Episode 006 - Roman Mykyta

In this episode, I welcome Roman Mykyta! Roman is an incredible professional dancer, who has trained his entire life in classical ballet and traditional Ukranian folk dancing. He shares some of the most impactful encounters with art that inspired him to become an artist. 

 

Get in touch with Roman Mykyta: /https://www.facebook.com/roman.mykyta.5

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Intro & Outro Music Credits:

Bad Ideas (distressed) by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3412-bad-ideas-distressed-
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

 

SHOW NOTES:

Episode 006 - Roman Mykyta

Lindsey Dinneen: Hello, and welcome to Artfully Told ,where we share true stories about meaningful encounters with art.

[00:00:06] Krista: I think artists help people have different perspectives on every aspect of life.

[00:00:12] Roman Mykyta: All I can do is put my part in to the world.

[00:00:15] Elizabeth: It doesn't have to be perfect the first time. It doesn't have to be perfect ever really.  I mean, as long as you you're enjoying doing it and you're trying your best, that can be good enough.

[00:00:23]Elna:  Art is something that you can experience with your senses and that you just experience as, as so beautiful.

[00:00:31] Lindsey Dinneen: Hello and welcome. This is Artfully Told, and I am so excited that you are joining me again today to learn about stories about art. And I am just really, really excited because I have a  truly wonderful person on my show today that gets to be my guest and I am really honored to have him here with me and with all of you. He is a very accomplished dancer, but also just a rock solid person, so kind and generous . So, thank you so much to Roman Mykyta for being with us today and I'm so glad you're here. Thank you.

[00:01:13] Roman Mykyta: Thank you, Lindsey, so much for having me. That was such a nice introduction. I'm so happy to be on this podcast. I think that this is a great podcast, such a great subject, meaningful encounters with art. As just mentioned before, that's such a rich topic and I'm so honored to be on this podcast and talk about it.

[00:01:32] Lindsey Dinneen: Wonderful.  So would you mind just sharing a little bit about, you know, who you are and maybe a little bit about your journey with art?

[00:01:40] Roman Mykyta: Of course. So I am a dancer. The first story I want to share about my meaningful encounter with art was kind of my first inspiration to be a dancer, but I'll save that for the next bit. But when I was very young, I was inspired to be a dancer and, it was actually Ukrainian folk dancing. My grandfather was from Ukraine. As I go into the story, he brought me this video of the Ukrainian National Dance Ensemble. It's called the Virsky Ensemble.  I saw that video and I was inspired to start dancing. I  started in a local Ukrainian dance ensemble, but just, for anyone who's ever seen Ukrainian dancing it's--if you have an image of cossack dancing, it's the same type of thing.

[00:02:22] There's a lot of squats, a lot of big jumps and all of these, very exciting dances and tricks. And it's a mix between ballet already being part of Ukrainian culture, as well as just the, the ability to do those types of movement with good technique. I was really encouraged from a young age to start taking ballet as a type of cross training. And so I started Ukrainian dance when I was five, but by the time I was seven, I was taking ballet lessons. And just from there, kind of the rest is history. I trained throughout school and throughout high school as a dancer and doing ballet and Ukrainian dance, as well as all other, different styles of dance, folk dances, as well as styles like modern or jazz. And after I graduated high school I had the opportunity to audition for the ballet company, which was in my state.

[00:03:15] And that was  Ballet Theater of Maryland.  I danced in the Ballet Theater of Maryland a total of about four years--four seasons. And then there was actually an opportunity to travel to Ukraine and to work with that group, which was the very first group that was, in the video that my grandfather gave me, and as you could imagine, just that opportunity was very unique and kind of like a dream come true. And so I took advantage of that opportunity and, I went to Ukraine, starting in the fall of 2017 and I am staying there continuing to dance. And also, as I had mentioned, I went right from high school into the ballet company, but while I'm in Ukraine, I'm also getting a degree in dance, pedagogy and choreography. Just for me being there, I feel completely in my element professionally.

