Many national dances are well known around the world: tango, flamenco, waltz, cancan. But Russian folk dances are not familiar even to the inhabitants of Russia, since they did not receive distribution and gradually became the property of history. These are such ancient dances as a trepak, a round dance, a lady, an apple and others.
Round dance
Perhaps the most famous Russian folk dance is a round dance - an ancient ritual dance, in which people stood in a big circle and moved in a certain direction, performing movements with arms and legs. This is not only a Russian dance - round dances were common among many Slavs, only their names sound different.
Today, round dances are almost forgotten, in the traditional form they can be seen only in some villages where Old Believers live. They remember the customs of the dance: everyone can take part in it - men, women, children and the elderly. Dances are played in national costumes, usually after the holiday as the final part of it. It is not always necessary to form a circle, there are several figures of round dances: wattle, rein, on four sides, dance. The round dance ends with the dance part, this is no longer a rite, but ordinary dances with an accordion. At this time, you can perform any folk dances, for example, a trepak or a lady.
Trepak
Trepak is a more complex dance compared to a round dance, only trained dancers can perform it. It consists of fast movements: it is mainly characterized by the famous squatting steps, when the legs are thrown forward. But the trepak consists not only of them: the dance is accompanied by drowning, complex fractional steps, body turns and other elements.
According to the custom, during the trepak, the dancers improvised, making up various types of dances from the elements. Today, a trepak can be seen performed by dance groups specializing in Russian folk dances.
Russian dance
Elements of Russian dance are similar to figures from a trepak: it also used squatting, striding and drowning. As a rule, men were engaged in Russian dance, the dance began from a stand with hands on each side, after which the dancer began to crouch, legs outstretched, take steps from several elements. During women's dancing, you had to shake your hips.
Often with Russian dance, the dancers clapped themselves in parts of the body, especially on the boots - that is how the Russian folk dance Kamarinskaya was born. The rhythm of this dance is quite fast and must be constantly maintained.
In the last dance, all children from a young age were taught. This dance was performed on major holidays. Often at fairs or during Maslenitsa competitions were held among dancers: sometimes on the quality of the dance, and sometimes on endurance - it was necessary to dance "until you drop."
