RUSSIAN DANCE

привет! yes, that's hello in russian (according to google translator). Today's topic would be on Russian Folk Dance. For those who have had done ballet before, you might have had a taste of it before. The "character" section of the graded Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) syllabus was inspired by the strong russian accent in dance. Here is a video of the 2009 Chingay Parade, Eurasian Association contingent performing "Eurasiana!" I'm somewhere in the video:) ENJOY!

A variation of Russian Dance, Eurasiana!

A little history of Russian Dance...

Traditional Russian dance date a long way back and to historians, they think that elements of this dance form was derrived from workers who stretched to keep themselves warm. This form of dance is still kept a vital part of the Russian culture because it is customary that Russian dukes have performers perform for them routinely.

Today I will introduce a variety of russian folk dances.

what's this picture of horses on sleighs for?!

(IMAGE BY GOOGLE)

Troika

By definition, "Troika" means sleigh. Troika involves two women and one man imitating horses as they pull along their sleighs. It follows a fast to slow, and then back to fast again, rhythm. The dance is made up of quick moving steps where dancers jump from one foot to another very swiftly on the spot. The ballet "Nutcracker", performed by many dance troupe was first inspired by Troika! If you are actually interested in how Troika is done, or you want to get a feel of it, you can try looking up this site:)

Barynya
Barynya, meaning landlady, is a russian folk dance that combines both poetry and spirited dancing. The dance does not have a set of choreography. The whole dance consists of fancy stomping and squatting. According to this site, The refrain "Barynya, barynya, sudarynya-barynya" (landlady, landlady, madam-landlady), is also typically repeated throughout the course of the dance.

(IMAGE BY GOOGLE)

Khorovod
Khorovod is a very popular type of Russian folk dance performed by young girls. Its is danced in a round shape which is believed to symbolise the sun or and eternal circle of life. People form a circle and move from east to west, just like the sun do! These steps are related to ancient pagan rites and slavic festivals when the people worshiped the God of Sun, Yarilo. Khorovod is danced to display Russian's national character - joyfulness, creativity and enthusiasm. It is considered a symbol of beauty. Khorovod feels something like an impromtu dance. Kharovod usually starts off with  2 or 3 girls humming a tune and then some boys come in as accompaniment and then after some time, they join hands and dance in a cricle. As Khorovod is a way for young Russian girls to attract young men or their future husbands, parents more than one daughters usually do not allow their young daughters to do the dance. It is believed that the eldest should be given more priority to chosing a husband. For a heavier read of Khorovod, you might want to look up this site to read on. They give a greater insight to this dance, like how it varies from region to region, how the dance take place in different seasons, the different types of Khorovod and much more!


 That sums up today's sharing on Russian Dances! Come back for more next week:)
P/S: thank you google for your pictures!!!