Relatively new on the international Ukrainian dance scene, Melbourne’s Lehenda has been building its reputation since 2014 under Artistic Director Melanie Moravski Dechnicz, growing into a 40-strong company that performs everything from the ancient Vesnianky spring rituals to the tragic legend of the Rusalky. “We dance to tell a narrative,” Dechnicz has said of the company’s approach, framing performance as a way of carrying Ukrainian history and identity forward rather than simply reproducing steps.
That storytelling instinct shows in the company’s branding, too — its logo depicts Lybid, one of the legendary founders of Kyiv, rendered through ribbon-like motion lines meant to evoke a Kozak in flight, a fitting image for a diaspora company connecting Australian dancers back to Ukrainian legend. Beyond performances at festivals, weddings and community events, Lehenda runs a youth school as a pipeline into the main company, offers strength and conditioning programs built by an in-house physiotherapist and Pilates instructor, and delivers an in-school cultural program aligned with the Australian curriculum — introducing students to Ukrainian geography, regional dance styles and costume, with a hands-on dance component included.
For a company barely a decade old, Lehenda has already built something with real staying power — a growing repertoire, an expanding school, and a community of dancers, past and present, still finding their way back to the studio long after their competitive years are behind them.
