Russian squat dance. Folk dance movements

They have always been distinguished by their diversity and vibrancy. Behind big gap time, created a large number of various dance moves. They were honed over the years and passed on from generation to generation.

Folk dance movements were closely connected with the way of life of the Russian people. Quite often in dancing various squats, stomps and claps are used. Footwork is very active. Great importance attached to hand movement.

Folk dance movements, are separately divided into male and female elements. Men's movements are very different from women's movements. For men, dance expresses strength and power. Women are more dignified and smooth.

Male elements of folk dance:

• "Flappers."
• "Pendulum".
• "Squats."

« Firecrackers are one of the most common dance elements. This different combination, both blows and claps. When performing these movements, the elbows are moved away from the body. Palms are tense. The blows are made on the thighs, the boot and the sole. Some blows land reverse side palms. Claps are clapping hands. After them, the hands are spread in different directions.

« Pendulum - done on one leg. Like a pendulum, the leg swings “from the knee” back - forward or left - right. The second one is standing still. A more effective “pendulum” is obtained with a jump.

« Squats" - is one of the most complex elements V men's dance. It requires systematic training. Great endurance, strong leg muscles and knee ligaments, good physical training. “Squats” are divided into two types: full squats and half-squats.

Basic movements in women's folk dance:

• "Christmas tree"
• "seizures".
• "pickers".

« Herringbone - performed smoothly in a circle, with rotation around an axis in different directions. Leg movements are complemented by various arm movements.

“Picking” is a turn of the body on one leg, hitting the floor with the heel of the other. It can be performed both with and without a jump.

« Falls" - are performed with small steps forward or to one side. Movements are smooth. Sometimes they are done on the spot, with a slow full turn, up to eight “falls” per turn.

« Fractions” - performed together by men and women. The performers show their dexterity, skill, tenderness, and character. “Fractions” are one of the most common movements in Russian dance. A “shot” can be a single blow, a strong kick to the floor, or a path of blows. They consist of various combinations. Men's blows are powerful and rhythmic.

It must be done in the center of the hall. All movements are unlearned from simple elements, gradually moving on to complex movements. To learn to dance, you need to understand not only the movements, but also feel the nature of the dance.

History of the squat war dance

In Russian military tradition The characters of the fighters were divided into two categories:

1. Chewy, lively grunters.

2. Born for good, patient, long to “warm up” and long to “cool down.”

For each of these characters, tradition recommended a special combat system. Chewing explosive, amplitude and energy-intensive. Kind, economical and uncompromising. However, often fighters studied both techniques, knowing that one was better suited to the combat of the cavalry, and the other to the needs of the reconnaissance infantryman.

These combat systems each had their own specialized combat dance. We do not know the ancient reliable names of these dances; they have changed. It is well known that the dance that is now called hopak was called “Cossack” in the time of N.V. Gogol. The same dance in the north-west in the 19th century was called “Lunyok”. The name of the dances was often transformed depending on the dance tunes that were popular at that time. The name of the music became the name of the dance. However, all of these dances had movements with the same definition of "squat". This is the sum of the fighting movements of chewing fighters used in dance. All these dances could be danced in a squat without it.

For those “born for good,” the dance was similar to the northwestern buzz with all its variants of “breaking.” In this dance, elements of squatting were also often used, but only occasionally, as a decoration.

Squat dance

This dance was widespread throughout Rus'. IN early middle ages total number Eastern Slavs did not exceed a million, the language was practically uniform, communication within the military class was close. The Slavic clan grew, its numbers increased, features appeared in language and culture, variability appeared in methods of combat, and the previously uniform martial dances changed.

The root, the archetype of the squat dance, is the same for all Eastern Slavs. A number of differences in music and dynamics do not change the original meaning and appearance of the ancient Russian battle dance. Ethnologists and folklorists are well aware of the rule: “The presence of many variants of the same ritual, text, speaks of antiquity. The absence of variants speaks of a “remake.”

Belarusians dance in a squat position in the Trepak dance.

Ukrainians in “Gopak”, “Kazachka” and “Gonta”.

1. “Lunyok” - has not reached our time.

2. “Buza” - squatting only occasionally.