[00:04:09] There really is in my niche, because in addition to the normal styles of dance that you would do, for example, here in the USA, they also really focus on developing the choreographic and pedagogical skills, like in pedagogy to teach, all of the theatrical folk dancing, which is just between Ukraine and Russia.

[00:04:27] They really kind of specialize in that style. And, even when I'm in the USA, I'm usually called upon to dance some of those roles or to teach that kind of style. And so just in the longterm, having, having that experience and having that education from Ukraine really means a lot. My typical life right now--I'm living in Kiev, dancing and studying, and also doing some other jobs that are kind of new to me. I'm doing a little bit of journalism, which started with writing reviews about some of the dance performances in Kiev, but has kind of evolved into other things.

[00:04:59]I have a couple of interests, in addition to dance I love very much, but just all my life, dance and all of the other arts that are adjacent to it that are a touchstone have always been such a big part of my life, and remain such an important part of my life. It's definitely something that I'm so passionate about. I'm actually the first person in my family to be a dancer, although my parent, are both really-- not professionally--but they both really love the arts. My dad loves to play the guitar and he loves to sing. My mom also loves to sing and she likes to be in plays or in different musicals.

[00:05:35]And so that's just the love for it--all the arts in general. Oh, and I forgot to mention it's also very important-- my dad, because my family, is the type of Christians who are Eastern Orthodox--my dad is also an iconographer, which is basically making the, religious art, the icons, which just are part of our tradition. And, so that's painting basically. So all the arts are really, special in our family. And I've always been so thankful that my parents have always been so supportive of my love for all of the arts and especially for dance, and supported me every step of the way, and continue to support me.

[00:06:14]As I said, my typical, normal life right now is living in Kiev. But I am home right now, during the coronavirus. I'm working from home anyway, with my studies and it was just easier to come home during this time and do the quarantine with family. So right now I'm logging in from the USA. But, that's the overview of my life stories, especially related to dance and what I would consider also all the arts, but it's really colored by so many meaningful encounters that I've had with art, whether it's been initially inspired by it or how I feel when I, I'm going to perform, and kind of just how meaningful an experience that is to me.

[00:07:01]Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you have such a rich background and so much diversity with the art that you've been able to be a part of and exposed to and, with your family being so invested in it, I think that's incredible. I mean you've certainly been able to have just such a cool background that obviously shaped you as a person and as a dancer and an artist. And you're dabbling in other art, like writing with your journalism, which is very cool.

[00:07:30] Roman Mykyta: Thank you so much. I do feel very blessed.

[00:07:33] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Well, I know you do have a few meaningful encounters with art to share with us today. So I'm super excited to hear them.

[00:07:41] Roman Mykyta: Yes. Since we first talked, Lindsey, I've just been thinking about so many different things and I'll try to--I want to share all of them--and, I'll try to keep them all organized. I think the most important one that I want to share is kind of my initial encounter with art, which was basically inspired me to be a dancer and I distinctly remember when my grandfather who was from Ukraine brought me that video of the Virsky Ukrainian Dance Ensemble. I distinctly remember watching it and just some of the thoughts that my two year old brain was having, 'cause I was two when he showed it to me. Again for those who have maybe, like an image from the collective consciousness of Ukrainian dancing, but I highly recommend anyone to look for it on YouTube, especially Virsky, spelled V I R S K Y. The costumes are incredibly colorful and the dancing, the typical theme is usually very joyful.

[00:08:40] And it's very athletic, especially for the men's role. And so it's very impressive. And the women are also in their full costume, they all just seem so beautiful. And so, and just in the professional quality of the Virsky Ensemble, they just present thier folk dance. And, when they perform it--'cause they perform internationally--they're kind of serving as cultural ambassadors. And so in their professional style, they imbue all of that dancing with just the spirit of hospitality, the spirit of just openness, like this kind of agape love type of atmosphere kind of permeates so much of their show.  Culturally, it's the connection with other countries, as I said, kind of working as cultural ambassadors and spreading peace and love ultimately.

