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30-501: The hopak is often popularly referred to as the " National Dance of Ukraine " and has become very popular in Poland . There are similar folkloric dance tunes known as Sirmpa in Leros , Greece . The name hopak is derived from the verb hopaty ( Ukrainian : гопати ) which means "to hop ", as well as the corresponding exclamation hop! ( Ukrainian : гоп ) which can be uttered during

60-653: A Hopak as part of an opera or ballet : Soviet leader Joseph Stalin once famously forced his eventual successor Nikita Khrushchev (who had been the Communist Party chief in Ukraine) to dance the Hopak. The Hopak was performed as a part of the choreographic suite Friendship of Peoples by dancers in Ukrainian folk costumes during the opening ceremony of the 1980 Summer Olympics . This event took place on

90-685: A delegation to the upcoming First International Festival of the Folk Dance in London . Verkhovynets worked with Leonid Zhukov of the T. Shevchenko Kyiv Opera and Ballet , and professional dancers from both the Kyiv and Kharkiv Opera houses, on constructing a suite to represent the Ukrainian SSR . For his part, Verkhovynets choreographed what became known as the "London Hopak" ( Ukrainian : лондонський гопак , translit. londonskiy hopak ): this

120-651: A jump as an expression of surprise or amazement. The Hopak developed initially as a Cossack social dance ( Ukrainian : побyтовi танці , translit. pobutovi tantsi ), and was practiced in the lands of present-day Ukraine beginning in the 16th century. While the militaristic Zaporizhian Sich generally frowned upon amusements and diversions from military training, such regulations were overlooked when Kozaks returned victorious after battle. Kobzars and other musicians would gather their instruments - violins , bagpipes , bandura , cimbaloms , and fifes - while other participants would dance . This celebratory hopaky

150-654: A manner, and other historical accounts verify this. Later, Ivan Kotliarevsky and Taras Shevchenko incorporated the Hopak and dancing Cossacks into their works. However, with the destruction of the Sich in the 18th century, the dance survived only in its mixed-gender village format as a celebratory dance. After Hopak-like dances began to be performed on stage in the 18th century in Serf and Peasant theaters , professional dramatic troupes began to incorporate this popular dance into their repertoire. These performances only incorporated

180-465: A method by which Western concepts have been imposed on non-Western societies by anthropologists, art collectors, etc. Some dance ethnologists have tried to rectify this issue by changing their field of inquiry from the term "dance" to broader ideas of "movement systems" and "human movement". Historically, dance anthropology often also fell into the larger category of primitivist thought, suggesting an evolutionary or progressive model of dance. Research along

210-399: A producer of meaning each time it is produced—not just a living mirror of a culture, but a shaping part of culture, a power within the culture: "The power of dance rests in acts of performance by dancers and spectators alike, in the process of making sense of dance… and in linking dance experience to other sets of ideas and social experiences." Dance whether social, ritual or even theatrical,

240-500: A science. Anca Giurchescu , who would later serve as chair of the Study Group on Ethnochoreology from 1998 to 2006, was a member of the 1962 committee. Ethnochoreology originally focused on the national dance traditions and folk dances of specific European countries, but has since expanded to include new urban folk groups and the dance traditions of immigrants. Modern dancer and anthropologist Gertrude Prokosch Kurath pioneered

270-452: Is a choreographed dance made to appear full of improvisation. Much of the seemingly improvised parts involve solo dancers, usually male, performing visually and technically amazing acrobatic feats . These include jumps and spins and are usually the highlight of the performance. The rest of the dance includes many movements performed in unison, especially by the female dancers, while male dancers typically perform squat sequences . Because of

300-426: Is a focal social, cultural process related to human identity, contributes to "structure and diffuse cultural meaning" and can cultivate an interactive and practical narrative imbued with political views. Ethnochoreology, dance ethnology, and dance anthropology are closely related fields of study, with slightly varying and often overlapping histories and methodologies. The study of dance anthropology developed out of

330-614: Is a source of contention and suspicion for many Indigenous peoples, as historically it has been used as a tool of colonization, rather than to benefit Indigenous societies. For early anthropologists and missionaries, the research of non-Western cultures and subsequent categorization into Western terms and canon was a method of colonization. For example, many cultures have no generic word for "art", or for "dance". Western dichotomies of art dance vs non-art dance, professional vs hobbyist, and religious vs secular do not necessarily apply to other societies. The assumed transference of such concepts are

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360-510: Is inherent in a complex web of relationships. He interprets the socially predetermined and meaningful ways of movement and, of course, the history of dance groups in specific societies. In this way dance is "a social text" complex, multifaceted and constantly evolving. Additionally, dance as a social practice acts according to space and time, becoming expressions of everyday life and the respective social structure that comes in contact. Moreover, dance, apart from allowing people to express themselves,

390-408: Is not just the study or cataloguing of the thousands of external forms of dances—the dance moves , music, costumes, etc.— in various parts of the world, but the attempt to come to grips with dance as existing within the social events of a given community as well as within the cultural history of a community. Dance is not just a static representation of history , not just a repository of meaning, but

420-609: The Khorovod , which had previously been the dominant choreographic works in Ruthenian lands. A primary distinction was the gender of the participants – all male – as opposed to the predominantly all-female ritual dances. With the elevation of Cossack status in the region, hopaky began to appear in the villages within their domain. Unlike the all-male dances found in the Sich, these dances were mixed, with young boys and girls dancing celebratory movements together. While

450-521: The Ukrainian cultural tradition . His break-through, however, was demonstrating that staged Ukrainian dance could exist as a distinct performing art , in the form of concert dance . He and his disciple Vasyl Avramenko began staging performances throughout western Ukraine, forming troupes of dancers in village after village. In the spring of 1935, the All-Union Organization of Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries agreed to send