3. Russian, danced alone and with a couple, there are dance options where there is little squatting.

4. “Lady” - dances with a girl, whom another dancer tries to beat off. This option was very difficult, requiring high control over complex combat movements. It was considered unacceptable not only to touch a partner with a blow, but even to frighten her with a dangerous movement.

There is an option without a squat.

5. “Yablochko” - a naval dance, a late version of the East Slavic squat dance. Dances alone in a circle and together with an opponent.

Initially, the squatting technique existed in two forms:

1. As a method of combat.

2. Like a war dance.

Crouching combat included four main levels.

1. Somersaults.

2. Sliders (movements on squatting and all fours)

3. Strikes and movements while standing.

4. Jumps and cartwheels.

The men developed the necessary motor skills specific to this style of fighting, especially endurance and fitness, by constantly practicing in dancing and fighting competitions.

In the Vologda region they said that before the war, dancing competitions were held. More often, this happened at fairs. They "argued" and placed bets on the dancers. The winner received good prize in the form of a gift, wine or money. The production was divided among the entire artel.

In preparation for this, the men left home, sometimes for several days, and trained there, inventing new combinations of dance rings, unknown to their rivals and amazing fans. For the time being they were kept secret, and when performing at competitions they “presented” “new developments”. This tradition constantly replenished and enriched the dance technique.

The Russian dance performer has very expressive arms, head, shoulders, hips, face, hands, fingers, etc. The dance makes it possible to reveal personal, personality traits character - to show your manner of performance ("trick"). Each performer can show his ingenuity, skill, professionalism in the dance, and show off his complex, virtuoso knee. Anyone can dance. It differs from round dance in its richer and more complex vocabulary of dance movements. The dance includes strong technical fractions, “rope”, “accordion”, various squats, clappers, drops, spins and other knees. In addition to enriching the vocabulary, dancing provides an opportunity to complicate and diversify the pattern: dashing entrances of guys, perky walks of girls, dashes, various transitions, etc. - all this creates new patterns and constructions inherent only in dance.

Types of squats

1st view. The performer rises to height after each deep squat.
2nd type. The performer makes the entire movement in a deep squat, without rising to height.

Performing squats of the 1st type.

The performer, having jumped up a little, squats sharply and deeply on his toes in the 1st position, heels together, toes apart, knees pointing to the sides. Then the performer rises from a deep squat, jumping slightly, and from the jump, he lowers himself either on both legs or on one leg.
When lowering into a deep squat, you need to keep yourself on the elastic muscles of the thigh and lower leg until the end of the movement, without putting stress on the knee joint.
During the entire squat, the body is straight and taut. It is necessary to hold your back tightly, tensing your muscles and bringing your shoulder blades together. Under no circumstances should you lean forward.
Squats of the 1st type can be performed separately and in combination with other movements - with a “pick”, clappers, jumps, etc.

Let's look at squats that belong to type 1 .

Squat with legs thrown forward.

The performer rises from a deep squat, alternately on one leg or the other, while simultaneously throwing his free leg forward. Starting position of the legs: 1st position. Musical time signature: 2/4.

Once The performer, with a barely noticeable jump, squats sharply and deeply on the half-toes of both feet in the 1st position, heels together, toes apart, knees pointing to the sides.
AND Pause.
Two The performer rises from a deep squat with a slight jump and lowers himself onto the low half-toes of his left leg, bent at the knee. The right leg is raised slightly forward, free at the knee and instep.
AND Pause.

The movement continues with the other leg. The body is straight.

In this squat, you can throw your leg not straight forward, but forward across the supporting leg. When right leg rises forward crosswise of the left leg, both arms are thrown to the right, no higher than the waist, elbows are free, head is raised slightly turned towards the left shoulder; when the left leg rises, the arms move to the left, the head turns to the right shoulder.

Publications in the Traditions section

Everybody dance!

We remember how they danced in Rus'. Kamarinskaya and the lady, Cossack and square dance, round dance and fair dance with a bear. Not a single holiday in Rus' was complete without dancing. Dances were named by melody, number of dancers, or pattern of movements. The dances were lyrical or martial. One for every occasion. The soul sings - the legs begin to dance.

