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Local Ukrainians join World Dance for Humanity troupe in Saturday’s Celebration

Source: Janet Reineck for World Dance for Humanity

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, local nonprofit World Dance for Humanity (WD4H) has raised nearly $200,000 toward relief efforts. The donations have been wired directly to Rivne and Lviv through the Ukrainian church in Goleta, which is helping refugees fleeing the conflict through their sister churches.

This week, the donations are going to three churches in Lviv that are providing food and medicine to 100 wounded soldiers, including amputee victims.

On Tuesday, World Dance received news that Ukrainians from the Santa Barbara community will be joining them in Saturday’s Solstice Parade.

For the past month, 50 World Dancers, ages 22 to 88, have been practicing for the parade. In addition to music like “Dancing in the Street” and “Walking on Sunshine,” which reflect this year's parade theme, “Shine,” their playlist includes a Ukrainian song that honors the people of that war-torn country.

“We’ve been dancing to Ukrainian music ever since the war started — about 80 tunes, folk to pop to lyrical ballads. For the Solstice Parade, we’ll be dancing to ‘Stefania’ by the Ukrainian group Kalush. It’s a powerful song with a poignant message,” said Janet Reineck, World Dance executive director.

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In May, Ukraine won the Eurovision Song Competition with "Stefania," a folk-rock-lullaby. After winning, Kalush immediately turned around and sold the coveted trophy for $900,000 to buy drones for the Ukrainian army.

The World Dancers hope that when people lining the Santa Barbara Street parade route see Ukrainian flags and hear “Stefania,” they share in this experience of solidarity and support.

WD4H offers dance classes six days a week, giving women of all ages and abilities a chance to connect with each other and with the world.

At their weekly beach class, held next to the bike path at Chase Palm Park, they put out small donation baskets decorated with sunflowers and Ukrainian flags. Whenever someone drops money into one of the baskets, the dancers break into cheers of appreciation.

After their Saturday classes at the beach, World Dancers perform Ukrainian dances on State Street in support of the Ukrainian Women of Santa Barbara who offer a bake sale there each week.

In addition to responding to current events around the globe, the nonprofit World Dance for Humanity continues its work in Rwanda, where they have been helping 13,000 Genocide survivors build new lives since 2013.

To learn more, visit www.WorldDanceforHumanity.org. 

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