[00:09:28] And just so their typical show is just so beautiful. Both in like the true ethnographic folk dance as well as just their presentation is just, making it the most beautiful and the most accessible as possible. Between the colorful costumes and just their bright smiles and just these beautiful looking people to me, I distinctly remember that dancers seemed like angels and the stage seemed like heaven.

[00:09:55] And, in my young understanding of life, when I imagined heaven, I imagined that it was like that video that my grandfather showed me with all these people dancing. And, later in life, I read things, and heaven is also sometimes described as a dance. And so I guess that's not completely too much for two year old fantasy, but that was just the image of goodness and this kind of a perfect reality. And so, that's just, that was so special for me. And then as I said, when there was the opportunity to work with that group later in my life-- just once I had access to the opportunity, as you could imagine--it's not just, professionally and it's not just as a job to be with this particular company, but also just in my heart and in my soul, it was something which I just associate with only kind of these good things, blessings from life. And so it's just so meaningful. I feel very passionate about this topic, meaningful encounters with art. And my only regret is that I feel like just to talk about it is -- sometimes I can lose words to describe the whole effect.

[00:11:03] I just encourage anything that I'm saying-- if any of the listeners can go and look and see yourself-- just because, I can describe it, but experiencing it is even better. So that I distinctly remember, with the Virsky Ensemble, just falling in love with these ideas about goodness, but then also just, dance was the medium and then just falling in love with a dance because of that. So that was the first thing that I saw and I watched that VHS tape so many times and whenever it would finish, I would be sad and beg for my parents or my grandparents, whoever was watching with me, to rewind it again, just so I could watch it from the beginning. I watched and I danced with it so many times

[00:11:50] Lindsey Dinneen: I love that.

[00:11:51]Roman Mykyta:  And so my dad's side of my family is from Ukraine, but my mom's side is actually Irish. And so, because they saw that I really loved Ukrainian dancing, they got me "Riverdance," and that was also a piece of art that was just so amazing to me as well. It's a completely different look and feel than the Ukrainian dancing, but it also just the theatrical effect of this type of performance is just amazing.

[00:12:18] And whether it's the majesty of all of those dancers lined up and doing the Irish dancing with that powerful rhythm, it's like a completely different look and feel, as I said, from the Ukrainian dance, it creates such this powerful sensation.  In "Riverdance," there is the Irish dancers, also the flamenco dancers, and there are even the Russian dancers. And I think just seeing all of these different kinds of folk dancing, which had also like a personal connection with me and my family, but just seeing all of it and seeing all of the different interpretations of these life themes or concepts that you can find in these different dances from a very early age that introduced to me the idea of infinite variations of beauty, infinite variations of goodness. That helped me understand as a child, in a way, that concept of God is everywhere present .

[00:13:04] And, that you can find, if it's something of goodness in every culture, you can find something of God in every culture. And that was really such a powerful concept  when I was little-- of course I didn't think of it quite like in the terms as I'm explaining it now-- but to kind of put into words, what I think I was feeling, as a child, and so that was-- I especially really loved both of those videos. and those were my first introductions into dance. And, any, even things like the colors of the costumes, the colors of the lighting, it was just all that's part of why the Sage was heaven to me because it could change and it could become colorful and it would just be so like, magical is probably the best word.

[00:13:47]That was really amazing, but some other things meaningful encounters with art that I experienced in my childhood-- one that really comes to mind-- the second live show that I saw was actually my mom in a production of "Godspell."  For those who don't know, "Godspell" is a musical with music by Stephen Schwartz. And it's hard to describe again, but it's basically this impressionistic  theater piece, exploring the teachings of Jesus and especially from the gospel of Saint Matthew, while "Jesus Christ Superstar"--for those who are familiar with that is much more of like a dramatic passion play--"Godspell" is much more of taking the essence of the teachings. There is kind of a Jesus figure, but it's not meant to be as literal as "Jesus Christ Superstar," it's much more impressionistic and it's, it has this atmosphere to it because all of the ensemble is purposefully acting kind of clownish, like small children that came from the concept where it's like, you have to humble yourself as a small child to enter the kingdom of heaven.

