With COVID-19 restrictions in the rearview mirror, a community member is doing their best to bring a dance group back to the city.

The Portage Vesna Ukrainian Dancers were a part of Portage for a long time, but they had to dissolve due to COVID-19. Now, director Helene Lucko says they’re ready to get back on the dance floor.

“It's a very energetic and flamboyant art form, but it's very disciplined and it does a lot of really good cardio,” explains Lucko. “It's a really good mixed, fun medium of showcasing and learning about a culture and being able to display it.”

She mentions that she initially joined the Vesna Ukrainian Dancers in the early 90s. The director says the group would showcase their dancing around the community, along with performances at care homes.

She mentions it wasn’t until this past summer that the idea was sparked for the group to return.

“There was a heritage event at the Fort la Reine Museum this summer for displaced Ukrainians,” notes Lucko. “I was approached, I threw (the idea) out and we actually got a really good group of alumni to perform and I thought, ‘Let's see if we can get the community interest back up.’”

She hopes that Ukrainian newcomers in the region use it as a way to become more included in the community.

They hold rehearsals on Mondays with the first group, which would be for children ages 5-10, practicing from 6 p.m. to 7. The second group, which would be for youth ages 10 and up, would practice from 7 to 8. Rehearsals will be held at the Prairie Fusion Arts & Entertainment dance studio.