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Vasil' Avramenko
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Vasil' Avramenko (considered the Father of Ukrainian Folk Dance in North America) was born in 1915. He introduced Ukrainian folk dancing in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, around 1938. Though the original group of dancers became inactive during World War II, they reformed in the early 1950s under the tutorship of Vasil'.
In 1962, the Sts. Peter and Paul UOL Chapter formally reactivated the group with elected officers and advisors and placed it under the directorship of Beverly Kapeluck. The group was known as the Ukrainian Folk Dancers of Sts. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church. It was not long before they began making public appearances. The name Kyiv Ukrainian Dance Ensemble was adopted in 1983.
Vasil' Avramenko, who was a ballet master, died in 1981.
His articles and publications include
- "Ukrainian National Dances, Music and Costumes." A short essay on Ukrainian dances and description of ten most popular national dances of his own composition, 1947.
Dances Vasil' taught include Arkan, Hopak, and Zaporozhets.