[00:14:49] And so, it was in this theater piece that creates this atmosphere of taking that with a group of typically adults who are playing in the show kind of to the maximum and when the show is done really well, the power of the gospel and then in that setting can-- it's just especially powerful. Now I remember it most because I remember when they would run through the audience. And I remember seeing my mom and I remember when there was a very dramatic scene and the lighting changed again. That's like an example of how to live, and when like the actors are acting in a way which is fully accessible, fully loving each other, just this beautiful community that is created on stage,  it's just kind of like this vision of how I would want my own life to be.

[00:15:34]Again, for those who are not super familiar, I just recommend to maybe give that a try. "Godspell" was kind of a musical theater piece that I loved when I was little also because it came out around the, it came out in 1999, and at that time I was four. At that point, there were a couple of Andrew Lloyd Weber musicals that were being made in a very special, movie version format. And there was Joseph, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" with Donny Osmond. There was "Cats." Those were the two that again, we rented from the video store so many times and I watched over and over again.

[00:16:10] I absolutely loved "Cats." I loved all the dancing in it and I would dance around to all the numbers. And that's another show that I really like. I think it's a little bit under appreciated. It seems very esoteric. It seems like maybe not a lot of people would get it. I encourage you, if you're not sure about "Cats," think of it like an exploration of how to be more human. It's through the dramatic exercise of acting like a cat or pretending to be a cat. And it's not so much like the actor being a cat, it's more about like a dancer being a cat because it's that whole kind of what our typical uniform is wearing legwarmers and things like that.

[00:16:50] And just kind of moving in a maximumly expressive style, not like super in a classical form, like in ballet, but it's a mix between ballet and jazz. And so if you can kind of discover your humanity in that, I encourage to look at it kind of with those sides and not to worry about it too much, being two hours about the life of a cat or life of cats.

[00:17:12] Lindsey Dinneen: Okay. But the music is incredible, so it does have that going for it, for sure. And yeah, and the movement quality is, is amazing.

[00:17:19] Roman Mykyta: Any Andrew Lloyd Weber music definitely lends itself to a transcendent quality. And so if, if the music is good, it's, it's trying to pull out something interesting in the story, and so I definitely, and how kind of amazing and creative to like, do something a little bit unconventional, but still get something, which is still meaningful. I would consider those four the major things from my childhood, and kind of the things which really kind of inspired my love for all the performing arts, the arts in general, especially dance.

[00:17:53] I feel like it's also really important to talk about my time dancing   Some people don't always get classical ballet or on the surface or don't always get it. I definitely encourage a lot of people who are less familiar with ballet, just to know that ballet has a really big history and therefore also has a really big range. And I most people know ballet just like for the Tchaikovsky ballets, which are really beautiful in of themselves like "Swan Lake" or "Nutcracker."

[00:18:24] But if they feel kind of not connected to their time or even connected to their culture, can feel a little bit divorced from their experience. But I would just encourage, there's a huge history of ballet with a lot of different movements in it's evolution of choreographic art, in the same way that the fine arts of painting or music also went through several reinventions or renovation, so to speak.

[00:18:48]For my experience when I was dancing in a ballet company, what was most, and still is really important for me is--as I kind of explained just even from like my very young years, just that effect that performance, could have for me, especially a dance performance or a musical theater performance.  It really is convicting to me to create the same experience, the best that I can--just to pray that I can-- for whatever audience, it's coming to see the performance. I love it, especially when we're doing "Nutcracker" and we have an audience of kids, because I just hope that we can, as a cast, make the story, make the show, as big ,theatrical, colorful as when I was really little like watching "Joseph" was for me.

