- Joined
- Jul 11, 2003
There are so many American 'street dances', I know what you mean, but we'll never see them in Skate Dance. Yet they acknowledge the Yankee Polka as a legitimate dance. Who knew that dance?
Joe
Folk ODs: Are skaters showing the "character" of the dance?
- Thread starter dorispulaski
- Start date
Joe
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2003
Well, Ron Ludington, the coach of Navarro & Bommentre, invented the Yankee Polka with his students, Jim Sladky and Judy Schwomeyer. It is named Yankee in honor of all them being Americans. Like so many of the newer compulsory dances, it was originally an OSP for Sladky & Schwomeyer in 1970, when the rhythm chosen for the OSP was (of course) Polka.
(boy has Ron Ludington been a coach at the top level for a L O N G time.).
http://figureskating.about.com/od/famousicedancers/a/sladky.htm
This article has a picture of them in their Yankee Polka outfits which were more or less fourth of July looking costumes.
Joe, what is that website?
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2003
I LOVE the Yankee Polka
but does anyone else immediately hear one of the pieces used for the CD whenever they read or hear "Yankee Polka"
but does anyone else immediately hear one of the pieces used for the CD whenever they read or hear "Yankee Polka"
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2003
Mostly Ukrainian Dances-Cossacks in Next Post
There are a number of Russian & Ukrainian OD's that are neither Gypsy nor Kalinka.
Russian, Ukrainian and Cossack dancing are thoroughly integrated into the world consciousness by this time. Probably the first 'Russian dance' I ever saw was the one in the Nutcracker. In The following clip, the Mariinsky (Kirov) Ballet company does a ballet version of Russian folk dance-almost shocking to see a ballet with heels pointed! The moves they are incorporating to make this dance have a Russian character are the same group of moves that I listed above in the Kalinka post. You will note that the traditional Russian headdress, the Kokoshnik
is being worn, although this dance is based on the Ukrainian dance, the Tropak.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvu7F3bTJq8
There are a lot of different Ukrainian dances, but what we see is generally the Gopak or Hopak. Other than that the gentleman wears very baggy pants and a sash and the lady wears a floral headdress and red boots, the movements don't seem very different to me than the Russian dances. Jumps and kicks are if anything, bigger and more prevalent. There is however, an additional prop: the saber. And None of the skaters has incorporated this prop, for obvious reasons.
One feature of Ukrainian music and dance that is nice for figure skating OD's is that frequently the same piece of music has fast and slow parts. The pace is most frantic at the end of the dance, which insures ending on an exciting note.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_dance
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopak
The following clip shows a men-only version of Gopak dancing. As usual, there are a great deal of high flying leaps and acrobatic tricks. Gopak was originally a men only dance. It is only more recently that women were only included in gopak dancing..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzhqneKsQZw
In fact, there is a distinctly martial tradition ingrained in Gopak, as can be seen by the saber prop, and in fact, there is even a Hopak martial art that was invented back in the 1980's, deliberately created by combining Ukrainian fighting and dancing traditions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_Hopak
In martial hopak-the sabers are especially evident, along with interesting kicks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuP2svZx-7Q
The following teams are dancing to Gopak music:
Zadorozhniuk and Verbillo of the Ukraine do a very good job of putting Gopak moves into their dance-a great leap (a must), high kicks, the crossed arms, the arm behind the head, and it's throughout the dance, not just in the posing sections, or just once in an element to fit the requirements of COP.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APproEpf1Jc
Rubleva and Shefer of Russia are doing a Gopak dance
The clip below shows their Skate America performance, which included an unfortunate costume problem with Shefer's sash, which is part of the typical Gopak costume.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9L_NfEeVkU
A link to their performance at Europeans, which had no such problem, is below. This program is particularly worth watching because Nicky & Simon discuss some of the problems with judging dance and coaching dance under COP. Rubleva and Shefer have great Gopak costumes (and yes the wide plaid skirt and floral headdress with extra ribbons is authentic, but they don't keep up the character of the dance quite as well or as consistently as Zadorozhniuk and Verbillo. Still it is a very good effort.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VI-fdP39h4s
and finally Zhiganshina and Gazsi of Germany also dance to Ukrainian folk music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9UwYotE7Kw
Unfortunately, no one tried Ukrainian Social folk dancing for an OD. The kind of dancing that we are seeing is done as professional dancing on stage. If you're curious, here's Ukrainian social dancing at a campus- three different dances are done in this clip. Be sure to take a look at the information about the dance revealed when you hit the more button on the right hand side of the page.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7c6bp5rSWs&feature=related
This clip is people literally dancing in the Kiev streets for joy, New Year's 2005, following the Orange Revolution. Be sure to hit the more button for more information. Some of the music and dancing is Ukrainian folk, some not. I would love to have seen an OD based on the Orange Revolution. An FD would be good, too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUgGDTt-6Ac
Again, because the post is getting long, I will finish up the Cossack dancing in my next post.
