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ABOUT US: Power of Spirit Society Corporation is a non-profit (IRS Section 501(c)(3)) organization with the purpose to serve community through the educational and cultural programs, through arts such as theater, music, arts and crafts, exhibits, shows, and dance in order to preserve Ukrainian and other nations traditions. Story, Directed and Produced by Dana and Roman Loun. Creative Director and Costume Designer - Dana Loun. Since time immemorial there has been a tradition that during the Christmas holidays people go carolling and take part in special Christmas plays known as "Vertep." The ensemble was organized by Roman and Dana Loun of Philadelphia, who wrote, designed and produced a theatrical Christmas play called "Peace and Joy to Your Home" that combines elements of the traditional costumed "vertep" caroling group format with what Ukrainian Americans recognize as a "Mykolaiko" program, with St. Nicholas and his angels bearing gifts for good children. The play interwines segments of Christian and Ukrainian history with Ukrainian Christmas traditions and carols. Roman and Dana Loun are the founders of "Power of Spirit Society Corporation." Their involvement with organizing verteps goes back to 1989 in Ukraine, when Roman Loun suggested having a nation-wide vertep competition. As it turned out, his group from Lviv came out on top in the Kyiv finals. Mr. and Mrs. Loun have been working on Christmas programs in the United States since 1996. In 2002 the preparation work for a vertep on a grander scale, including the designing and sewing of costumes, went on throughout the year, and culminated in their first debut performance on December 19, 2003 at the United Nations, New York. Their love of art, culture, and ukrainian traditions did not stop there. Since 2005, Power of Spirit Society Corporation has also attracted its young members to become active art school students under the supervision and guidance of their teacher and mentor Dana Loun. Dana Loun is a member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine (since 1989), a cofounder of the Power of Spirit/Syla Dukhu Society in Philadelphia and head of art studio for children. She designed costumes for the Derzhteleradio Ukrayiny organization and for the ballet of the Zhovtnevy Palas in Ukraine; she has done other similar commissions. In 1991, she took part in the Autumnal Salon in Paris. In the years from 1992 to 2002 she showed her decorative art work, including mosaics and dresses, at exhibitions held at the Ukrainian Culture Centers in Toronto, Canada; Washington DC; Philadelphia, Chicago and New York, USA; her works can be found in private collections of Ukraine, USA and Canada. Roman Loun is a representative of the Ukrainian Cultural Fund in the USA and Canada (since 1991), a cofounder of the Power of Spirit/Syla Dukhu Society; he is a recipient of an honorary title of the Merited Artist of Ukraine. The Ukrainian Cultural Fund was established in 1987; Mr. Loun was the organizer and initiator of a number of charity events (Rode Nash Krasny; Shchedry vechir; Chervonal Kalyna, to name but a few), concerts, shows and exhibitions in Ukraine, Canada, the USA and France. In 1993, he organized the transfer of the archives of Ulas Samchuk from Toronto to Kyiv, and in 1997 he organized the transfer and delivery of the archives of the Government of Ukraine in exile from Philadelphia to Kyiv. In 1999 and in 2000 he organized the participation of "The Princess of Ukraine" at the popular Annual American Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC, USA. Roman and Dana Loun are coauthors of the Christmas book for children Ukrayinsky Vertep (published in Toronto in 1991) and of the book "Ukrayintsi kolyaduyut v Amerytsi" published in Lviv in 2003. In 2002-2009 the Louns staged shows Peace and Joy to Your Home and Ukrainian Christmas in America. Power of Spirit Society Corporation's
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