[00:19:34] In order for me to kind of invest in a role, I have always tried to find the deeper meaning of a story and sometimes dance literature doesn't always go quite as deep. But if the ballet has a fairytale connected to it, chances are analysts have kind of unpacked that fairy tale for its meanings and things, which are the big major truths that anyone in different walks of life can take from it. I'm not dancing for myself. I'm not dancing to get the applause of other people. I kind of suffer from some stage fright. And if I was dancing for myself, it really wouldn't be worth it. But the only way that really makes it worth it is if I feel like I'm doing something, which is meaningful--that I'm telling a parable, so to speak, or participating in a parable, which is going to be impacting.

[00:20:26] And the only part that I can do is just dance with that intention. And it's really, this is the interesting thing how art works--because all I can do is put my part out into the world. Not every audience member is going to see the--they'll see the same ballet--but they won't necessarily get the same thing out of it. It kind of comes from where you're coming from or even the personal tastes that you have and how you feel about things. Certainly not everything is for everyone. And, a big thing with enjoying a piece is also just whatever mood you're in before you're going in to see it. And for me, whenever I'm an audience member, I always try to be really open to whatever I'm going to see, try to really understand and try to unpack for myself what potential meanings could be.  They can be all kinds of things that can be more literal or they can be very impressionistic. It's just like a mood-- it's kind of, it's hard to quantify all these things because part of the infinite nature of it is that it can be all of these different variations and it's hard to pinpoint them or classify them all.

[00:21:33] I talked about what I do as a dancer, but as an audience member, I love to just watch, try to understand, and I find a lot of joy just from unpacking what I can understand out of it, maybe debriefing about it with whoever I went to go see the show with or something like that. That to me, that's, that's my ideal night out, both participating in or watching and discussing it, both sides, I really like.

[00:21:57] Lindsey Dinneen: Thank you so much for those insights. Yeah. I just want to encourage people to have open conversations about art and to please ask questions. I can't speak for all artists universally, but I can certainly speak for myself and I think for Roman as well, and a lot of artists that we love curiosity. We would love to help answer any questions you have. So if something's unclear or you just are curious as to why we chose a certain element to what we do, I think most of us would love the opportunity to share more about our process, about what inspired us about why we made the choices that we did, because we are trying to be so intentional about the way that we create. And so having those honest conversations is really special.

[00:22:47] Roman Mykyta: And I could say the same thing for myself as well. As I said, nothing energizes me more than either performing, choreographing, or talking about it, or watching-- just to encourage dialogue, between audience member and performer or creator, I think that that is the best way to, to share and to, and just like this podcast, to share our meaningful encounters with art, and this podcast is such a good platform.

[00:23:17] Lindsey Dinneen: Thank you so much for that insight.  I just have a couple of questions for you to wrap this up. The first is how do you personally define art or what is art to you?

[00:23:30] Roman Mykyta: Art is ultimately a worldview. I'm sorry, I just want to be thoughtful and not leave anything out, but I think art starts with a worldview and it can be-- it's very intentional and it's very presentational and it's always a form of communication with the creator and the viewer. But where my head is now I kind of feel like art is everywhere around us, even just looking out the window. The art is within the worldview to be able to see anything and to give it meaning, and it can be good or bad meaning, but I personally always like the good meeting, and to just kind of commune with all of these things in our life, which are indicative of something which is truthful and, in my mind, truthful also goes with, goes along with good. I feel like art can be like that. There's that kind of statement--art is in the eye of the beholder. And I feel like that's--that can be true that art can just be a person's worldview and how they give meaning to the world.

[00:24:32] Lindsey Dinneen: Excellent. I love it. Okay, my second question is what do you think is the most important role of an artist?

[00:24:41] Roman Mykyta: Hmm. I think the most important role of an artist is to be truthful about reality and how they see it. And along with that, to be honest, that opens up a lot of different doors, whether being truthful and honest is being very joyful and expressing the beauty in life, or it can be expressing the pain that we all feel, and then the way you treat that, whether it's with humor, with seriousness or drama, I feel like there's a place for all of those things. I'm sensitive personally about not overloading audience with what's negative.

