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Shumka remembers

Faculty Advisor

Date

2013

Keywords

Canadian War Measures Act of 1914, Ukrainian Shumka Dancers, World War I, Jasper National Park, Canadian dance, internment camps, contemporary Ukrainian dance, enemy aliens, Alexis Kochan

Abstract (summary)

Video performance excerpts for a contemporary original dance theatre work titled Shumka Remembers, conceived and directed by Gordon Gordey. Video excerpt contains commentary from Gordon Gordey at the site of an internment camp in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada.This dancework was created for The Ukrainian Shumka Dancers of Canada. Shumka Remembers is a contemporary Ukrainian Canadian narrative folk dance theatre work with video exploring the unjust internment of Ukrainian Canadians as “enemy aliens” in Canada during WWI. These “enemy aliens” were subjected to having to carry registration identity papers, often pay monthly registration fees, and were under constant surveillance. Of the 80,000 who were registered under the authority of the Act, 8,579 were deemed: “enemy aliens”. The majority of “enemy aliens” were Ukrainians and were arrested and interned in 26 makeshift encampments located mostly in Canada’s frontier hinterlands. They were forced into hard labour clearing land for roads, building bridges, and building the railway.

Publication Information

DOI

Notes

Item Type

Creative Work

Language

English

Rights

All Rights Reserved