Updates
The Program
The Ukrainian Dance Academy is a great way for children to experience Ukrainian culture, learn the history of the Ukrainian dance, build flexibility for other sports, leadership opportunities, and builds life-long friendships. It is comprised of classical ballet, character balle, and Ukrainian dance techniques.
Our instructional team of Catherine Wojcichowsky, Debbie Kachmar Potter, and Zhenia Bahri challenge our students to be the best they can be. Their collaborative knowledge has created a fantastic program for the students of St. Matthew.
Performances
Learning the steps and choreography is one of the skills of dancing, the other skill is performing. To develop this skill, our academy gives our students ample amount of opportunities to showcase their learnings. They perform at three categories of events: school, community and special events.
Students show their parents and family members what they have learned in their parent observation classes. Twice a year, family members can observe a full class and see what their children are learning. Also, our dance academy compliments school events by performing such as Open House, Christmas Concert, Year End Concerts etc.
Academy Staff
Debbie Kachmar Potter
In 1982, Debbie started teaching part time for the Two Hills Ukrainian Dancers, eventually leading to a full-time position in 1985. She has been teaching for 36 years and have taught over 15 groups in Alberta and many workshops around the world. She has many highlights over the years, but perhaps the biggest highlight was when she had the opportunity to teach a professional group in Hong Kong. She has attended many workshops from well-known instructors from Ukraine and Canada. She also attended classes in Lviv, Ukraine, which was a valuable learning experience. She studied Character Dance and Ballet from professional teachers from throughout the world.
She truly enjoys teaching students from 3 years old to adults. She is best known for her storylines, which she incorporates into her concerts. She danced with many professional groups like Cheremosh and Volya. She was also Assistant Artistic Director for Vohon Ukrainian Dance Ensemble for 13 years. She has had the opportunity to travel throughout the world with her dance involvement, places like; Australia, Scotland, Germany, Thailand, China, United States and all throughout Canada.
Kostiantyn Frolov
Kostiantyn Frolov brings a lifelong passion for dance, a deep connection to Ukrainian culture, and extensive professional training and performance experience to his teaching. He began dancing at age six with the Luhansk Folk Ensemble Zironka and later trained at the prestigious Pavlo Virsky Studio, where he studied Ukrainian folk dance, classical ballet, character dance, acrobatics, and acting. In 2010, he joined the renowned National Honored Academic Ensemble of Dance of Ukraine named after Pavlo Virsky as a ballet dancer and soloist, performing leading roles and showcasing exceptional artistry, athleticism, and stage presence. Kostiantyn graduated with honours in 2015 as a folk dance choreographer, instructor, and performer, and was awarded the title of Honored Artist of Ukraine in 2019 for his contributions to Ukrainian performing arts.
Passionate about developing young dancers, he has led workshops and master classes across Ukraine since 2018 and has also taught acrobatics to children and youth ages 4–19. His teaching focuses on building strong technique, confidence, discipline, coordination, and stage presence. Since immigrating to Canada in 2025, Kostiantyn has continued to share the richness of Ukrainian dance and culture with a new generation of dancers. Through his professional experience and dedication to teaching, he is committed to preserving Ukrainian dance traditions while inspiring students to grow in skill, confidence, and cultural pride.