Folk costume is a basic element of Ukrainian culture and craft, closely tied with its whole history. The Barvinok Ukrainian Ensemble demonstrates authentic folk costume - distinguishing itself through its originality and the wealth of regional variations when they perform at Tucson Meet Yourself.
The Ukrainian costume is a genuine encyclopedia of the people's creativity. In it are synthesized the folk arts of weaving, style, sewing, adornment of embroidery, appliqué, and trimming.
Traditional dress in Ukraine shows a high degree of sophistication, elegance, and artistry. For centuries scholars of ethnography and folklore have collected and studied Ukrainian folk costumes. Art historians have paid much attention to the highly artistic embroidery that is a fundamental element of folk costume.
Ethnic Ukrainians make up more than seven-tenths of the total population of about fifty million people.
The Ukrainian language is related to Russian and Belarussian and belongs to the Slavic group of languages. Russians are the largest minority group, accounting for about two-tenths of the population.
Other ethnic minorities of varying sizes are Belarussian, Moldavians, Poles, Bulgarians, Jews, Greeks, Tartars, and others. The highest population densities are found in the industrialized Donets Basin and Dnipro Bend regions and in the agriculturally productive forest-steppe belt. |
