Some were amazed by the flying feet of the dancers; others thought that the pierogies were flying off the platters nearly as quickly - maybe both were happening, and nearly at the same time as hundreds gathered at the Ukrainian Homestead in Lehighton to celebrate the 22nd commemoration of Ukrainian independence from the Soviet Union.

On Saturday and Sunday, the Organization for the Rebirth of Ukraine, one of the oldest Ukrainian community organizations in the United States, ran its festival "to promote Ukrainian culture, tradition, language, and anything that deals with our rich culture," said organization president Alexander Prociuk.He explained that the central organization in the U.S. was founded in 1927, and that the Homestead was founded in 1957."We are celebrating our heritage with dancing, singing, and with traditional foods, said his wife, Ulana Prociuk. "Traditional Ukrainian foods include: pierogies - dough filled with potato and cheese, haluski - noodles mixed with sauerkraut, kielbasa - smoked pork sausage served with fried cabbage, borscht - beet soup served with sour cream, and halupki - cabbage stuffed with rice and ground beef.""The festival helps us carry on the Ukrainian traditions," noted Homestead administrator Lesia Stecyna. "My parents came over in 1949 and I was raised in America. They taught us Ukrainian language. They were learning English while we were learning Ukrainian. The Homestead is a place where people can practice speaking Ukrainian as part of a close-knit community."A special feature at this year's festival was an exhibition of Ukrainian children's stories set forth in panoramas with animated characters dressed in ethnic Ukrainian costumes."The stories teach the lessons of life," said Andrij Chornodolsky, who designed and built the exhibits with his wife, Luba. "We do this to get children and parents interested in reading these stories because they leave a lasting memory."Four panoramas were on exhibit. One illustrated a Ukrainian folk tale about a father who planted a turnip that grew so large that he was unable to pull it out. "He called his wife, then his daughter, dog, cat and finally it is when the mouse showed up that the turnip came out of the ground," Chornodolsky explained. "Storytelling is about having a good time and leaving a memory."Paula Holoviak of the Festival committee and Andrij Dobriansky of the Dobriansky Brothers Ukrainian singers hosted the main show - there were four shows, two each day.Holoviak's Kazka Dance Troupe, the resident dance company with about 30 members, opened and closed each stage show, and used their talent to create the energetic production numbers. For each set, they performed different dances.They opened with a Welcome Dance which concluded with an offering of bread or cake to the audience. This was followed by a mountain region Bukovinian dance. They concluded each shows with the national dance of the Ukraine, the Hopak."Ukrainian dances are similar to other Eastern European folk dances in that there is a a lot of emphasis on circle formations," explained Holoviak. "It is fast-paced, and it has developed, in the way we perform it, to become more of an art form.""It requires a fair amount of training and it is geared toward an audience. It is very athletic for the women and the men - particularly for men. We do barre training based on ballet. Everyone knows the classic step, the prysiudy, when the men dance in a sitting position."Traditional dances are accompanied to the sounds of the violin, bandura, drums, tambourine, hammer dulcimer, and a variety of pipes."I enjoy working with the teens and the young people," Holoviak said. "They love to dance. They came for Dance Camp for two solid six-hour days."Also on the stage show were: six dancers with the Barbarocin Dance Company from New York City, violinist Innesa Tymochko-Dekajlo, and three of the four-member Dobriansky Brothers quartet from New York City.