Brief Info
Age Group: Young Adults
Proficiency Level: Pre-Intermediate/Intermediate
Language Points: Dance and Music Vocabulary, Brief Cultural History, Interrogatives, Comparative and Superlative Adjectives
Proficiency Level: Pre-Intermediate/Intermediate
Language Points: Dance and Music Vocabulary, Brief Cultural History, Interrogatives, Comparative and Superlative Adjectives
Kalinka (A Russian Folk Dance)
Russian Folk Dance History
The Russian folks dance is stated in the ancient script “About Country of Moravia,” which talks about rafts on lakes where young Russian people used them for social gatherings as shown by the dancers having a good time by singing and dancing in a circle (dancing “Khorovods”). However, the first official record of Russian dancing was in the year 907 when the Great Russian Prince Oleg (Vechshiy Oleg) celebrated his victory over the Greeks in Kiev (the capital city of Ukraine in the present day). During the gala dinner 16 male dancers dressed as bears and four bears dressed as Russian dancers performed for the guests.
When the Grand Prince of Kiev, Sviatopolk II Iziaslavich, died in the year 1113 there was a lot of chaos, which started with looting, violent, riots and massacres. During that time, mason Petro Preesyadka did not go with the swindlers to loot shops and houses. Usually Preesyadka spends all day working hard, often in a squatting position with heavy stones and instruments in his strong hardened hands. Also every evening after work he would go walking on Khreschatyk (Kiev’s Broadway). After having some wines and Kalatch (bagels), he started jumping up trying to release tension in his tired legs. His strange dance was seen by Rus Vlaidmir Monomakh, who at that time was invited to Kiev to stop the chaos. After seeing the jumping motions by Preesyadka, the dance moves were named after him. Many years later, “Preesyadka-dance” (knee-bending) has become very fashionable in a prosperous city of Kiev and the most famous moves of the Russian dance.
Tricks and Moves of the Russian Folk Dance
It is common in the Western World to consider the jumps and mimics of the tradition Russian dance to be the result of cold weather of Russia, thus used to try and get warm. However, most of Russian holidays come in the fall and in the winter after the end of the agricultural work and the fun would begin with a prayer, followed by a large amount of food and drink, singing and dancing, and then sometimes ending with a fist fight called “wall against wall” (stenka na stenku). According to some experts, extreme dancing in a cold weather was an optimum case of continuing fun outside.
The Russian Folk Dance Then and Now
After the Russian Civil War (1917-1922) had ended, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics government, under the leadership of Igor Moiseyev, organized the first stated funded ensembleof the Russian folk dancers in 1937. Moiseyev laid the foundation of the classic dance for the improvisationand joy of folklore. This idea was successful since the West loved it and, today, the ensemble is fantastically popular. The performances, tricks, and ideas of this dance company are used by almost all the choreographersin the world.
Kalinka Dance
Kalinka (Калинка) originated as a Russian song written in 1860 by the composer and folklorist Ivan Laringov. The song had simple lyrics and a speedy tempo; therefore it soon became popular along with the knee-bending dance of Preesyadka. Since then, the dance of Preeyadka has been well-known as Kalinka.
Like any other traditional dance, Kalinka shows the Russian cultural values through its fast and agilemovements, upbeatrhythms, and beautiful costumes, especially for women. Although Kalinka is not practiced among Russian people in daily life, it became famous nationally and internationally as an icon of Russian dance. The Russian folk dance has also gained popularity in the U.S. after the reality television program So You think You Can Dance included one of the traditional dances in the program in 2008.