Stahlke Adoption

Beginning of an Era

Our adoption training always emphasized the importance of the child’s ethnic and religious culture. To my amazement, some of our adoption books even recommended changing to churches of the same denomination as the children’s background. Since our two younger boys will no longer attend Ukrainian school, we’ve sought another way for them to connect with their birth culture.

Yesterday, part of our family attended a performance by the Ukrainian School of Dance, which caters to children through grade 12. Next fall, we’ll enroll David and Kola. Hopefully, they’ll get some language reinforcement along with the physical exercise.

For boys, Ukrainian dancing includes very difficult moves and a certain amount of gymnastics. Think of Russian dancing, with kicking near the floor and flips across the stage. This type of dancing originated with the Cossacks (warriors from the 15th to the 18th centuries), who were actually Ukrainian, not Russian. One of the boys' dances yesterday entailed a mock sword fight.

David and Kola gazed in rapt attention, barely sitting on the edge of their seats.

posted by Stahlkes @ 1:32 PM