Storytellers of their culture

St. Vital

The Maples

West Kildonan

Garden City

North End

When Rosemarie and Charlene Todaschuk take to the stage at Folklorama — and this year, it may well feel like they’re coming home.

The siblings, who perform as the Todaschuk Sisters, will be a star attraction at the Ukraine Kyiv pavilion, which will be located at Maples Collegiate (1330 Jefferson Ave.) during the first week of this year’s popular multicultural festival.

This year’s Folklorama will run from Aug. 2 to 15, and the Todaschuk Sisters will perform at each of the shows at the Ukraine Kyiv pavilion on Aug. 7, and will be sharing the stage with the Rusalka Ukrainian Dance Ensemble.

Raised in West Kildonan and Garden City, Rosemarie and Charlene have been performing for an audience, consistently, as long as they can remember.

“We started performing at school, and we were always in musicals in elementary and high school. We did lots of entertaining,” Rosemarie, who lives in St. Vital, said.

As well, the siblings – who both attended Garden City Collegiate – appeared on stage in traditional Ukrainian outfits with their mother at the Ukrainian pavilion at the first-ever Folklorama in 1970.

“Our involvement with the pavilion began in its very first year with Folklorama, when Charlene and I had the pleasure of modelling Ukrainian embroidered costumes and fashions and demonstrating the art of writing pysanky,” Rosemarie said, noting the excitement the sisters felt when they used to take the stage as youngsters and share their culture with the community.

“Over the next few years, we performed Ukrainian dance duets on stage, and then in the late 1970s, we began singing together as a sisters duo. As you grow older, you realize the remarkable power multiculturalism has on you … when the community comes together, and there’s a strong presence of Ukrainians under one roof.”

Rosemarie said the sisters are fourth-generation Canadians — their maternal ancestors arrived in Canada in 1898 and their paternal ancestors in 1902. As girls, they loved looking through old trunks that arrived on Canadian shores with their descendants that contained “costumes, beads, icons, and religious artifacts.”

“I can always remember opening a trunk as a child, and exploring my passion to continue sharing our culture,” she recalled.

Charlene said some of the songs the sisters sing have deep-rooted themes that reflect their heritage.

“These are songs of hope, acceptance, love, and suffering,” Charlene, who lives in Montreal, Que. “This is how we make a connection with people.”

“It’s about breaking down barriers — discovering yourselves and discovering each other. In our performances, we feel like we’re sharing our culture, and Folklorama is a vehicle for that. We really are storytellers of our culture. Folklorama offers a unique opportunity to create communities that contribute to the cultural fabric of our country, and promote cultural understanding,” she added.

On top of performing together, Rosemarie — in particular — and Charlene both perform in jazz ensembles, and Charlene is also “an amazing visual artist,” her sister said.

Anyone familiar with the family name might remember the Todaschuk Sisters’ Ukrainian Boutique on Selkirk Avenue, which their mother, Sylvia, ran for years. Sylvia also held various roles within the Folklorama organization.

Go online at folklorama.ca or rosemarietodaschuk.com for more information.