Belorussian dance

Features of the Belarusian dance art took shape in the process of formation and development of the Belarusian nationality and its culture (XIV-XVI centuries), rooted in the bowels of ancient all-Russian culture . In the dance in an artistic form, a sense of the beauty of life, emotionality, temperament and the character of the people ^[5] were manifested.

For a long time, Belarusian dance was little known even at home and rarely went beyond the village. The great merit of the troupe of Ignat Buinitsky , a talented nugget who created the Belarusian Folk Theater in 1907, in which Buinitsky himself participated as a director, actor and dancer, is a great achievement of the appearance and popularization of Belarusian folk dances on the stages not only in Belarus, but also outside it. The concerts performed folk songs, works of Belarusian poets and dances to the accompaniment of the traditional “music” - violins, cymbals and pipes. In the stage interpretation of folk dances I. Buinitsky almost did not depart from the folklore basis ^[6] .

Belarusian national choreography has preserved the rich creative heritage of the past. The most popular Belarusian folk dances are “ Lyavonikha ”, “ Kryzhachok ”, “Yurachka”, “Polka-Yanka”, “Charot”, “Taukachyki”, “Chobaty”, “Lyanka”, “Kola”, “Bulba”, “Rouchnіki” ”,“ Mlynok ”,“ Katsy ”,“ Kozachka ”,“ Myakitsa ”,“ Mikita ”,“ Dudaryki ”,“ Goby ”,“ Kazyry ” ^[7] .

The peculiarity of the Belarusian dance is dynamism and cheerfulness, emotionality and collective character of performance. Currently, Belarusian folk dance is represented by professional dance groups, the most famous of which are the State Dance Ensemble of Belarus, the ensemble " Khoroshki ", "Lyavonikha" ^[7] .

From the historical and ethnographic point of view, 6 regions stand out in Belarus:

• Northern - Lakeland;
• Eastern - Dnieper;
• Central - Understanding;
• North-West - Understanding;
• East Polesie;
• Western Polesie ^[8] .

Traditionally, Belarusian dances are divided into three groups: illustrative, graphic, play and ornamental:

• In illustrative and visual dances ("Blizzard", "Sparrow", "Goat", "Lenok", "Pushers"), the most important role is played by the dramatic art of soloists, dances rich in gestures, facial expressions.
• In game dances ("Dzhigun", "Magera", "Turnip", "Pannochka", "Chain"), the dancers catch each other, perform some tasks.
• In ornamental dances (“Kryzhachok”, “Kola”, “Troyan”, “Krutukha”), the basis of the choreographic composition is a certain geometric figure, which can often be determined from the name of the song.

Due to the fact that dances can have regional and performing variations, it is often difficult to decide which group a particular dance belongs to. Also, sometimes situations happen when one dance can contain three or two groups at once ^[1] .

According to the structural principles of classifying choreographic folklore, the following genres are distinguished: round dances , traditional dances , quadrille , Polish and urban everyday dances ^[9] .

Round Dances

Round dance is one of the oldest types of dance. Presumably appeared at the end of the first millennium AD. A round dance is a trinity of song, game (ritual) action and choreographic drawing ^[2] . By topic, Belarusian round dances are very diverse: some reflect labor activity, family life, love relationships, and other folk holidays ^[9] . Dances are divided into 3 large groups depending on the strength of one of the three main components: round dances, game dances and dance dances ^[1] :

• Song dances have a simple choreographic structure, of which the main figures are a circle, a line, a snake, a gate and a column. The steps are also simple. As a rule, the correspondence of the lyrics and movements that illustrate it is not observed.
• A round dance is created by the most complete unity of all three components, the choreographic structure is complicated, often a change in rhythm is observed from slow to fast. In the dance, performances of soloists are added, which enrich jumping, whirling. Also, this subspecies attaches great importance to facial expressions and gestures.
• In a dance round dance, the connection between the lyrics and dance movements, as well as in a dance round dance, is small, but the dance is in the main place, and the song plays only the role of musical accompaniment.

