Episode 1 | For the Love of Our Character Shoes

Wearing a heeled shoe in Ukrainian dance has always sort of been a right of passage — it’s a step up from slippers in your younger years and the gateway to what comes next: the red boot.

In this episode, we share how our character shoes — and how our own characters — evolved during the year we spent dancing in Ukraine, training with the country’s top folk ensembles.

What else you’ll hear

  • Where to buy the best Ukrainian dance shoes

  • What it’s like dancing with Ukraine’s top ensembles

  • How dance classes are structured in Ukraine

Resources

Music

  • A big thanks to Joryj Kłoc for letting us use “Poltavśkyj Sotnyk” as Vsi’s theme song

Prefer the written word? Want to see a pic of our beloved shoes? Read our blog post version of this episode at vsi-ukr.com/blog/charactershoes.