Seniors steal the show with Ukrainian dancing at the Jubilee Auditorium

At 89, Victor Melech is the oldest person to take the stage as a Ukrainian dancer with Shumka. CTV News Edmonton's Amanda Anderson has his story.

A group of seniors took to the stage at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium over the weekend, including an 89-year-old dancer.

Victor Melech is turning 90 this month, making him the oldest member of the Seniors Can Shumka class to dance on the stage.

“It warms my heart so much, it brings me such happiness to see him there every time he’s dancing,” said Tasha Orysiuk, the teacher for Seniors Can Shumka.

“It’s so amazing to see him have that courage to get up on that stage, to remember his steps, to have fun with it, to move around and just soak up all that applause. All these seniors are doing amazing, and to see an 89 year old up there, dancing away, enjoying it, having fun is incredible.”

Melech has been part of the Ukrainian dance class for nearly nine years now and says he loves it.

“It’s exciting, it’s a lot of fun. It turns into a party because there’s dancing, there’s music, there’s laughter, there’s joking, and we are learning, because we’re constantly learning a new Ukrainian dance,” Melech said.

“I get exercise through the dancing, I get to socialize with a lot of people.”

On Sunday, a number of seniors, with ages ranging from their 50s to 80s, held their year-end performance, the crowning achievement of the eight-week course.

They shared the stage with other groups from Canada’s Ukrainian Shumka Dancers.

When asked how it felt being up on stage, performing for the crows, Melech said “you had to be there” and called the applause the group received “deafening.”

Melech received a bit of extra applause, as he was the last one to clear the stage after the performance.

“I planned that on purpose,” said Orysiuk. “If you’re 89 years old and you’re dancing on stage, I’m going to let you be the last one off and wave and soak up all that applause, because he deserved it, like every other senior there does.”

Melech plans to retain his title as oldest dancer in the Ukrainian dance group at the Jubilee next year and encourages other seniors to join.

“I mean, why not? If I can do it, they can, but I work at it, and I have for many, many years, and that’s an important part of it,” he said.

The work he and the other dancers have put into learning the dances have had a number of health benefits, according to Orysiuk.

“Everything from losing weight to having better doctors reports saying that their circulation is better. They’re much more flexible, they can move easier, up and down stairs,” she added. “I hear it all the time from all of them saying the amount of things that they’re able to do now that they weren’t able to do before.

“Victor in particular is such an inspiration of what you can do. You don’t need to just sit and do things at their ages.”

Winter and spring classes are over now, but there are summer camps and Seniors on Broadway to look forward to.

In June, seniors will learn dances from shows like Singing in the Rain and An American in Paris. In August, there will also be the Silver Swans ballet, which is for seniors.

“I just love this, and I really don’t know what I’m going to do when I have to leave, but Tasha tells me she’ll find something for me to do, even (when) I can’t dance anymore and I can’t perform,” said Melech.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Amanda Anderson