The magical power of the Slavic Round Dance

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Round dances are one of the most ancient ritual actions associated with the cult of the Sun; over time, they acquire a partly ritual, partly entertainment and play character. It is in this capacity that they are preserved for a long time in the folk tradition. Round dances have been known since ancient times, they exist among all peoples, they have magical powers, rallying people, harmonizing relations with the world, and bringing joy.

The round dance has been known to people since the Paleolithic era (it has been restored from rock paintings, from the prints of bare feet preserved on the clay, inside the caves).

Dance is a bright, colorful creation of the people, an artistic reflection of their diverse life, which embodies the creative imagination and depth of national feelings. The Russian people, who, during their centuries-old history, have created highly artistic epics, wise tales, wonderful weaves of lace, amazing clay products, magnificent wood carvings, various embroideries, many songs rich in content and rhythmically bright, have also generated amazing beauty and patterns. and dances of very varied content. And the Russian round dance is a true masterpiece of dance art.

The round dance is not only the most widespread, but also the most ancient type of Russian dance. The main construction of the round dance - a circle, its circular composition (like the sun) and movement in the direction of the sun (walking after the sun - "salting") originate from the ancient pagan rituals and merrymaking of the Slavs who worshiped the powerful sun god - Yaril.

The importance of Russian round dances for our nationality is so great that it is difficult to name another element of national culture that has invariably played such a huge role for many centuries. Occupying three annual epochs in the life of the Russian people: spring, summer and autumn, round dances reflect the special features of our nationality - originality, joy, creative strength and delight. And, undoubtedly, the round dance is a kind of symbol of beauty - the beauty of movement, the beauty of the surrounding world and, finally, human beauty.

According to V. Dal, the largest expert on folk culture, a round dance (karagod, tank, circle, street) is a gathering of rural youth in the open air to dance with songs. The use of the word "round dance" in folklore, ethnography, art history and colloquial speech has many meanings. In its broadest sense, the word "round dance" coincides with the peasant concept of "street" (walking outside, walking in a round dance; not letting anyone in the street, not letting in a round dance) and denotes all the spring-summer pastime of village youth in its various forms … True, the Russian countryside also knew winter round dances on the street, but this was rare.

The round dance often began like this: two or three young women and the same number of girls-brides living in the neighborhood, stood in the middle of the street and began to "play songs." Other girls gradually joined them. Then, just as gradually, young men and boys came up. Guys often came with harmonics, violins, tambourines.

A round dance could have arisen in another way: on a holiday in the center of the village, where there was a fair or some semblance of it, several girls at first slowly sang "jokes", sitting next to them on a log; the guys played along with them or sang along lightly. Then everyone got up and, holding hands, made a circle. Then one of the participants was already singing loudly, and a guy with a scarf in his hands came out in the middle of the circle. A round dance song began, accompanied by a pantomime inside the circle. Girls participated in the round dance everywhere, everywhere forming its basis. They began to go in a round dance from the age of 12-13, in other places - from 14-15. For a peasant girl, the question of attending a round dance was not always decided only by age. In families where two or more sisters grew up, when solving it, ideas about the advantage of the eldest daughter in choosing a groom and marrying came into force and turned into a number of restrictions for the younger ones. The family deliberately kept the youngest daughter (or younger daughters) in the shadows until the eldest married.

In a round dance, a sense of unity and friendship is always manifested. Participants, as a rule, hold hands, sometimes one finger - little finger, often - a scarf, shawl, belt, wreath. In some round dances, the participants move one after the other, maintaining a strict interval. All these connections directly depend on geography, because the round dance is widespread throughout Russia, and each region contributes something of its own, creating variety in style, composition, character and manner of performance.

For example, northern round dances have always been distinguished by nobility, consistency and amazing musicality. This kind of round dance seemed to have absorbed the gentle and austere beauty of the North, inheriting the invariable temperament of the Russian soul. Northern round dances are the most restrained, dignified, calm, but, at the same time, it is difficult to convey all their emotional richness and depth. In the central regions of Russia, near Moscow, round dances were characterized by gaiety, carelessness and were decorated with another masterpiece of folk art - songs of amazing nature. Such round dances were certainly accompanied by clapping, stamping, fast and energetic movements. And the warm and affectionate south of Russia has always been famous for its unrestrained and daring round dances, sometimes turning into dance and distinguished by an intricate pattern and crowds. In this dance - impetuosity, strength and boundless enthusiasm.

Round dances were popular both in the village and in the city. If you do not go into the intricacies, then we can say that the village and city round dances did not differ much. And there and there was temperament, joy, intrigue, and, of course, she - the queen of folk fun - a round dance, the most cheerful and lively woman in the area, usually of mature age. Courage, youth and agility distinguished her from others. She is forever young, playful, talkative, she can sing and dance perfectly. The round dance was in charge of all the amusements, stood at the head of the round dance, closely followed the process, invented new dance figures and drawings.

The round dance has always been an event in the life of the Russian people. Women and girls, preparing for the round dances, put on the best outfits - the subject of special care of the villagers. Girls bought ribbons and scarves at fairs, often weaved, sewed, knitted themselves. The men in round dances represented guests who were called to share the joys. Young unmarried guys entered games with girls at the invitation of a round dance - each was looking out for a bride among the dancing elegant maidens. The girls, too, did not get lost and watched: who was looking more intently than anyone, who would come up and call with them in a groovy game.