There are a number of Russian & Ukrainian OD's that are neither Gypsy nor Kalinka.
Russian, Ukrainian and Cossack dancing are thoroughly integrated into the world consciousness by this time. Probably the first 'Russian dance' I ever saw was the one in the Nutcracker. In The following clip, the Mariinsky (Kirov) Ballet company does a ballet version of Russian folk dance-almost shocking to see a ballet with heels pointed! The moves they are incorporating to make this dance have a Russian character are the same group of moves that I listed above in the Kalinka post. You will note that the traditional Russian headdress, the Kokoshnik
is being worn, although this dance is based on the Ukrainian dance, the Tropak.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvu7F3bTJq8
There are a lot of different Ukrainian dances, but what we see is generally the Gopak or Hopak. Other than that the gentleman wears very baggy pants and a sash and the lady wears a floral headdress and red boots, the movements don't seem very different to me than the Russian dances. Jumps and kicks are if anything, bigger and more prevalent. There is however, an additional prop: the saber. And None of the skaters has incorporated this prop, for obvious reasons.
One feature of Ukrainian music and dance that is nice for figure skating OD's is that frequently the same piece of music has fast and slow parts. The pace is most frantic at the end of the dance, which insures ending on an exciting note.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_dance
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopak
The following clip shows a men-only version of Gopak dancing. As usual, there are a great deal of high flying leaps and acrobatic tricks. Gopak was originally a men only dance. It is only more recently that women were only included in gopak dancing..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzhqneKsQZw
In fact, there is a distinctly martial tradition ingrained in Gopak, as can be seen by the saber prop, and in fact, there is even a Hopak martial art that was invented back in the 1980's, deliberately created by combining Ukrainian fighting and dancing traditions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_Hopak
In martial hopak-the sabers are especially evident, along with interesting kicks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuP2svZx-7Q
The following teams are dancing to Gopak music:
Zadorozhniuk and Verbillo of the Ukraine do a very good job of putting Gopak moves into their dance-a great leap (a must), high kicks, the crossed arms, the arm behind the head, and it's throughout the dance, not just in the posing sections, or just once in an element to fit the requirements of COP.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APproEpf1Jc
Rubleva and Shefer of Russia are doing a Gopak dance
The clip below shows their Skate America performance, which included an unfortunate costume problem with Shefer's sash, which is part of the typical Gopak costume.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9L_NfEeVkU
A link to their performance at Europeans, which had no such problem, is below. This program is particularly worth watching because Nicky & Simon discuss some of the problems with judging dance and coaching dance under COP. Rubleva and Shefer have great Gopak costumes (and yes the wide plaid skirt and floral headdress with extra ribbons is authentic, but they don't keep up the character of the dance quite as well or as consistently as Zadorozhniuk and Verbillo. Still it is a very good effort.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VI-fdP39h4s
and finally Zhiganshina and Gazsi of Germany also dance to Ukrainian folk music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9UwYotE7Kw
Unfortunately, no one tried Ukrainian Social folk dancing for an OD. The kind of dancing that we are seeing is done as professional dancing on stage. If you're curious, here's Ukrainian social dancing at a campus- three different dances are done in this clip. Be sure to take a look at the information about the dance revealed when you hit the more button on the right hand side of the page.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7c6bp5rSWs&feature=related
This clip is people literally dancing in the Kiev streets for joy, New Year's 2005, following the Orange Revolution. Be sure to hit the more button for more information. Some of the music and dancing is Ukrainian folk, some not. I would love to have seen an OD based on the Orange Revolution. An FD would be good, too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUgGDTt-6Ac
Again, because the post is getting long, I will finish up the Cossack dancing in my next post.
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2003
I can't remember but if you use search for Dance Origins I'm sure it will come up. Another dilly, I learned was that the Cakewalk comes from the Seminole Indians in Florida. I always thought it was ragtime.
