dance in Ukraine

Ukrainian dance (Ukrainian: український тaнeць, romanized: ukrayinskyi tanets') mostly refers to the traditional folk dances of the Ukrainians as an ethnic group, but may also refer to dances originating from the multiple other ethnic groups within Ukraine. A household folk dance is a folk dance that is done in a particular territory and is traditionally done under common circumstances like weddings or festivals, with characteristic movements, rhythms, costumes, etc. A folk-stage dance, staged by a choreographer in a professional or amateur collective for performance on stage, may be Ukrainian, but is no longer an everyday folk dance. The main dance genres of Ukrainians' folk dance are circle dance, as one of the oldest types of folk dance art, very typical to all Slavic dances, the performance of which is associated with calendar rites, and everyday dance, which includes metelitsa, hopak, kozachok, hutsulka, kolomyika, square dance, and polka.¶

Pre-modern history

Judging by the figures depicted in motion on Trypillian clay vessels, dance has been performed in the lands of present-day Ukraine since at least the third millennium BC. It has been assumed that up to the introduction of Christianity in Kyivan Rus in 988, dance served a very important ritual function in the lands of present-day Ukraine. Pre-Christian rituals combined dance with music, poetry, and song. A remnant of these ritual dances (Ukrainian: Oбpядовi танці, translit. Obryadovi tantsi; see also Khorovody) which survive in limited form today are the Spring Dances, or Vesnianky, also referred to as Hahilky, Hayilky, Hayivky, Yahilky, or Rohulky. Another seasonal event featuring dances was the yearly pre-harvest festival of Kupalo, which to this day remains a favorite theme for Ukrainian choreographers. These religious ritual dances proved to be so strongly ingrained into the culture of the people prior to the introduction of Christianity, that rather than attempting to eliminate them, Christian missionaries incorporated Christian themes into the songs and poetry which accompanied the dancing, using the dances to spread their religion, as well as enabling millennia-old steps and choreographic forms to continue to be passed down from generation to generation. At about the time of Ukraine's Kozak uprisings, social dances became more and more popular among the people native to the lands of present-day Ukraine. Ukrainian social dances (Ukrainian: Побyтовi танці, translit. Pobutovi tantsi) can be distinguished from the earlier Ukrainian ritual dances by two characteristics: the prevalence of musical accompaniment without song, and the increased presence of improvisation.¶

Modern history

Ukrainian folk-stage dance began the path to transforming into its present incarnation first and foremost through the work of Vasyl Verkhovynets (b. 1880, original surname Kostiv), an actor, choirmaster, and amateur musicologist. Verkhovynets had acquired a professional level of training in the arts as part of Mykola Sadovsky's theatrical troupe, which had itself incorporated a distinguished level of folk dance in its productions of dramas based on Ukrainian folk themes. While touring central Ukraine with the theatrical troupe, Verkhovynets' would take off whenever he could and visit the villages surrounding the cities he was performing in, in order to learn about and record the villages' traditional dances. His landmark book which he based upon this research, Theory of Ukrainian Folk Dance (Teopiя Українського Hapoднoго Taнкa) (1919), brought together for the first time the various steps and terminology now recognized by all contemporary students of Ukrainian dance. It also fundamentally altered the nature of Ukrainian folk dance by setting dances on a stage (with the audience seated at the front, two wings, and a backdrop), and laid out a method of transcribing folk dances, which was later put into use across the Soviet Union. This book has since been reprinted five times (the last time in 1990) and remains a basic instructional text of Ukrainian dance. The history of Ukrainian dance diverges at this stage of Vasyl Verkhovynets career. Because of the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, it would develop contemporaneously both in Ukraine as well outside of the Iron Curtain for more than 40 years.¶

Development in Ukraine

Classical choreographers in Ukraine began to turn to Vasyl Verkhovynets for his expertise when incorporating the increasingly popular folk motifs into their works. In addition to established names like V. Lytvynenko and Leonid Zhukov, younger choreographers like Pavlo Virsky, Mykola Bolotov, and Halyna Beryozova were choreographing with folk steps and forms. During this period (between the world wars), the three-part Hopak was developed by Verkhovynets. In 1937, Pavlo Virsky and Mykola Bolotov founded the State Folk Dance Ensemble of the Ukrainian SSR, with the goal of elevating folk-stage dance to its highest artistic level, and solidifying it as a viable stage art form. Although the group was disbanded during the Second World War, Lydia Chereshnova (who had directed the Ukrainian Song and Dance Ensemble entertaining troops during the war) brought it back into existence in 1951. After Vakhtang Vronsky of the Odesa Opera Theatre directed for a few seasons, Pavlo Virsky returned as artistic director of the State Folk Dance Ensemble of the Ukrainian SSR from 1955 until his death in 1975. During this twenty-year period, Pavlo Virsky demonstrated tremendous creativity in his choreography and propelled Ukrainian Folk-Stage Dance to a world-renowned level.¶

Other notable Ukrainian choreographers and companies include:¶

The Ukrainian Folk Choir, founded under the direction of Hryhoriy Veryovka in Kharkiv in 1943, including a contingent of dancers under directors Oleksander Dmytrenko, Leonid Kalinin, and later O. Homyn. The Chornohora Songs and Dance Ensemble was founded by Yaroslav Chuperchuk in 1946, and renamed Halychyna in 1956. The Dnipropetrovsk Dance Ensemble was founded in Dnipro prior to WWII, and flourished under Kim Vasylenko from 1947.¶

Development in North America

Ukrainian immigrants brought their native traditions to the lands they settled, largely in Canada, Australia, the United States, and South America. Many village dances had survived the trip abroad and retained their traditional place at community gatherings (as documented in Andriy Nahachevskyy's book Social Dances of Ukrainian-Canadians). However, it was through the work of Vasyl Avramenko that Ukrainian dance secured a foothold in the West, developing as its own artform. Vasyl Avramenko (1895–1981), began his career as a dance instructor at a Polish internment camp in 1921, having previously studied the theatrical arts in Kyiv, and later with Mykola Sadovsky's troupe, where he met and received training from Vasyl Verkhovynets. After the war, Avramenko toured western Ukraine, instructing where he could, but eventually setting out to spread Ukrainian dance throughout the world.¶

Development in Australia

One of the leading figures in the instruction of Ukrainian dance i…¶

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Ukrainian dance”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence.¶

dance in Ukraine is dance of various ethnic groups of Ukraine, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition.¹¶

The source record links this tradition to 1 external register, which can be verified through the citation.¹¶