseness of movements. After that,…

“I was in Shumka as of March 2001. Ever since then, there wasn’t anything else. I had the greatest instructors in the world when I was growing up. They were my inspirations for wanting to be part of this company, and I’m so happy I did all the things that I did with Shumka.” Marco Eugenio served as president of…

“One of the moments that really sticks out to me was being a part of the original cast for what is now Shumka’s Nutcracker; back then we called it Clara’s Dream. As a dancer, to be a part of that, and to get to dance with your idols (from Virsky and Kyiv Ballet) was just amazing.” Laura Stachniak danced during…

“I came to Edmonton from Innisfree, moved from the country and was playing football, trying to make a football team, when I heard about this thing called the Shumka Dancers. I tried out, I made Shumka, and Shumka got an engagement to go to Expo 67. So, I handed off my last football, and put on the boots and became…