Joe
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2003
http://www.folkipedia.org/index.php?pageName=Cakewalk
Folkipedia is a good source for folk music and folk dance. Apparently the cakewalk, like so many dances evolved from a fusion of source, in this case African-American and Seminole, and was finalized in ragtime & vaudeville.
Folkipedia is a good source for folk music and folk dance. Apparently the cakewalk, like so many dances evolved from a fusion of source, in this case African-American and Seminole, and was finalized in ragtime & vaudeville.
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2003
Cossacks
The only team showing a Cossack dance this season that I know of is Domnina Shabalin. The team has been plagued by injury, and I am sure it has affected the length of time they've had to really polish their OD, which is probably why Nicky and Simon aren't quite happy with it, and find their music a relatively poor choice for them:
Europeans performance (British Eurosport commentary)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4HUSwKTCVQ
Trying to find the correct folk dance to link their dance to was quite difficult for me, for several reasons:
1. Like Nicky and Simon, everything I knew about Cossack dance could be written on the back of a postage stamp.
2. And that postage stamp was uncomfortably cartoonish, rather like the Cossack dance that Coca Cola has been using to advertise their Qoo product:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIe38Rj2InE
In other words, a little guy squatting, doing kicks, followed by amazing jumps.
I was able to find the recording Domnina & Shabalin used:
Don Kosakenchor Russland (Choir of the Don Cossacks Russia): Greatest Hits:
http://www.amazon.com/Kosakenchor-R...bs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1203247544&sr=8-2
The Don Cossack Choir's Greatest Hits included Kalinka and Dark Eyes, so clearly it does not perform strictly Cossack music, let alone strictly Don Cossack music. And in any case, the Don Cossack people are often theorized to be a group descended from fugitives and refugees who moved to the border area and fused with the local Kurgan people, to form one Cossack group. In general, Cossacks were free peoples who were sometimes military groups, and sometimes freebooters of various sorts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Cossacks
Such a group would have very mixed folk musical traditions.
However, Domnina and Shabalin's biography from this source says "Guys, Put a Harness on Your Horses" is a Ukrainian folk dance, http://fsnews.ru/page-id-57.html so I'm going to say the dance to look to is the kozatchok., which is Ukrainian Cossack. Further evidence supporting this choice comes from a recent New York Times interview with the Don Cossacks Song and Dance Company of Rostov:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE4DF153DF932A15752C0A966958260
Unfortunately, the term Kazatchok is spelled a number of different ways-I have seen kazakchok, kozakchock, kazatchok, kozatchock, casatchok, etc. This makes research a little more difficult.
I did find a very good Anissina & Peizerat Exhibition of the Kozatchok, skated at Europeans in 1997:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUdDeK5cz70
Right away, it makes clear one thing about Cossack programs: the props are fierce. In this case, A&P use a horse whip.
Long spears are also used, as in this clip of the Virsky Ukrainian Dance company performing a Cossack dance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiakVUKYCSQ&feature=related
And sabers are also favorite props, as in this clip from a 1981 Red Army performance of the Zaporozhian Cossacks' Letter to the Turkish Sultan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmskmfM5hx8
As are handkerchiefs, when women dancers are included:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjXkgtMuTFI
A review of these and other Cossack videos show the following features that might be translated to the ice:
1. A variety of half turn or less jumps by the man-Russian splits, falling leafs, and anything so long as it's huge. There's one done in the Red Army clip that's a half turn with the man in a piked position.
2. Very high kicks with pointed toes.
3. Something needs to be done to simulate either the low kicks and running around on the hands, kicking. A&P do a straight line lift where Anissina does some kicking. An alternative is to do low lunges, either stretching out the free foot to the side or front.
Another possibility that I haven't seen used is tucked twizzles, which would quite look like the groups of men crouched and spinning in the Letter to the Sultan clip. (similar to the tucked twizzles used in Summersett & Gilles' Brother Where Art Thou OD. It is the 2nd dance on the Sr. OD coverage of US Nationals done by icenetwork.
4. Truly these dances are full of props. More than other types of OD, a Cossack dance would really benefit from having one. On the other hand, the sabers are lethal and the handkerchiefs look rather tame and pointless. I did like A&P's use of the horse whip.
5. The usual conventions of other Russian and Ukrainian dances-holding or slapping the foot, the man putting his hand behind his head. Pointing the heels is done, but doesn't seem quite as prevalent as in, say Hopak. Throwing the hands up (Hooray), or using a 'praying hands' position before throwing the hands up are two other possible character moves.