480-553: The 3-part Hopak was subsequently adopted by many professional folk dance ensembles who have choreographed their own variants of Hopak through the years. In 1990, twenty members of the State Folk Dance Ensemble of the Ukrainian SSR , split off and created the Hopak! Ukrainian Dance Company, Ukraine's first independent professional dance company, under the direction of Sergei Makarov. The modern-day Hopak

510-550: The Dance) in an attempt to provide an analytical framework for the study of dance based in cultural evolution. However, his data was often insufficient or misleading, and therefore his work is no longer considered a viable basis for the study of dance anthropology. In 1962, the International Council for Traditional Music established a working group that laid the foundations of the field and defined ethnochoreology as

540-439: The Hopak into a larger opus, such as Kotliarevsky's operetta Natalka Poltavka . It was the pioneering work of a performer in a dramatic ensemble, the ethnochoreologist Vasyl Verkhovynets , in the early 20th century, that enable the dance to develop into its current format. Verkhovynets' initial work entailed gathering authentic village steps throughout central Ukraine and constructing dances which more accurately represented

570-478: The Kazotsky Kick. Players can make all 9 of the playable characters perform the dance during gameplay. List of national dances This is a list of national dances . This may be a formal or informal designation. Not all nations officially recognize a national dance or dances. Ethnochoreology Ethnochoreology (also dance ethnology , dance anthropology ) is the study of dance through

600-472: The application of a number of disciplines such as anthropology , musicology , ethnomusicology , and ethnography . The word itself is relatively recent and etymologically means "the study of ethnic dance ", though this is not exclusive of research on more formalized dance forms, such as classical ballet , for example. Thus, ethnochoreology reflects the relatively recent attempt to apply academic thought to why people dance and what it means. Ethnochoreology

630-406: The battlefield would be re-enacted in pantomime , with real swords, lances or other weaponry, as the performer lashed out at invisible enemies. These dances were not tied down to specific rhythms, and the dancers could change tempo at any point. Such festive dancing differed greatly in character from the older ritual dances ( Ukrainian : oбpядовi танці , translit. obryadovi tantsi ), such as

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660-602: The field of the Central Lenin Stadium , with a large section of the tribune under the Olympic Flame Cauldron coloured in Ukrainian folk patterns during the performance. In the 2000s, Hopak music was extensively used by Ukrainians Anna Bessonova and Natalia Godunko in their routines of rhythmic gymnastics . In 2015, video game Team Fortress 2 added the hopak as a taunt move titled

690-418: The lead role was retained by male performers, structural elements began to be added in, such as circle forms and pairs moving together in formation; these developments most likely were derived from the choreographic history of ritual dances in the area. None of the dances performed by Cossacks during this time were ever recorded. Guillaume Le Vasseur de Beauplan recorded the fact that Cossacks danced in such

720-502: The pace of the music changes from segment to segment, allowing dancers to distinguish themselves. The melodies of the songs Hop, moyi hrechanyky ( Ukrainian : Гоп, мої гречаники ) and Od Kyieva do Luben ( Ukrainian : Од Києва до Лубень ) can be found in many Hopak arrangements. Hopaks usually end on a fast and furious pace, with some incorporating boisterous Ukrainian marches, such as Zasvystaly kozachen'ky ( Ukrainian : Засвистали козаченьки ). A number of composers have composed

750-614: The specific field of dance ethnology, which developed in America parallel to the development of ethnochoreology in Europe. Kurath considered dance ethnology to be a branch of dance anthropology, and laid its foundations in her 1960 work Panorama of Dance Ethnology : outlining dance ethnology's methods of documentation and analysis, and opening the discussions on dance transmission and diffusion, tradition and innovation, and relation to other aspects of culture. Whereas dance anthropology focused on

780-416: The speed and energy required to perform a successful Hopak, this dance is usually performed at the end of a program. As in many Ukrainian dances, the dancers, especially the women, do not stop moving until the end of the dance. Music for the Hopak is not standardized by tempo or melody , although 4 time predominates most arrangements. The dance is supposed to evoke a sense of improvisation, so

810-423: The study of culture through dance, dance ethnology focused on questions of dance specifically, employing insights into human behavior to answer such questions. Pearl Primus and Katherine Dunham were both notable dancers that bridged the gap between dance performance and dance ethnography. There are many methodological and ethical issues that arise from research in ethnochoreology. Anthropological research in general

840-745: The work of colonizers, missionaries, and researchers of disciplines such as anthropology and musicology. The first observations of dance in Indigenous and non-Western societies were not necessarily due to dedicated study, rather emerging as byproducts of other anthropological research. In many of the cultures studied, observations on dance could not be ignored due to dance's importance to Indigenous ceremonial life. Many of these observations were speculative, lacking in qualitative or quantitative analysis, and assumed false dichotomies between 'civilized' and 'primitive' societies. In 1933, musicologist Curt Sachs wrote Eine Weltgeschichte des Tanzes (World History of

870-545: Was a 3-part dance, consisting of a men's dance (much like the original Kozak dance), a second, slower segment danced only by women, and finally a rousing closing with both male and female dancers sharing the stage. This dance, along with Zhukov's addition, won the first prize at the festival that summer. The 3-part Hopak was later reprised in September back in Ukraine as part of the opera, Zaporozhets za Dunayem . The format of

900-437: Was performed only by male participants, as they took place in an all-male environment. The performers were young, boisterous mercenaries, and not professional dancers; as such, the dance steps performed were predominantly improvisational , reflecting the performers' sense of manliness, heroism, speed and strength. The steps exhibited included many acrobatic jumps ( Ukrainian : стрибки , translit. strybky ). Often fights from

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