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Wild west movie icon, “Curly”, a proud Ukrainian
You may remember the actor playing the role of Curly, the ornery and wizened cowboy in the film, “City Slickers” as Best Supporting Academy Award winning actor, Jack Palance, but this actor, once proudly laid claim to his Ukrainian heritage. Jack Palance, born Volodymir Ivanovich Palahnuik in Pennsylvania coal country was third of five children of Ukrainian immigrants.
FeaturesUkraine Adventure Travel
Do not travel more than 100 kilometers from Kyiv or you will end up on a one-lane rutted dirt road with fallen trees and bandits waiting to ambush your car. Fact or fiction? While the early motorways in Ukraine may have been fraught with geographical and human hazards, and though cars are still scarce commodities for most Ukrainians often preferring to travel by overnight train to their destinations, in the ever confident traveling world, the country of Ukraine is sometimes best explored by car.
FeaturesAncient Ukrainian Christmas Stories
In centuries past, young people told their Christmas stories on tiny two-storied wooden structures made of wood. Vertep, the basis of modern-day Ukrainian puppet theater, had its beginnings centuries ago at the Kyivian Academy when students wrote and performed their plays on a tiny stage. The ‘actors’ were actually puppets made of wood with a wire connected so the puppeteer controlled the character’s movements. Accompanied by vocalists and instrumental ensembles, young people once took their Christmas dramas on the road, traveling from village to village.
FeaturesCaroling warms Ukrainian hearts on the darkest nights of winter
Solemnly marching through a fresh snow, an old man, dressed as a goat, leads a small procession. Behind him, a woman carries a canvas bag and a second man hoists a six-pointed star attached to a long stick with a light in its center towards the night sky. Followed by three other shrouded figures clasping musical instruments to their thick coats, the leader knocks on the first door. When the door is cast open, warmth rushing into the frigid night, the leader asks, “May we sing you a song of Christmas?”
FeaturesKyiv’s Bridges: A History of Passage and Devastation
Kyiv has a history of being split in half physically as well as metaphorically. Located on both the right and left banks of the Dneiper River, the future location of the city was once prophesied by St. Andrew around 60 A.D. when the spectacular location of the hilly shores of the river captured his attention. Seven bridges knit the city of Kyiv together these days but the bridges themselves have a history all their own.
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