My Kupala


Vladyslava bondar

When I meet people and they hear about what I do and what Kupala is, they sometimes ask ‘So, why did you get involved in Kupala?’ There are so many reasons why.

My Grandparents' Village

Meet the biggest reason – the village of Trubaitsi, where my mum is from and where I celebrated Kupala as a child, in Poltava oblast, central Ukraine. Surrounded by a forest, a river, meadows and cherry trees, it was a perfect place for everything folkloric, and a perfect place for me to experience village childhood in my grandparents' house.

A Free Space

As you can see, Trubaitsi village has very beautiful nature. Part of it is a boloto, a wetland, that surrounds the village on one side, and that you can see from my grandparents' yard. I used to spend a lot of time there just wandering around, enjoying the free space, the sound of the reeds, the beautiful sky, the birds, frogs, flowers and wild village mosquitoes.

My Spirit Friends

When I was a child, my favourite form of escapism was thinking about Trubaitsi and the boloto, and about how when I grew up I would make friends with rusalkas and other folkloric spirits that, I imagined, lived in the boloto. I imagined us being such good friends that I would be allowed into their territory behind the reeds, and that they would even babysit my kids.

Where We Swam

On another side, Trubaitsi is surrounded by the Khorol river and meadows. This area is called Kupalnia, from the word 'to bathe’, and me and my friends went there every summer to swim in the river. It's very likely that back in the old days, our great-grandparents celebrated Kupala there, placing flower crowns on the water and jumping over the fire. That’s right, they celebrated Kupala in Kupalnia.

Our Childhood Kupala

I myself have celebrated Kupala since I was little. That night, every year, all the people of the village gathered together and I joined them. I always knew that my two best friends Zhenia and Andrii would be waiting for me in their house, so we could run to the Kupala site at the other end of the village together. The celebration started with a talent show show for kids in which we usually took part, because Zhenia was very talented, I was very adventurous and Andrii basically had no choice!

Kupala Night In Trubaitsi

Then there were folk songs and food. Adults sang and danced, and children and teenagers put flower crowns on the water and gazed at the enormous fire, not daring to jump through it.

The Woman I Wanted To Be

The woman who organised and led the celebration when I was a child was Pasha Ivanivna, the deputy director of the village club, and my little self was absolutely in awe of her. You could really see her passion and drive and skills, and how the evening was something she deeply cared about. At that time, if I was asked whom I wanted to be, I replied ‘a teacher’, while a part of me was thinking ‘Pasha Ivanivna’.

Dances With Spirits

I was also a dancer, and our team learned lots of stage folk dances and performed them at festivals. Of course, my favourite ones were our Kupala routines. When I was little, in winter I would sit at home in my parents' village daydreaming about summer, Trubaitsi, the boloto and what routines I could choreograph for rusalkas and other folkloric spirits when I finally got to be friends with them.

The Women Who Created Kupala

So why did I get involved in Kupala? Well, how could I not get involved in Kupala? But a huge part of my Kupala was created and organised for me and other kids by women who didn't actually have their own Kupalas when they were young. because Kupala almost disappeared in Soviet times. Now, as an adult woman myself, sharing that midsummer magic with kids, I am more interested than ever in those women’s Kupala stories, of how they managed to save Kupala and pass it on to us.