Simply Slavic in the School, Community Announced

But people don’t have to wait until then to start learning! Thanks to the generous donation of YSU’s Slavic Student Association, festival organizers are able to again offer two preview programs!

SIMPLY SLAVIC IN THE SCHOOLS will take place on Tuesday, May 26 & Thursday, May 27, 2015. This year the students at Akiva Academy at the Jewish Community Center and Harding Elementary on Youngstown’s Northside will have the opportunity to enjoy and better understand the movement, costumes and dances traditional to the 13 Slavic nations through a series of demonstrations and participatory workshops.

SIMPLY SLAVIC IN THE COMMUNITY will take place on Thursday, June 11, 2015 from 6-9 PM. Each year at the festival we are asked by attendees where they can learn the spirited Slavic dance so we decided to give people the opportunity to learn beforehand!

The classes will be taught by Cathy Katrenich, director and choreographer of Living Traditions Folk Ensemble. Regular performers at the festival, LTFE was created in 2000 to keep alive the dances, songs and culture with a repertoire drawing on Polish, Croatian, Ukrainian, Slovak and Carpatho-Rusyn traditions.

For more information contact help@simplyslavic.org or call at (330) 333-1441.

ABOUT SIMPLY SLAVIC
Simply Slavic was created in 2011 to educate both the region’s large number of Slavic descendants and the community-at-large about Slavic heritage. It did this by featuring live Slavic music, folk dance performances, homemade food, children’s learning areas, educational exhibits and workshops and ethnic vendors. Since that time the group has developed an active regional, national and even international following that follow their efforts to share news and event information of interest to Slavs on their website, www.simplyslavic.org, as well as on their Facebook page.

GREAT HUMAN INTEREST STORY AND VISUALS

Simply Slavic in the Schools

Tuesday, May 26, 2015
12:45 – 1:45 PM Akiva Academy
Jewish Community Center, 505 Gypsy Lane, Youngstown, OH 44504 (330) 747-0452
CONTACT: Kathleen Mioni, Principal

Thursday, May 28, 2015
10:00 – 11:00 AM Harding Elementary
20 West Wood Street, Youngstown, Ohio 44503 (330) 744-7517
CONTACT: Susan Koulianos, Principal

A description of the school workshop is as follows: School workshop on East Europe dance & the traditions of Summer Solstice Program is interactive: students participate in singing and dance.

The main topics/activities include:

• Locations of the countries and their cultural connections;
• Costume analysis to better understand how clothing is affected by geography and tradition;
• Explanation of the traditions, folk tales and activities associated with St. John’s Eve/Summer Solstice;
• Mock bonfire rituals and wreath building; and,
• Learning of traditional dances.

Simply Slavic Community Outreach Dance Workshop

FREE dance lessons to learn will be offered for adults and families to learn

• the universally beloved polka,
• the lively oberek of Northern Slavs and
• the group dance, the kola of Southern Slavs

Thursday, June 11, 2015 from 6-9 PM at
Christopher’s
100 Federal Plaza East Lower level, Youngstown, Ohio 44503
Drinks and delicious food available for purchase

Aundrea Cika Heschmeyer
Director, PolishYoungstown