Unearthing a Moscow dance

(For those reading this after its original posting date: this was posted on APRIL FOOL'S DAY.  You may thereby deduce that it is an extended joke, not serious dance history!)

Over the last few years in Moscow, I've spent a fair amount of time at balls and parties outside the strictly-historical community and had a chance to observe, and occasionally dance, some of the choreographed dances developed during the Soviet era as well as some which were introduced in the 1990s and early 2000s, either by Russian choreographers or by foreign teachers, and adopted into the community culture of young Moscow dancers who mix historical, modern, and traditional dances at their balls.  It would be a fascinating project to try to determine the origins of all these dances, though I don't plan on taking it up myself, since my Russian language skills really aren't up to the task.  

One of the challenges in tracing such dances back very far is that over time they become folk-processed, evolving as they move through communities, until it can be difficult to determine which movements are native to the dance and which have merely accreted over time.  I've become intrigued enough with one dance to make some effort, however.  It appears to have originated in the late 1970s, though I haven't been able to discover the choreographer.  After some multilingual digging, I've been lucky enough to turn up three Soviet-era video recordings of performances outside the USSR which I believe depict the authentic dance, including the different steps and variations for men and women.  Ironically, the best sources appear to be in German, which is true for many nineteenth century dances as well.

I'm going to take a look here specifically at the women's steps, which can be performed solo or with a female partner, with or without a group of men dancing their steps simultaneously.  At some later point I might work on the men's footwork as well. 

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The reconstruction below may look intimidatingly long, but it's actually not too bad.  There are three "verses", each followed by a chorus which has some minor variations the second and third times.  First, let's look at the lengthy, two-part chorus, which is really the major part of the dance.  I'm counting by beats here, rather than bars.  Notice that each part of the chorus has a triple repeat of one movement sequence followed by a different one which is not repeated.  All dancers use the same starting foot.  I'm using some ballet terminology for position, but there is no turnout required.  Feet can be pointed more-or-less straight forward except on the "toe, heel" sequences.

Chorus Part One
4        stamp left foot four times; hands raised in a "V" position for two beats then brought down to the hips
4        clap, turning body from facing left to facing forward, rhythm "1, 2...a3&4"
8        repeat, starting with right foot
8        repeat, starting with left foot
4        arms bent, hands forward, pump arms forward/back/forward/back
4        sweep hands up and around into "V" position
4        freeze, holding the V position

Chorus Part Two
4        tap right toe in false second (turned inward) then right heel extended slightly forward; spring onto right foot while extending left to repeat toe-heel with left foot
4        close left foot to right, point right to second, cut with right (left to second), cut with left (right to second)
4        spring onto right foot and repeat toe, heel with left; spring onto left foot then repeat toe, heel with right
4        rest weight on both feet in second (1-2), then bend knees and jump (3-4) landing with feet together and arms raised in "V" position
16      repeat, leading with left foot
16      repeat, leading with right foot
4        toe, heel with left foot then with right as above
4        step right, touch L beside R; step L, touch R beside L (arms folded)
4        step right, shift weight left, right, left (arms flapping slightly)
4        freeze, hands on hips

The dance is brisk (about 132 beats per minute), so I would suggest practicing this until it's firmly in memory before either adding the verses or trying the variations.

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Introduction (24 beats)
Either marking time in place or unchoreographed walking appears to be normal, but on the last eight beats, the dancers should move into position relative to each other (4 beats), leaving enough space to dance without coming into contact with other dancers, and then bring hands out and around to rest on hips (4 beats).

Verse One
24        freeze, feet together, hands on hips
8          hands sweep up and out (4), turn in place twice around (4)
        (note: if dancing with a partner, turn away from each other)
24        freeze again, feet together, hands on hips
        (note: some dancers have their feet in second during this)
8          hands sweep up and turn quickly (4), bend knees and jump (4)
        (note: if dancing with a partner, turn away from each other; land from jump bring arms up to "V" position)     

Verse Two
4         hold, then on third beat turn half round by swinging left foot around
10       hold, feet together, hands on hips
2         turn half around again by swinging left foot; end with feet in second, hands on hips

24        holding position, push knees in slightly on each beat
8          hands sweep around, ending on hips again
24        holding position, visibly shift weight to the right then to the left alternately on each beat
8          hands sweep around, hold in "V" position
    (note: some dancer simply hold position while others turn in place)

Verse Three
32      freeze with hands on hips
    (from here onward, the women move in mirror image)
4        preparatory beats

4        step away, touch, step together, touch (arms extended straight out)
8        repeat step away sequence twice more
4        step away and freeze (hands on hips) (2); jump (2) ending feet together, arms in "V" position
16      repeat the above without a jump
8        sweep hands from low center out, around, and down
8        sweep hands again to "V" position and hold

The sequence of the dance is verse-chorus-verse-chorus-verse-chorus

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Music
The dance is traditionally accompanied by song, like a medieval carole, in this case celebrating the delights of Russian life - drinking, caviar, beautiful women, dancing the kozachok etc.  I haven't found original lyrics in Russian, though there are both English and German versions which are completely inconsistent with each other.  The one Russian set I've found is fairly close to the German one, but since it does not scan to the music, it seems likely to be a more recent translation (back) from German rather than original Russian words.  Anyone who has used Google Translate and reversed the translation a couple of times will be familiar with the problems multiple translations can introduce!

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Those interested in studying the original videos can find the three I worked from on YouTube.  The German ones are here and here, and there is a single English one here.  If anyone comes across a pre-1980 Russian source for this, I'd be quite excited to see it!

The traditional music heard on these videos may be purchased from Amazon here.  There are also quite a few cover versions by a wide range of performers from many different countries.  

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Dedicated with love to my Moscow friends and students.  I miss you all.

Comments

[Tom Mack]

Abba clones? Many comments made mention of the Power Rangers. Thanks for the laugh - wait...where's my spandex?