Pavlo Virsky's first efforts at founding a folk dance company came in 1937 and were rewarded in 1940, when his group was recognized as Ukraine's Song and Dance Company and which today carries his name: Virsky- The Ukrainian National Dance Company.
Virsky was trained as a ballet dancer and performed as a soloist with a number of theaters in the old Soviet Union, where he also staged classical ballets such as Marius Petipa's Swan Lake, Don Quixote and Raymonda.
Like his colleague Mykola Bolotov, however, he was fascinated by folk dancing, which he believed to portray a people's culture and soul. During World War II his company performed for the soldiers at the front, and the group was accorded further recognition in connection with the Decade of Ukrainian Art and Literature in Moscow in 1951.
As a choreographer Virsky created a number of the dances, including Povzunetz, Khmil, Under The Cherry Tree, Zaparozhtzy, The Needle Women, Sailors'Dance and Hopak, and was awarded a number of honors prior to his death in 1975. |
