Regina sisters embrace Ukrainian dancing at Mosaic and Japanese language at home

Florence Hwang · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 06, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: June 6

This communicative is portion of a bid from CBC Saskatchewan featuring four stories from the 15 pavilions that are portion of Mosaic 2025. For more, sojourn our Mosaic home page.

When assemblage members ticker the Ukrainian dancers astatine this year's Mosaic festival, they whitethorn beryllium forgiven for assuming that the dancers each talk conscionable English oregon Ukrainian.

But Kiko and Maya Malnyk person the heritages they've inherited from both their parents — learning Ukrainian people dances from their father's broadside and speaking Japanese with their Japanese-born mother.

"I sometimes deliberation that possibly I'm a small spot peculiar …because not a batch of radical are conscionable portion Japanese and portion Ukrainian," 11-year-old Kiko said.

That's thing their parent said she tries to get her 2 daughters to recognize and appreciate.

"I conscionable support telling them that they're lucky. They're conscionable fortunate that they person truthful galore opportunities to learn," said Izumi Kanayama, adding they get to turn up successful Canada and effort things similar Ukrainian dancing, but besides get regular opportunities to sojourn her ain location state of Japan. 

The girls' father, Chris Malnyk, has besides seen however divers the Ukrainian dancers are, bringing unneurotic radical who don't needfully person Ukrainian ethnicity oregon background.

"There's rather a fewer radical from Japan who are progressive successful it, astatine slightest 3 families," said Malnyk, adding that helium could perceive Japanese spoken astatine rehearsals astatine times.

"It's truly benignant of unsocial and not what I would person expected going to a Ukrainian creation school. It's been multi-ethnic." 

A blending of cultures

Kanayama was calved and raised successful Japan before coming to Canada successful 1995 to larn English and staying connected to survey economics. It was astatine the University of Regina that she met her husband through communal friends.

She exclusively speaks Japanese with her daughters truthful that they tin pass with their Japanese grandparents and extended family. 

"When they were little, I was conscionable speaking to them successful Japanese only. So we didn't bash overmuch penning oregon work that much, but past they conscionable picked it up," Kanayama said.

In summation to their Ukrainian dancing, some girls be Japanese connection classes connected Saturdays, and adjacent beryllium to devour meals astatine a kotatsu, the accepted debased table.

"We usually devour accepted Japanese food," said Kiko. "I truly similar it."

Both parents consciousness that their children are fortunate to beryllium capable to spot and clasp some sides of their taste heritage. Kanayama said she wants her children to spot it gives them opportunities different radical whitethorn not have, and volition assistance them go benignant and productive humans.

"I'm conscionable hoping that exploring a antithetic civilization volition bring richness to their lives."