Promoter’s Disappearance Strands Ukrainian Dance Troupe In Toronto
Posted July 7, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
But when and if they’ll leave is anything but certain.
A Ukrainian dance troupe that borrowed $40,000 from their government to embark on a tour of Canada claims to have been left stranded by their Toronto promoter.
The 50-performer strong troupe were promised headline status by a man who runs a business out of a local apartment building. But when they landed in the G.T.A., he was nowhere to be found.
Now the people who are used to having their every move choreographed have no idea where to step next. They have no food, no place to stay and no money to afford either of those necessities.
“None of the points of the contracts, none of the obligations were taken care of, and you come here and you’re left in a lurch,” complains troupe director Olexander Statsnyk through an interpreter.
The group is being temporarily housed in a student residence in the city, and they’re performing wherever they can to try and raise enough cash to get back home. But the money and the going have both been slow.
“So far they haven’t been able to raise anything,” Statsnyk remarks. “Their concert tour is basically in a shambles.”
The dancers plan to go back to the Ukraine by July 18 th. But they remain 40-grand short of their goal.
If you’d like to help this troupe of real troopers, contact Slauka Fodchuk at the St. Vladimir Institute at (416) 923-3318, ext. 100 or click here for more contact info.