Round dance . Dance with pagan roots. Circle in honor of Yarila, ancient god sun. “Walking after the sun” is part of Slavic rituals. Over the centuries, the ritual character faded into the background. Round dance has become the main decoration of Russians national holidays. The nature of the dance changes from occasion to occasion. Either they start a round dance in honor of the arrival of spring, or they greet Ivan Kupala holding hands, scarves or maiden wreaths.

Troika . A folk dance that can be unmistakably recognized by counting the dancers. Initially it was a man and two women. The rhythm and steps are like a Russian troika of galloping horses. The troika is danced not only by folk dance groups, but also on the classical stage. As, for example, in the ballet “The Nutcracker” to the music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

Kalinka . A dance performed to a song that is only considered folk. The authorship belongs to Ivan Larionov. The Russian composer and folklorist wrote Kalinka in 1860. The melody went to the people straight from the Saratov stage amateur theater. There are no special choreographic figures in Kalinka: it is an improvisational dance. Including on ice - as in the case of figure skaters Irina Rodnina and Alexander Zaitsev.

Lady . The daring danced like " social conflict"in the spirit of who will out-dance whom. Main characters- “madam-lady” and “peasant peasant”. To the accompaniment of an accordion or balalaika, majesty stands against prowess, smoothness of movements against dexterity. According to one version, the Oryol province became the birthplace of the dance.

Kamarinskaya . The dance “hands on hips, heel to toe” became a fantasy for the orchestra. Mikhail Glinka in his overture used the melody itself and echoes characteristic of folk singing, and Pyotr Tchaikovsky included the theme in “ Children's album" IN leading role dance version - “Kamarinsk man”, a cheerful and perky resident of Kamarich, a volost of the Oryol province.

Cossack . Russian, Terek, Kuban. The dance is international with squatting steps, pair dances and jumps. The cheerful and playful melody of the Cossack has been known since the 18th century. The glory of folk dance reached the Parisian salons along with the Russian troops. Alexander Dargomyzhsky wrote for symphony orchestra“Little Russian Cossack”, and since the 19th century the Cossack in Russia has been “elevated” to ballroom dance.

Russian folk dance

Russian folk dance

Squat . Dance as an element of combat. Initially, Slavic warriors squatted to attack, and during the time of Suvorov they competed in the “combat squat” along with drill training and shooting. Either an acrobatics exercise, or a dance that raises morale. In the Vologda region a century ago they competed in dances, throwing out knees, and the naval squat dance was called “Apple” - after the name of the tune.

Quadrille . From a French village to a Russian one through noble assemblies. Russified French dance in Russia has acquired its own traditions. The dance meeting of several couples grew into a real romance in dance with many chapters: “acquaintance”, “walking”, “separation”, “farewell”. Supplemented with a ditty,

In an old legend dedicated to the Moravian kingdom, the guslar narrator talks about dams on lakes where young people gathered, “did round dances and played.” It’s hard to say exactly what kind of dances the ancient Russians performed on rafts. But Russian dance is in any case based on these dances.

Guslyar does not indicate the details of those events, but a couple of times in 3 small verses he repeats this old word, like "SRAM". Most likely, even without karaoke, the DJ's ancestors had a great time.

Dances with bears

The first words about Russian folk dances appeared in 907, when Prophetic Oleg celebrated the victory over the Greeks in Kyiv. At that celebration, sixteen dancers dressed as bears and 4 bears dressed as dancers performed for the guests. At the end of lunch, in accordance with Oleg’s command, the bears were to be released in all 4 directions, and those who danced were to be executed. As it was determined later, the successive prince believed that the dancers were ambassadors of the Northerners, who owed him hundreds of marten skins.

About Peter Prisyadka

P. Prisyadka the mason did not visit other people's palaces and courtyards. He turned the items while squatting. Every day in the evening after work, he went to Khreshchatyk and, after drinking wine and kalach, began to jump, thereby doing a warm-up for his legs that had been numb for the whole day.

V. Monomakh, whom the people of Kiev invited to the kingdom, to eliminate lawlessness, drove in the evening with his retinue through the streets of the city. He immediately caught his eye weird dance. Monomakh showed Metropolitan Nicephorus dancing guy. A couple of days later, Petro performed a dance for Monomakh himself every day - for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Dancing like the Squat or Pod-Squat very soon became fashionable in the city. Overweight buffoons began to lose weight and learned to dance “In the Squat,” studying other elements of Russian dance, breaking their own legs on uneven sidewalks.

