Looking Back: Tasha Kanasevich

The following is an excerpt from the April 3, 2000 edition of the West Central Crossroads. The headline was “Tasha has danced around the world”, and many people in the area are familiar with Tash Kanasevich, who is originally from Eatonia.

Tasha Kanasevich has toured California with the Absolutely Shumka tour and was chosen twice as one of the 14 dancers from the Ukrainian Shumka Dancers to tour Ontario and the U.S. with the Kyiv Ballet of Ukraine, performing The Nutcracker - A Ballet Fantasy.

Tasha Kanasevich, originally from Eatonia toured western Canada performing “Shumka’s Cinderella” in 2000.

“I love getting on the stage and performing for people,” she says. “It’s a big pay off for all the hard work - (and) it is a lot of hard work.”

Kanasevich has been teaching dancing in Edmonton for four years now - 11 in total, throughout Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta - and was the artistic director of the Shumka School of Dance from 1997 to 1999. Nowadays, she’s teaching Ukrainian dancing at the Shumka School, plus R.A.D., ballet, character and national at the Edmonton School of Ballet and Vimy Ridge Academy Dance Program.

“We have a lot of fun together,” she says of her and her students.

Currently Kanasevich is taking another slight break from teaching and is touring western Canada with Shumka’s Cinderella production. The tour, which began on March 2, will perform 32 shows in 21 centres to an anticipated audience of more than 60,000.

As for which Kanasevich likes more - teaching or dancing - she says, they’re both fun and go hand in hand.

After this Shumka tour is finished, she’ll continue to teach in Edmonton, but likes to come home to Eatonia and see her folks as often as she can.