6. Spinning or turning or twizzling with the arm out at about a 35 degree angle from verticle-Domnina & Shabalin use this one.
7. Perhaps pair spins could start with the pair side by side with arms around the waist.
8. Foot stomping. Lots of foot stomping.
Domnina and Shabalin's dance contains an adequate number of little character moves, but seems to call for at least one big showy leap or crazy lunge--and this could well be a problem for them, since I suspect either would be too risky for Maxim's knee. Like many other teams, their pair dance spin is generic. Nicky and Simon critiqued this dance for it's single tempo, and for the fact that the 'music is leaving the skaters', too. It's not surprising that this dance does not score quite as well for Domnina and Shabalin as their FD does.
More clips and reference:
Kazachok dances
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcN8MK1tmCI&feature=related
student kazachok
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V9P8zQxQLw&feature=related
Canadian Azov Cossacks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz4OCrKEr8I&feature=related
Barynya's Russian cossack dance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o_YHDqGrs8&feature=related
Cossacks, including their dances
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cossack
spanish casatchok
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5F24mBxZj0s&feature=related
Katyusha & Volga boatman
The only team showing a Cossack dance this season that I know of is Domnina Shabalin. The team has been plagued by injury, and I am sure it has affected the length of time they've had to really polish their OD, which is probably why Nicky and Simon aren't quite happy with it, and find their music a relatively poor choice for them:
Europeans performance (British Eurosport commentary)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4HUSwKTCVQ
Trying to find the correct folk dance to link their dance to was quite difficult for me, for several reasons:
1. Like Nicky and Simon, everything I knew about Cossack dance could be written on the back of a postage stamp.
2. And that postage stamp was uncomfortably cartoonish, rather like the Cossack dance that Coca Cola has been using to advertise their Qoo product:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIe38Rj2InE
In other words, a little guy squatting, doing kicks, followed by amazing jumps.
I was able to find the recording Domnina & Shabalin used:
Don Kosakenchor Russland (Choir of the Don Cossacks Russia): Greatest Hits:
http://www.amazon.com/Kosakenchor-R...bs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1203247544&sr=8-2
The Don Cossack Choir's Greatest Hits included Kalinka and Dark Eyes, so clearly it does not perform strictly Cossack music, let alone strictly Don Cossack music. And in any case, the Don Cossack people are often theorized to be a group descended from fugitives and refugees who moved to the border area and fused with the local Kurgan people, to form one Cossack group. In general, Cossacks were free peoples who were sometimes military groups, and sometimes freebooters of various sorts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Cossacks
Such a group would have very mixed folk musical traditions.
However, Domnina and Shabalin's biography from this source says "Guys, Put a Harness on Your Horses" is a Ukrainian folk dance, http://fsnews.ru/page-id-57.html so I'm going to say the dance to look to is the kozatchok., which is Ukrainian Cossack. Further evidence supporting this choice comes from a recent New York Times interview with the Don Cossacks Song and Dance Company of Rostov:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE4DF153DF932A15752C0A966958260
Unfortunately, the term Kazatchok is spelled a number of different ways-I have seen kazakchok, kozakchock, kazatchok, kozatchock, casatchok, etc. This makes research a little more difficult.
I did find a very good Anissina & Peizerat Exhibition of the Kozatchok, skated at Europeans in 1997:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUdDeK5cz70
Right away, it makes clear one thing about Cossack programs: the props are fierce. In this case, A&P use a horse whip.
Long spears are also used, as in this clip of the Virsky Ukrainian Dance company performing a Cossack dance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiakVUKYCSQ&feature=related
And sabers are also favorite props, as in this clip from a 1981 Red Army performance of the Zaporozhian Cossacks' Letter to the Turkish Sultan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmskmfM5hx8
As are handkerchiefs, when women dancers are included:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjXkgtMuTFI
A review of these and other Cossack videos show the following features that might be translated to the ice:
1. A variety of half turn or less jumps by the man-Russian splits, falling leafs, and anything so long as it's huge. There's one done in the Red Army clip that's a half turn with the man in a piked position.
2. Very high kicks with pointed toes.
3. Something needs to be done to simulate either the low kicks and running around on the hands, kicking. A&P do a straight line lift where Anissina does some kicking. An alternative is to do low lunges, either stretching out the free foot to the side or front.