Russian round dances were distributed according to the season, free days and classes. Rural villages start from Holy Week and continue until the working time; others appear from 15 August and end with the onset of winter. The villagers only have fun on holiday days; on other days peasant labor does not let them go. City dances also begin with Holy Week and continue throughout the summer and fall, several times a week.

Speaking about the nature of the round dance, it should be noted that the Russian round dance is of two types: ornamental and play. If there is no pronounced plot or characters in the round dance, then the participants walk around, braiding ornamental figures from the round dance chain in rows. This type of round dance is called ornamental. Most often, the artistic content of such round dances is associated with images of Russian nature. The close connection of folk art with the life of the people, with their songs and dances, helped to create many drawings - figures of a round dance. Intricate dance weaves are inspired by patterns of Russian lacemakers, woodcarvers, painters. And vice versa - thin lace patterns, for example, often repeat the monogram of a round dance. Great importance was attached to the ingenuity of the dance pattern in Russia. Often a round dance or a round dance specially composed new intricacies in order to give the dance interest and expressiveness.

Game round dances are necessarily accompanied by a song. In such an action there is a plot and characters: the performers with the help of facial expressions, dance, gestures create various images and characters of the heroes. Often the characters are animals, birds, and then the participants in the round dance, depicting birds and animals, imitate their movements and habits. Most of the themes for play round dances are contained in songs reflecting the life and life of the people: work, the choice of a bride or groom, the relationship between husband and wife, love and fairy tale themes, ridicule of the landowners. In addition, the round dance, as a dramatic action, required not only a talented acting performance, but also some accessories: handkerchiefs, wreaths, sticks, stools appear in it. Each item was also a specific symbol. The wreath symbolizes the marriage union, the scarf is the pillow, the silk lash is the symbol of strength and humility. Everything in this round dance is creativity.

Exploring the tricks and secrets of "round dance science", one can only wonder: what kind of fantasy, what imagery, what originality, what beauty.

What types of round dances are there?

There are two types of round dance - ornamental and play. The pattern of round dances often resembles the intricate patterns of Russian lace, the participants move in a chain, a snake, and there is a formation in two rows.

Ornamental ritual round dances are the oldest. They are characterized by a playful element, a slow circular movement "in the sun" accompanied by the singing of archaic songs, instrumental accompaniment is rare. Non-rituals are distinguished by a more developed choreography, accompanied either by songs or by an instrumental ensemble, sometimes with song and instrumental music at the same time, round dances were arranged in meadows and fields, on the banks of rivers and lakes, on streets and churchyards; the participants, holding hands, smoothly, at a slow pace, moved in a circle (in rows, pairs, a wriggling chain, etc.) sometimes line up in a line opposite each other.

They started to "string": all the participants, holding hands, led a round dance with complex loop-like figures to various songs. "Rope" rolled out into the passage, returned to the hut, twisted and twisted, and the songs replaced one another. Our ancestors loved to gather on the outskirts of the village one summer evening and dance to the lingering tunes … the swastika. The analogue of the symbol was in the Russian dance culture - the dance "Kolovrat".

The difference between folk and sacred dances

Folk dances:

group dances, passed down from generation to generation since ancient times, are based on pagan customs and traditions.

a special understanding of life, not just entertainment.

with the advent of the church, they were prohibited, only some drawings of the movements have survived.

Sacred dances:

always have the character of worship or communication with something higher.

an attempt to establish contact with your deepest self, to answer the questions “Who am I? Why am I here?.."

Sacred dance is the basis of the ritual and spiritual life of our distant ancestors. These movements are guides to the inner world for generations of people for millennia.

The role of the female sacred dance was strongest in goddess-worshiping cultures, where women performed rituals and worship, as has been observed in cultures around the world. It is with the worship of the goddess that the path of sacred dance in the world begins. The Cosmic Mother Goddess symbolizes the strength and harmony of life itself. Women resonate with the image of the goddess as the feminine aspect of the divine - regardless of their ethnicity or religion.

The round dance of the planets of the solar system is located near the plane passing through the solar equator, and circles around the sun in the same direction - from west to east. A solar bonfire is burning, and a round dance of planets is around it. Sometimes the planets line up.

Life is a sacred dance of a figure dressed in a physical shell, which is a beautiful human body. He who has forgotten his past does not have his future in this dance, tk. he does not know the purpose of the sacred dance of the gods, passed on to a person so that he remembers the way home.

The round dance helps to evenly organize your biofield, due to interaction with relatives. A uniformly closed circuit is a kind of rotation and organization of the Force Current.

The change in the rhythm and direction of the round dance gave an interaction with all kinds of flows, vibrations. Which, in fact, fully characterizes the arrangement of the larger round dance KOLOGODNY.

Round dance figures

In terms of content, character, form, time, Russian round dances were divided into four groups: spring, summer, autumn, winter. Round dances are closed (circle) and open (line to line, snake, etc.). The round dance is widespread throughout Russia, and each region brings something of its own, creates variety in style, composition, character and manner of performance. Round dances are very diverse in their constructions, most of the round dances are circular.

You can often find a double circle-circle in a circle. Sometimes the dancers form two circles side by side, and sometimes these circles seem to overflow one into the other and their movement forms a figure "eight". Large circles and small circles are a very common form of building a Russian round dance. But the movement of the round dance is not limited to a circular pattern. The circle breaks, new constructions are formed, new patterns - zigzags, lines, etc.

Each drawing, each construction of a round dance has its own specific name for example: "circle", "collar", "eight", "column", "basket", "carousel", etc. These specific constructions are called round dance figures and are an integral part.