In 1126, after the death of Monomakh, Peter returned to his own ordinary duties. He died at a ripe old age, although he was only 38 years old. Here it is worth saying that Russian folk dances are popular not only in our country, but also abroad.

Tricks of Russian folk dance

In the West, it is believed that the interesting jumps and movements that any Russian dance includes are a consequence of the cold climatic conditions of the northern country. It is known that the Russians came up with squats, “pistols”, “devil”, as well as a lot of other tricks, just to keep warm.

And in truth, a large number of traditional Russian celebrations were celebrated in the autumn and winter period, after completion of work in the field. All holidays took place according to the well-known scheme:

1. The festivities began with the reading of a prayer,

2. Then everyone began to drink and eat heavily, sing songs, dance,

3. At the end there were wall-to-wall fist fights.

After a short break, the procedure was repeated again.

As experts noted, at low temperatures, Russian extreme dances acted as great option continuation of the celebration on the street - in those days, celebrations were not held at home near the TV.

Climate theory – to believe or not to believe?

Many do not agree with the basics of the climate theory of the appearance of Russian dance in Western perception. At winter frosts Russians wear fur coats and sheepskin coats. It is impossible to do a squat in such clothes. Of course, in this case you can do a tap dance, jump, etc., but not “Pistol”, “Goat”, etc.

A little about buffoons

Many believe that Russian dances were promoted by buffoons. This is what street performers were called. Among them:

• some troupes did magic tricks,
• others predicted the future,
• others sang and danced.

However, they were all excellent at stealing.

The buffoons wandered around the cities, at fairs and learned new tricks and movements. And in other cities or settlements they showed their skills - and this is how the Russian squat was passed on “from foot to foot.”

At the expiration of certain period Over time, a number of teams disintegrated, others were killed by competitors, and some were captured by guardsmen and turned into court groups at the courts of wealthy landowners.

But in any case, the Russian people have loved to sing and dance since ancient times. And today, with the advent of karaoke, a lot of people just like to sing their favorite song and dance their favorite dance in the company of friends just for fun. And such a vacation not only brings a lot of pleasure, but also has a positive effect on health.

Folk dance is one of the oldest species folk art. It expresses the style and manner of performance of each people and is inextricably linked with other types of art and with magic, including military magic.

Over time, a person began to reproduce certain sequential movements, which he defined for himself with the word “dance,” to some source of rhythm. In most Indo-European languages, this word is pronounced consonantly, which once again proves that once this ancient community of people had one language for communication and common ideas about the universe. Subsequently, ideas about the surrounding world resulted in ritual dances designed to influence nature.

For centuries-old history In its development, Russian folk dance has always been closely connected with the life and customs of Russian people (birth, wedding, etc.), with the working agricultural year (sowing, harvesting, etc.), with the military component of life.

In ancient times, dancing was part of the obligatory circle of rites of Ancestral Knowledge and existed among all Aryan peoples, including the Slavs. Numerous vivid examples confirmed the sacred nature of martial dances. Myths claim that such dances were previously performed by gods and spirits, and were later transmitted to the human world as symbols of the presence of a deity in the world. These ritual dances acted as connecting elements between Heaven and man, and the performers identified themselves with the warrior gods.

Singing, music and dancing by A.N. Afanasyev considers them to be necessary elements of ancient holidays and rituals, and explains the eroticism of pagan dances with the symbolism of fertility. The ritual meaning of ancient Slavic dances reflects the essence of the structure of the Universe and changes in Nature in the worldview of the ancient Slavs. In dance movements you can find many secret knowledge. Dancing conveyed mythological knowledge to people and was not limited only to sexual attraction and aesthetic pleasure.

An ancient feature of Slavic dance was the circular dance: round dance in Rus'; kolo, korogod - in Ukraine, Poland and Belarus, hormos - in Macedonia, Western Bulgaria and some other southern Slavic lands. The Russian round dance expresses the essence of the world's circular movement.

