There are people’s fates that reflect the events of an entire era like a documentary newsreel.
JANNA AND VLADIMIR CHALKEVITCH are contemporaries, witnesses, participants and creators of the era associated with the development of ballroom dancing and its international recognition.
In the mid-90s, when ballroom dancing was at the end of its long journey to be recognized by the International Olympic Committee as a dance sport, Janna and Vladimir Chalkevitch were invited to work to “spread the “international style” in North America.
In those years, this continent danced mostly the American style, and the international 10-dance program was a privilege only of the “big cities.” With great enthusiasm, Janna and Vladimir Chalkevitch (their surname was translated into English as Chalkevitch, which at first stung a little), began to “raise the virgin soil” in a new place.
At first they worked in a small town of Lesbridge, Alberta and were pioneers in the popularization of the International Program in the region. There was much that was new, surprising and incomprehensible.They were the only Russian-speaking family in that town. There was a special interest in them. All the TV centers in the city invited them to programs and talk shows. Sometimes there were presenters who asked “tricky” questions, but the sincerity of their answers simply discouraged the presenter and everything turned into a fun joke. Janna and Vladimir also did not understand the new mentality, sometimes it seemed that the world was turned upside down, they really had a culture shock.
Thanks to the students, among whom were mostly Europeans, the Chalkevitch were gradually adapting to their new life, and the shock disappeared. The Canadian students had once walked this path themselves, and they taught Janna and Vladimir to understand that it was normal for children in schools to eat on the floor, they were so comfortable that the person said: “I’ll call” and never called is a polite form of answering “no”… and many other everyday social things had to be understood and accepted. In professional work, it turned out that the explanation “the quality of dancing” was not perceived as a correct word regarding ballroom dancing at all, so the Canadian people very kindly said that they – Janna and Vladimir – are engineers and they have insufficient English, so they express themselves that way.
After the first year, staying true to themselves, Janna and Vladimir organized their own show competition. For this event they invited a live Latin American music orchestra from the provincial capital . About 600 kilometers the musicians traveled to see the “crazy Russians” – and they were not disappointed. The city was literally shaken by the news – no one had ever seen such enthusiasm.
Local newspapers, magazines, radio, and television swarmed over Janna and Vladimir again; they were recognized on the streets, invited to speak at various events, and they were written about in newspapers and magazines. Radio and television people came to interview them and their students.
Gradually, Janna and Vladimir educated their students, mature and successful people, in respect for dance technique, “basics,” the basics, the musicality and expressiveness of each dance. This made them even more popular and recognized by the public. People would say among themselves, “You know who our teachers are? A Russian couple!” With special emphasis on the word “Russian.”
One day, one of the very respected people in this town, in a private conversation with Janna, said: “Our propaganda showed Russian women fat, with one tooth in their mouth and with ‘grandmother’ on their head, and you came here so intelligent and beautiful…” He pronounced the word “grandmother” in Russian, referring to the scarf tied in a peculiar way, as in folkloric Russian costumes.
Thus passed the everyday life and adaptation to the new unexplored life, full of knowledge and reflection. Students joined the studio, there were enthusiasts who came to their “lunch break” – lunchtime – to practice the Vienna Waltz or Quickstep instead of the gym. These workouts were especially in demand. And then there were students who became interested in competitions, a competition group was organized.
In 1998, at a contest in Calgary, Janna received the award “TOP FEMALE TEACHER” – “Best Female Teacher”.
Children’s dance did not exist at that time in the region where Janna and Vladimir worked. In their studio there were only children of those parents and grandparents who had studied with the Chalkevitch themselves and this was very pleasant for them, because there was a family continuity and the first dancing families appeared in Lesbře.
Another interesting discovery for Janna and Vladimir was that it is very traditional and popular in Canada to give girls to ballet and boys to hockey. Ballet studios were so popular that from birth parents of girls registered their babies for ballet.
In addition to their professional work, Janna and Vladimir did a great deal of community work, organizing charitable events to support the local hospital and library. To be even more helpful to the city, Janna and Vladimir were members of the Chamber of Commerce and this influential organization played a big role in the life of the city, solving problematic issues in construction, education, interaction with other business and social structures. It was a wonderful language and life experience for Janna and Vladimir.
The Chalkevitch children Irina and Alex danced together at first, helped their parents in the studio and performed at the competitions: at one of them, after their successful performance, the announcer announced that in all his experience at competitions he had never seen such a young couple with such a high level of dance. It was a pleasant surprise in addition to the first place in the competition. The kids grew up and each chose their own future path. Alex went to study in Montreal, Quebec, and Irina stayed in Alberta, Edmonton …
And this is a new chapter in the book of life of the Chalkevitch family.