Belarusian round dances are distinguished by a variety of movements, images and pace. Depending on the change in tempo, the round dance makes a change from constructing geometric images with a slow melody to the active movements of soloists in the rhythm of fast music. Most often, traditional round dances were not accompanied by instrumental music ^[1] .

Quadrille

Quadrille made up a large group of Belarusian dances, which existed in various local versions (Lusterka, Cher, Najnitsy, Lanskaya, Smargonskaya) ^[10] . The quadrille is of foreign origin. This dance came to Belarus in the middle of the XIX century ^[1] . Many varieties of quadrille were recorded in different regions of Belarus: thick quadrille (dancing a large number of pairs), thin (dancing a few pairs), there were also quadrille, where 40 pairs danced ^[9] .

Polka

The third group of Belarusian dances is formed by Polish women, who are also characterized by a plurality of regional options (“Trasukha”, “Yanka”, “Vyazanka”, “Shmorgalka”, “Drabnei maku”, “Usya-syusya”) ^[11] . Polka is a dance of Czech origin. Although the polka is a borrowed dance, it was the Belarusian polka who had a great influence on the world choreography. Many native Belarusian dances, such as “Trasukha”, have come from the Polish woman ^[1] .

Dancing

A separate genre of dance Belarusian dance folklore is formed by solo improvisational dances-dances, in which each participant improvises (“Cossack”, “ Barynya ”, “ Kamarynskaya ”, “Splyushka”, “Shchamel”) ^[11] .

Belarusian polkas are extremely rich in their choreographic and musical features, but they differ only in intonational diversity ^[12] .

Traditional dances are characterized by the repetition of two or three dance figures, a compositional pattern common to all participants, mass performance, often with song accompaniment, an unlimited number of participants and any composition (although women often dance these dances in everyday life). The musical structure of traditional dances is distinguished primarily by the size of 2/4, although there are other sizes, the squareness of the construction of the melody. Instrumental accompaniment of the dance often has the same mode of intonation as the round dance song ^[13] .

"Lyavonіha", of traditional folk dances - the most popular and beloved in Belarus. The soul of the Belarusian people and its national features are clearly expressed in it. “Lyavonіha” is a pair-mass dance. His musical accompaniment is the melody of the song of the same name. The dance is cheerful, dynamic, perky, performed by any number of pairs; compositionally based on free, rapid, but not complex movements ^[14] .

Kryzhachok is one of the most popular Belarusian folk dances. There is an interpretation about the origin of its name, which sees its connection with the popular name of the wild drake - “kryzhak”, the dance itself is referred to a group of dances imitating the movements of birds (See: Belaruskaya Savetskaya Etsyklapedyya, t. 6, Minsk, 1972, p. 135 .). “Kryzhachok” is an ornamental dance, pair-mass, performed by any number of pairs at a fast pace ^[15] .

Belarusian folk dances have their own characteristic features. Each dance has its own group of movement elements, its musical accompaniment, its own rhythmic pattern; “Folk dance not only validates various types of movements. He gives them a very diverse plastic appearance ”(Karp P. About the ballet. - M., 1967, p.103.) ^[7] .

A feature of many Belarusian folk dances is also their plot. With dance movements, the performer talks about his life, about his work, his attitude to nature ^[16] .

The Belarusian dance has peculiar movements, in which complex compositional techniques are often used. Each dance has its own musical accompaniment, its own rhythmic pattern; “A folk dance not only shows us various types of movements, it also gives them a very diverse plastic appearance” ^[16] .

Almost all Belarusian dances are paired and massive. The movement of the dancers is full of dynamism, inner emotional tension and folk spirit. A feature of many Belarusian dances is their plot. With dance movements, the performer talks about his life, work, attitude to nature ^[17] .

Almost all compositional dances use simple geometric shapes: a square, a triangle, a line. These figures are combined into a single whole with the help of interweaving. For example, a spring dance was a composition of the weaving process. His figures, called “navivat”, “warp”, “remove the gut”, “put on”, “weave” illustrated the corresponding processes, but the accompanying lyrics did not have any relation to them ^[18] .

Hands in dance accompany him, help convey the mood of the dancer. The positions of the hands reveal and enhance the internal artistic content of the dance ^[16] .