[00:25:18]It's really important to be honest, to be raw and to express pain, honestly, but in a way, I feel like we are so inundated by bad news, and just other dramas and political things that I almost feel like if we're so out of balance that way, I would encourage artists to-- it gives the audience a bread and life from the other side. 'Cause in my personal life, I feel like in the people who I know we need more of a goodness color and light than we need more anger, but ultimately it's important to just be honest and truthful.

[00:25:58] Lindsey Dinneen: My final question is, do you think art should be exclusive or inclusive? And I'll define that a little bit more: exclusive, meaning that the artist puts something out into the world and doesn't give a whole lot of context for it, whether that's not, you know, providing program notes or description or something like that. So you don't necessarily know the inspiration or the reasoning behind it. Versus inclusive, meaning that the artist gives you that context, tells you why they chose the colors that they did, or, or the particular movement pattern that they did or whatever. So kind of inviting you into that process. So you understand a little bit more of the artist's intention.

[00:26:42] Roman Mykyta: I definitely feel like I understand. For me, when I am presenting either in the performance or creator mode, I value being inclusive. I really, as I said, I personally just really like to dialogue. And so, whether it is a program notes or, giving an intro or just dialoguing with anyone who I'm currently working with, or anyone who has seen what I've done.

[00:27:09] And, you know, I'm always happy to talk about it because to me, the joy is in the dialogue. And I understand on the exclusive side, some people like to have the openness to variety of meanings and not to peg something down, so that people, audience members, can be free with their imagination. But I personally feel that even inclusive mold, you know, audience members can listen, but they can also still freely form their own opinion.

[00:27:38] I guess it depends on the personalities of individual people. Maybe some people, if they are given more insight, they're going to just stick with that and maybe not think about other things, and so preserving the exclusive mold just helps to keep that open, but I personally really like the inclusive mold. And even, in my experience, as an audience member with either the inclusive or the exclusive mold, I mean, I'm really hungry for the creator or the performer to give me their inclusive worldview. Even if I get that, I still freely form my own thoughts about something.   There could be a movie musical piece of music that the creator/performers shared their worldview and it might not be something that I completely understand or, even agree with. I personally think there's nothing lost with the inclusive mold and it's ultimately just great to have the dialogue.

[00:28:39] Lindsey Dinneen: Awesome. Well, thank you so much. That is really great insight. And I really appreciate your perspective about how dialogues about art can create so much more meaning to your encounters. And I think that that is so important. What stood out to me about what you said was you're talking about how having the inclusive mold does not mean that you can't take from it what you will anyway. Even if you have the context of what the artist originally intended doesn't mean that you can't also draw your own conclusions.

[00:29:13] And I think that's a really nice balance and I haven't heard it said like that before, so thank you for that. And I just want to say, in general, Roman, thank you so much for being on this podcast and thank you so much for your heart for art and your heart for the world. You help make the world a better place because you're willing to share your art as a dancer, choreographer, journalist. And I truly believe that in what you're doing, you're making the world a more beautiful, inclusive place. And I just want to say thank you for that, because I know I appreciate it personally, but I, I know that what you do does impact the world. So thank you for that.

[00:29:53]Roman Mykyta: Oh, my goodness. Thank you, Lindsey, so much.  That was such beautiful words. I'm just so honored and so thankful that I was invited to be a part of this podcast and I just think, we were talking about how meaningful dialogues are--this podcast, I think is so crucial in promoting that. And I cannot wait to hear all the more episodes from all the future guests that you will have. And just to be able to have that listening dialogue with all the other artists who you will have.

[00:30:29] Lindsey Dinneen: Thank you again so much, Roman, for joining me today. And thank you so much to all of our listeners who have tuned in. I hope you feel inspired and rejuvenated and ready to witness some art and have great conversations about it because that's what it's all about. If this episode particularly inspired you today, would you just share it with a friend or two who might also be inspired? And until then we will catch you next time.

[00:30:57] If you have a story to share with us, we would love that so much. And I hope your day has been Artfully Told.

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