Smooth ritual dance with accelerations and deflations long sleeves also has a generic meaning and dates back to ancient magical times. She reached us well famous fairy tale about the Frog Princess, where the princess acts as the wife of Ivan Tsarevich and turns into a snake, a white swan, a cuckoo, or the beautiful Vasilisa the Wise. “A festive feast at the king’s place. Vasilisa hides the bones of the eaten swans in her sleeves and pours some of the wine poured into her sleeves. It's time to dance; the king sends big daughters-in-law (wives of senior princes), and they refer to the frog. She immediately picked up Ivan Tsarevich and went. She danced and danced, spun and spun - everyone was amazed! Waved right hand- forests and waters became; waved her left hand - different birds began to fly..." Waving her sleeves, scattering the swan bones placed there and splashing wine is a ritual act, and the unusual dance of the enchantress is a dance, apparently, in honor of the god of vegetation Pereplut and the mermaids who irrigate this vegetation.

During the dances, it was common to drink a special drink, which was also part of complex ritual actions. Often those dancing furiously, having given all their strength to the ritual, fell unconscious, and they were soldered with water and an infusion of various herbs.

Byzantine historian 9th century. Leo the Deacon in “History,” describing the campaigns of Prince Svyatoslav, called the pagan warriors the children of Satan, who learned the art of war through dancing. A traveler who later arrived from France and accidentally ended up in the Zaporozhye Sich was surprised by this fact: the Cossacks could dance the hopak all day long and train to their own singing.

IN Cossack troops dance lived everywhere, harmoniously intertwined with Cossack life, vigorously manifesting itself on village and military holidays. Any movement performed with skill is applicable in martial art. Squat dancing, while not being a martial art, can be based on the same principles as Cossack military practice: a sharp change in the level of attack, squats (or falls) followed by jumping or rolling. For example, in the battle of Iasi in 1577, the Cossacks completely disoriented the Turkish riflemen for some time in this way. During battles, cutters with weapons danced in front of the ranks of their comrades. They went into battle with music and dancing.

This is how N.V. describes the revelry and dancing in the Zaporozhye Sich. Gogol: “Their way was again blocked by a whole crowd of musicians, in the middle of which a young Cossack was dancing, with his hat thrown back like a devil and his arms thrown up. He only shouted: “Play more lively, musicians! Do not be sorry, Thomas, burners for Orthodox Christians!” And Foma, with a black eye, handed out a huge mug to each person who pestered him. Near the young Zaporozhian, four old ones were working rather shallowly with their feet, throwing themselves up like a whirlwind to the side, almost on the heads of the musicians, and suddenly, dropping down, they squatted and beat the hard ground with their silver horseshoes steeply and firmly. The earth hummed dully throughout the entire area, and the hopaks and tropaks, knocked out by the ringing horseshoes of boots, echoed in the air far away.”

It is quite possible that such dances served as the first system for accumulating military knowledge (at that time, traditions of writing any knowledge had not yet been formed). Training was carried out either verbally or in the form of demonstration of movements.

Joint dance, simultaneity, tact - the conditions for uniting people into a single organism. The philosopher Ribot said the following about this: “Dancing brings social benefits; it promotes coordination of movement, unanimity. It gives unity to a given group of people, as well as the consciousness of this latter and his visual perception. It serves as discipline, preparation for a general attack or general defense, a kind of military school. This explains important role tact. Kaffirs sing and dance in large groups so consistently and evenly that they give the impression of a huge machine in motion. For many tribes, the rhythm must be impeccable and any violation of it is punishable by death.”

The purpose of the movements in the combat dance was both directly applied and conditionally combative, developing dexterity and coordination. Since the martial dance was an information carrier martial art and a way of training applied movements, it goes without saying that it became most widespread among warriors: Cossacks, soldiers, sailors, officers; it was very popular in the artels of fist fighters.

1. “Zhivchiki” - quick in movements and decisions.

2. “Calm” - slow, patient, hardy, persistent, taking a long time to “heat up” and take a long time to “cool down”.

We can also identify the most harmonious fighters who combine the features of the previous types. Remember, like Bismarck: “The Russians harness for a long time, but travel quickly.”

With sufficient assumption, it can be argued that the first type is more typical for southern population Russia, the second - for the peasant class of the northern and eastern regions, the third - for the central regions and the Russian army as a whole.

