She/Her Tasha Orysiuk is a highly respected and accomplished Canadian dance educator, adjudicator, and choreographer, with extensive training across multiple disciplines under internationally renowned artists in Canada, the U.S., England, and Ukraine. Her credentials include an ARAD Teaching Diploma, AISTD Teaching Diploma National Branch, PBT Level 3 Certification, and Silver Swans License, along with many additional certifications that make her…
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He/Him Toronto-born Paul Olijnyk began his association with Shumka in 2001 when he moved to Edmonton and joined the company. Since then, Paul has taught Ukrainian dance throughout the province of Alberta; adjudicates dance festivals throughout Western Canada; and has been a guest choreographer for dance ensembles in Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario. He is one of the key instructors…
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Alyssa began her dance career with training in Ukrainian and ballet. Since then she has also trained in tap, jazz and hip hop. Alyssa is an alumnus of the Shumka School of Dance and has been an instructor with the School since 2007. Alyssa joined the Shumka Dancers as a member in 2006. She has performed internationally in Ukraine and…
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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 is today and her time spent volunteering as a Junior Instructor and Leader in Training led her to join the company in 2018. Natasha considers the Shumka 60 Tour…
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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 for 5 years until leaving to pursue other interests. At age 13, after watching his brother and cousins perform on stage with Shumka, he rediscovered his passion for Ukrainian dance.…
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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 and has been an active dancer ever since. During his extensive dance career, Murray has had the pleasure of performing with the Viter and Volya Ukrainian Dance Ensembles, as well…
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He/Him Les Sereda began his dance career at the age of 12 and joined Shumka four years later. Throughout his ten years in the company, he had the privilege of working with such artists as John Pichlyk, Viktor Lytvynov, Brian Webb and Yuri Shevchenko. He toured Canada and the United States in Shumka’s productions of Absolutely Shumka and Cinderella and was honoured to…
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