Rain of Revolution: Ruslana, The Orange Revolution and Euromaidan.
While I have always loved Wild Dances by Ruslana, the Ukrainian Eurovision winner from 2004, I had no idea how fascinating her story was until I heard it from the folks at Europhoria. They tell the story on their podcast much better than I could here.
Ruslana performing at the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest in Istanbul.
It served as the inspiration behind this unit, in which I take my students on a journey through the intriguing world of 21st century Ukrainian politics, something I don’t think any of them expected when they signed up for my class.
“Ten years have passed since my win in the Eurovision Song Contest, but a few months of the Ukrainian revolution have changed me and all Ukrainians more than these ten years. I don’t feel ready to produce new albums or singles now. Today, I am person who would like to protect the Ukrainian image by public events and speeches. Today I am not ready to sing and dance, even if my dance is wild and brave.”