Belarusian dances often carry some kind of plot, they are filled with a certain degree of theatricality and acting ^[16] .

In Belarusian dancing, most often there are four positions of the legs - the first, second, third and sixth, for which, unlike the positions of the legs of the classical dance, the same position is characteristic. You can also meet two more positions of the legs: the second parallel and the fourth parallel. In all positions, the severity of the body is distributed evenly on both legs ^[19] .

Instrumental accompaniment of a dance often has the same basis as a round dance song, as it translates a vocal melody into the language of the instruments that accompany the dance ^[1] .

Belarusian folk dance music has a colorful melody, but at the same time it is quite simple. Of musical instruments, a violin , a tambourine , an accordion , a cello are used . Old Belarus gusli were also known in Belarus ^{[1] [20]} .

The bagpipe was especially popular among the people, which was reflected in the ditties ^[21] .

Oh, without a pipe, without a pipe

Hodzyats legs aren’t
And like a pipe

Sami feet dancing

Often dances arose as musical accompaniment to certain songs or games. Their names could coincide with the name of such songs. The process was also retroactive, so the ditties in different places of Belarus bore the names "Riding horses", "Dance", "Dance" and the like. Examples of dances created by a particular song are Lyavonikha, Pushers, Shestak ^[2] .

Belarusian dances are mentioned in a large amount of ethnographic and folklore literature, but often in these sources there is little choreographic information, and sometimes there is only the name of the dance, leaving its essence out of the text, so collecting ethnographic information about folk dances is important until they lost forever ^[21] .

The folk dance "Blizzard" in 1852 was introduced into the first Belarusian comic opera "Peasant Woman". This is the first example of the use of Belarusian folk dance in the theater ^[2] .

A large role in the emergence of stage folk dance was played by Ignat Buinitsky, who created the “ Belarusian Folk Theater ” in 1907. The repertoire included more than a dozen dances ^[2] .

Creative observation, excellent musical data allowed I. Buinitsky to ethnographically accurately capture the style of folk dance and create vibrant, dynamic, folklore-true dance images that became the origins of national ballet art ^[22] .

In 1933, the Opera and Ballet Theater was opened in Minsk , where, when creating the national choreographer, classical ballet with elements of dance folklore was woven into the image ^[2] .

Later, a large number of theater and dance groups, including amateur groups, were engaged in staging folk dances, which contributed to the development and variety of stage dance, enriching it with new technical movements and compositional constructions ^[2] .

A great contribution to the development of stage folk dance was made by such Belarusian choreographers as K. Oleksyutovich, K. Muller, L. Lyashenko, I. Hvorost and N. Chistyakov ^[2] .

Folk dances, as an integral part of the culture and life of Belarusians, have been repeatedly mentioned in Belarusian literature since the 19th century in the anonymous poem “ Taras on Parnassus ”. In it, the heroes not only talk about dancing, but they themselves dance ^[2] .

S. Byadulya noted that the rich decorativeness of the Belarusian dance gives an abundance of colors and techniques of the Belarusian folk costume ^[23] .

Belarusian melodies and the Russian composer Alexander Glazunov used in his work ^[24] .

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• Ethnographic Belarusian Encyclopedia / ed. І. P. Shamyakin (Ch. Ed.). - Mn. : BelSE, 1989.
• Churko Yu. M. Vinok Belorussian dances. - Mn. , 1978.- 88 p. - 5,000 copies. - ISBN 5-33801097-8 .
• Grebenshchikov S. M. Stage Belarusian dances. - Mn. , 1974.
• Grebenshchikov S. M. Belorussian folk stage choreography. - Mn. : Science and Technology, 1976.- 233 p.
• Grebenshchikov S. M. Belorussian dances. - Mn. : Science and Technology, 1978. - = p.
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• Бядуля З. Яр, Драматычныя элементы ў жыцці і творчасці нашых продкаў. — Узвышша, 1927. — 151 с. — (1).
• Скорабагатаў В. В. Зайгралі спадчынныя куранты: Цыкл нарысаў з гісторыі прафесіянальнай музычнай культуры Беларусі. - Mn. , 1998. — 151 с. — (1).
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