Another possibility that I haven't seen used is tucked twizzles, which would quite look like the groups of men crouched and spinning in the Letter to the Sultan clip. (similar to the tucked twizzles used in Summersett & Gilles' Brother Where Art Thou OD. It is the 2nd dance on the Sr. OD coverage of US Nationals done by icenetwork.
4. Truly these dances are full of props. More than other types of OD, a Cossack dance would really benefit from having one. On the other hand, the sabers are lethal and the handkerchiefs look rather tame and pointless. I did like A&P's use of the horse whip.
5. The usual conventions of other Russian and Ukrainian dances-holding or slapping the foot, the man putting his hand behind his head. Pointing the heels is done, but doesn't seem quite as prevalent as in, say Hopak. Throwing the hands up (Hooray), or using a 'praying hands' position before throwing the hands up are two other possible character moves.
6. Spinning or turning or twizzling with the arm out at about a 35 degree angle from verticle-Domnina & Shabalin use this one.
7. Perhaps pair spins could start with the pair side by side with arms around the waist.
8. Foot stomping. Lots of foot stomping.
Domnina and Shabalin's dance contains an adequate number of little character moves, but seems to call for at least one big showy leap or crazy lunge--and this could well be a problem for them, since I suspect either would be too risky for Maxim's knee. Like many other teams, their pair dance spin is generic. Nicky and Simon critiqued this dance for it's single tempo, and for the fact that the 'music is leaving the skaters', too. It's not surprising that this dance does not score quite as well for Domnina and Shabalin as their FD does.
More clips and reference:
Kazachok dances
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcN8MK1tmCI&feature=related
student kazachok
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V9P8zQxQLw&feature=related
Canadian Azov Cossacks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz4OCrKEr8I&feature=related
Barynya's Russian cossack dance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o_YHDqGrs8&feature=related
Cossacks, including their dances
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cossack
spanish casatchok
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5F24mBxZj0s&feature=related
Katyusha & Volga boatman
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2003
completely random, but the Jr. High that I went to's mascot was a cossack (though we spelled it Kossack for the Kenai Kossacks )
)
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2003
Clearly, you were destined to be an ice dance fan, Toni!
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2003
But now that you are a (What's a) Sea Wolf, I assume competitive swimming is your new thing! :yes:completely random, but the Jr. High that I went to's mascot was a cossack (though we spelled it Kossack for the Kenai Kossacks
Doris, wonderful post (#48). I wish I knew something about this topic so I could contribute to the thread. But I am having a blast reading it.
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2003
I don't have too much to add about cossack dancing. I can say that their culture is extremely violent and aggressive. The Tsarist government often used them to not only put down domestic uprisings, but to direct pogroms against the Jewish settlements. Most modern Russians get their somewhat idealized view of the Cossack culture from Gogol, whose Taras Bulba, describing the life of the Zaporozhian Cosssacks, is a part of the school curriculum. Ironically, unless you actually seek the academic edition of Bulba, you get a censored version, omitting the many atrocities the company commits on its way pretty much for fun and entertainment.
Of course, it's easy to see the appeal of the Cossack culture for Russians - in a country that has pretty much never seen real liberty, that was the one group that lived in its own, albeit relative, freedom.
Of course, it's easy to see the appeal of the Cossack culture for Russians - in a country that has pretty much never seen real liberty, that was the one group that lived in its own, albeit relative, freedom.
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2003
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2003
Thank you all! We are about to move to the troubling concept of why North American folk is disrespected, what is a hoedown, and why North American dances have to be to cartoons, or europoppish music. I will warn you, again, I do not know the answers to all these questions, and hope you will discuss them, now that we're moving into more familiar territory.
I hope you all bothered to click on the Anissina and Peizerat Cossack clip. I hadn't seen it before and really enjoyed it!
I hope you all bothered to click on the Anissina and Peizerat Cossack clip. I hadn't seen it before and really enjoyed it!
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2003
Because it's the way Ice Dance works! 
Yay for cotton eye joe... I guess lol
Yay for cotton eye joe... I guess lol
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2003
I am about to show my ignorance, but do you think that one one factor is just the length of pedigree of European folk dances compared to U.S.? The longer a dance is around, the more opportunity it has to acquire subtlety and stylized steps. Then before you know it, it is no longer a "folk" dance (in the sense that evryone in the village gathers around the bonfire and hoofs it as best they can to the concertina) and instead becomes more and more the province of professional dance troops.
