Vibrant! Colourful! Energetic! Exciting!

Just some of the words to describe Ukrainian folk dancing and in Podilya you have one of it’s finest exponents.  Podilya is the dance group of the Ukrainian Youth Association in Manchester and has been in existence in various guises since 1964.  The present group comprises of around fifty second generation children and have been together under their present choreographer Linda Szlachetko since 1996.  Her imaginative and innovative choreography has helped propel Podilya to new heights of achievements.  During this time the group has appeared before many different ethnic audiences always giving truly memorable performances.  They have taken part in local and national dance competitions including Manchester’s Castlefield Carnival and the Eisteddfod at Llangollen, achieving a high degree of success along the way.  Podilya has performed at charity fund raising events for many worthwhile groups including NSPCC and the Macmillan nurses.  Podilya’s first ever tour abroad took them to the homeland of their grandparents, to the “Golden Gate” Festival in Kyiv, Ukraine.  A very successful tour, a magnificent performance of beauty, grace and agility was given by Podilya.  An everlasting memory of the tour will remain with the members of the group and also with members of the public.