These combat systems each had their own specialized combat dance. The squat dance is the sum of the fighting movements of the “zhivikov” used in the dance. For those who are hardy and patient, slow dances with “breaking” that turn into wrestling are more typical. For the “universal” the dance was similar to the northwestern bouza with all its variants of slow “breaking” and plastic “explosions” of movements. In these dances, elements of squatting were also often used, but only occasionally, as decoration.

Crouching fighting methods were widespread among horsemen and were especially widely used by infantrymen in clashes with cavalry. The squat fight included somersaults, sliders (moving on squatting and all fours), jumping and cartwheels. The Cossacks used various techniques combat dance, knowing that one is better suited to the combat of a horseman, and the other to the needs of a reconnaissance infantryman.

Since ancient times, Russian folk dance has been characterized by percussive sound accompaniment: a tambourine, a rattle, a snaffle, a mallet, a ruble, spoons and various kinds of handclaps, called by chroniclers “beating in the doloni” (palms). “He doesn’t sing, he whistles like that, he doesn’t dance, he slams like that,” says the popular saying. In addition to clapping your hands, in Russian dance there were also various strikes with the palms on the body, thigh, boot top, etc. In the old days this was called "splashing". Over time, hand clapping, combined with “splashing,” reached a virtuosic character and turned into an essential part of the dance itself, mainly for men, and received the name “clapper.” When performing clappers, both the blow and the clap must be strong and clear, while the palm becomes strong and tense. With a little imagination, you can understand that these “crackers” are very useful for a fist fighter to deliver “slaps” and counter kicks.

From single, double and triple claps and blows, virtuoso clapper combinations are subsequently composed, and entire dances are built, such as, for example, the ancient Russian men's dance “Pleskachi” or “Pleskach”.

The purpose of the movements in the combat dance was both directly applied and conditionally combative, developing dexterity and coordination.

To perform complex dance movements, dexterity and the ability to control one's body movements were required. This complexity of men's dances was a necessary condition in self-improvement and development of dexterity for fighters, previously all adult men possessed this skill to one degree or another.

To this day, one can discern features of ritual dance in the techniques of fist fighting. In the Pskov region, the martial dance is called “skobar” or “lomanie” - “to break the merry one.” A similar dance is found throughout the territory where the Krivichi, a union of East Slavic tribes, once lived. “Merry is being broken” to the accordion playing. Before the “breaking” began, the dancer shook his head and could ruffle his hair. These actions, certain exclamations (whooping), and stomping are considered elements of ancient folk magic. It was as if a person was leaving the usual everyday space, moving to another layer of existence, where the attitude towards victory, defeat, life or death was different. Gradually the dancer enters a certain mental condition“crazy”, and “breaking” turns into a ritual or free battle against one or more opponents.

Ritual fights took place according to various agreements, for example, until the first blood or until the first fall. The fight could be stopped by an accordion player (in older times - a guslar) by stopping playing.

“Breaking” includes: dancing and stamping, shoulder behavior, jumping, swinging arms, hitting the ground (with a cane or stick, fists, feet), etc. - all these actions were designed to provide warm-up, external relaxation and internal composure of the body before the fight . The musical and poetic form is also especially important - the leading role of the instrumental tune, and a special one: “Humpbacked”, “For the zest”, and ditties - refrains of a mockingly defiant nature.

Previously, dancing competitions were widely held. This happened more often at fairs. They “argued” and placed bets on the dancers. The winner received a good prize in the form of a gift, wine or money. The production was divided among the entire artel.

Usually the competitions took place in the form of pair and single dances in the form of a re-dance. While dancing, one of the dancers showed some movement or sequence, the opponent had to repeat them exactly, then showed his own. Sometimes the re-dance had different rules; the competitors alternately showed their movements, but it was forbidden to repeat the previous ones. The loser was the one who ran out of dance tricks.

As evidenced by the researcher of the military traditions of Rus' G.N. Bazlov: " War dances served as a non-written method of transmitting applied information. Selected by the ethnic group over the centuries, the movements most convenient for combat were transmitted plastically, along with the method of breathing and sound production, against the background of a special psychophysical state. Most elements of the combat dance have an applied combat meaning. Their thoughtless repetition leads to an inevitable distortion of the dance archetype, plasticity and meaning of the dance.”

S. G. Maksimov. Russian military traditions