Russian Dance

April 16, 2021 4:54 AM

A friend shared this video with just a comment about the sleeve length, but I'm transfixed by it. It looks full of symbolism and I'd love to know more, is it traditional? modern? what does it mean? Is it Russian? Can anyone help?
posted by sarahdal to Society & Culture (7 answers total)

Best answer: It's the Berezka dance and its surprisingly modern... Here's an article about it!
posted by larthegreat at 4:59 AM on April 16, 2021 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: fantastic, thank you!
posted by sarahdal at 5:04 AM on April 16, 2021 [1 favorite]

Regarding the sleeves, it seems somehow related to the Chinese dance of water sleeves
posted by kschang at 5:15 AM on April 16, 2021 [1 favorite]

Google recognised the text as Russian; the last time I saw dancing like that was a UK telly programme from the Georgian State dance group way back in the 70s. The gliding, the way the dancers carried themselves, the costumes, the beautiful soft boots, the men on points. That production ended with a good deal of fleeing about and high kicking. And sword dances. The thing it had I've not seen since in Russian dance is the women gliding and you can't see their feet.

Google translate says 'Kabardinka in Moscow From the concert of Cherim Nakhushev in Moscow. "I give the Good 25 years" on stage. Crocus City Hall'

So Cherim Nakhushev is a pop singer from Karachay-Cherkessia 'one of Russia's ethnic republics, primarily representing the indigenous Turkic Karachay people and the Cherkess or Circassian people.' His instagram is on the youtube page.
posted by glasseyes at 6:09 AM on April 16, 2021 [1 favorite]

There is a rich tradition of Georgian dance - which includes this kind of very ceremonial, slow moving stuff as well as spectacular athletic men's dancing. The Georgian National Ballet Sukhishvili posts a lot of really amazing videos. Here's one of the women - graceful and slow. Men's rehearsal - how they have knees left after a few years of this is amazing. Here's the trailer for a movie about it - focusing on a young gay man in a very homophobic society. This is one of my favorites - men and women rehearsing together. Interesting rehearsal/choreaography/performance video - mix of modern and tradition. And here's a more traditional one with a mix of the slow and the showy. Watching the movie sent me down a rabbit hole a while back.
posted by leslies at 8:20 AM on April 16, 2021 [3 favorites]

I have to agree with leslies on a second review that it looks more Georgian than Russian Berezka. (The difference in headdress should have been a tip off...).
posted by larthegreat at 8:41 AM on April 16, 2021

I would agree that the costumes look Georgian, but I suspect these folks are Circassian, and the name Kabardinka would correspond to that, being the name of a Circassian ensemble.
posted by Wrinkled Stumpskin at 10:26 AM on April 16, 2021