I can do the Detroit hustle -- everyone in the saloon gets in a big block and does the same three steps over and over. I can square dance in the sense that when the caller says "honor your corner" I know to look around for someone who is not my partner to bow to. But I doubt that the entire village of Limerick Ireland can do what Michael Flatley does.
But if the OD requirement is a "folk" dance, then all these dances that now have become "professionalized" should be excluded. Or, at the very least, dances that are still "folk" dances should be allowed. I really liked B&A's Skate America OD, but learned that it was underappreciated by the judges. The judges wanted something more stereotypical -- a Western that everybody could understand. Well, if that's how the judges are going to react, then no one should be surprised when the majority of dance teams choose a sterotypical Russian folk dance (that is not even true Russian folk) because that's what the judges will understand best. I was hoping the "folk" requirement would bring in lots of new dances, but if the judges aren't open to appreciating new styles, then this just isn't going to happen.
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2003
Larry, You have a point, but consider the case of Faiella & Scali who are skating an obscure peasant version of the tarantella called the pizzica, and which is not a 'stage' dance. In fact, these folk OD's are supposed to be 'folk' not stage. Yet F&S's folk dance has been much admired.
And as to the lineage of North American folk dances, of course, they are of the same length as European--in the case of the Appalachian hoedown, they go back to the Scottish, British & Irish jigs & reels that are the source of the Kerrs and Michael Flatley's efforts. And they have a stage version. Clogging got its start as a 'stage dance' back when the Grand Ole Opry was on radio. It is a refined version of the buckdance.
And just in case you think those old boys in the village can't cut a rug, they have to & had to. The buckdancing & clogging is the entire percussion section for the band. I wonder whether these origins are why North Americans are absolute sticklers for 'timing' in dancing--I presume this is also involved with the origins of American tap dancing.
Basically, in a social setting, it's really not a dance for amateurs-it's danced by single dancers who are showing off. You practice at home until you're good enough to amaze your friends.
Here's the historical version (buckdancing), a buckdancer and Emmylou Harris clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4PvGCsm2DM
It's also called Appalachian flat footing, when you're doing a demo in Limerick, Ireland. This is a good clip!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aphScE2oZts&feature=related
This is just like all of us have lineage of the same number of years, we just don't know who all they were.
And as we know, it ends with Jonathon Papelbon dancing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST2Z-mqYTDo&feature=related
I'm still writing the next installment, or I'd go on at more length.
This is very true, but seems to apply more to non-European dances, I think.
And as to the lineage of North American folk dances, of course, they are of the same length as European--in the case of the Appalachian hoedown, they go back to the Scottish, British & Irish jigs & reels that are the source of the Kerrs and Michael Flatley's efforts. And they have a stage version. Clogging got its start as a 'stage dance' back when the Grand Ole Opry was on radio. It is a refined version of the buckdance.
And just in case you think those old boys in the village can't cut a rug, they have to & had to. The buckdancing & clogging is the entire percussion section for the band. I wonder whether these origins are why North Americans are absolute sticklers for 'timing' in dancing--I presume this is also involved with the origins of American tap dancing.
Basically, in a social setting, it's really not a dance for amateurs-it's danced by single dancers who are showing off. You practice at home until you're good enough to amaze your friends.
Here's the historical version (buckdancing), a buckdancer and Emmylou Harris clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4PvGCsm2DM
It's also called Appalachian flat footing, when you're doing a demo in Limerick, Ireland. This is a good clip!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aphScE2oZts&feature=related
This is just like all of us have lineage of the same number of years, we just don't know who all they were.
And as we know, it ends with Jonathon Papelbon dancing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST2Z-mqYTDo&feature=related
I'm still writing the next installment, or I'd go on at more length.
This is very true, but seems to apply more to non-European dances, I think.
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- Jun 21, 2003
YEE-HAW! Now that's what I'm talking ABOUT!
OK, but now I see what the problem is. That kind of dancing (tap dancing is the city-slicker version, yes?) just cannot be translated to ice, no way, no how. You stand in one place with very little upper body movement and do intricate quick steps with your feet. That is the opposite of ice skating, which is based on long glides. Waltz, si, buckdance, nyet.
Did Bourne and Kraatz pull it off -- or was their Riverdance just a square peg in a round hole? Could we classify Yagudin's Morozov footwork as an attempt to bring tap to ice?
