Festival “Round Dances of Russia” was held in Moscow

Almost always in the description of the famous fountain “Friendship of Peoples” at VDNKh there is the word “round dance”. And it is absolutely no coincidence that an unusual festival was held here on Monday. “Round dances of Russia”.

The festival movement “Round Dances of Russia” annually holds large-scale round dance events at the largest venues in the country. For all the time, more than 70,000 people, 180 creative teams and folklore clubs took part in the events of the “Round Dances of Russia”, which were held in more than 120 cities of Russia and the world.

The goal of the “universal round dance movement” is simple and understandable – the revival of the round dance culture in Russia as a symbol of the unity of the Russian people and a symbol of friendship between peoples; preservation of both Russian traditions and culture, and the original culture of the peoples of Russia through a universal traditional form of unity – a round dance; unity and friendship of the peoples of Russia, mutual respect and common prosperity; glorification and respect for the traditional family; a healthy lifestyle, and simply – a holiday, joy, peace!

On Monday, more than 60 cities of Russia and friendly countries joined the action, and hundreds of people joined the Moscow round dance! Guests of the exhibition were also able to take part in folk festivals – evenings, get acquainted with the history of national costumes, listen to Russian folk music.

The holiday was dedicated to the 350th anniversary of the birth of the first Russian Emperor Peter I and the Day of Ladoga, the first capital of Ancient Russia. Why? It is on August 15 that Ladoga Day is celebrated. Staraya Ladoga is the first capital of Ancient Russia, it was here in 862, exactly 1160 years ago, that Prince Rurik was invited, who gave rise to the Rurik dynasty, which ruled Russia for the next eight centuries. This event is recorded in the Tale of Bygone Years. In 882, Prince Oleg built the first stone and earthen fortress, with the emergence of which Ladoga turned from a small handicraft settlement into a large trading city. The Old Ladoga Fortress still stands today at the confluence of the Ladozhka River into the Volkhov (Leningrad Region).

No one knows when people first stood in a circle, joined hands and began to move in a dance. The most ancient circular dance was part of a pagan rite – worship of the sun god. And “walking after the sun” was firmly established in Slavic culture for many centuries. The dance, beloved by the people, has many names: salting, karagod, tank, circle, street.

As the great Dal explains, round dances are some kind of gatherings of rural youth in the free air for dancing with songs. According to the established tradition, young girls, having gone out into the street, began to “play songs” or started “jokes”. The organizer, as they would say now, the mass entertainer was a round dance – a clockwork woman, cheerful, vociferous: she sang songs and invented new dance figures.

In the round dance, the feeling of unity and friendship is most clearly manifested. Participants, as a rule, hold hands, sometimes one finger – the little finger, or the ends of a scarf, belt, or wreath, move one after another, maintaining a strict interval. Everything seems to be the same, but each area contributes something of its own, creating diversity in style, composition, character and manner of performance.

Round dances are playful and ornamental. Ornaments – just walk around or turn the chain right and left. But not everything is so simple: each drawing of a round dance has its own name: “gate”, “eight”, “column”, “basket”, “carousel”, pillars, “rein”, “wattle”, “side to side”, “dancing” and directly “circle”. Each of the figures must be performed to a specific song and in its own rhythm. The dancers move in a round dance “according to the sun” or “against the sun” – as in the old days.

Game round dances – here you just have opera with ballet, drama with vaudeville! In the game round dance there is a plot song and characters. The dancers express the character of the hero with facial expressions and dance figures. They depicted not only people, but also animals and birds. They also danced on current topics: the choice of a bride or groom, family affairs, work in the field or garden, love and fairy-tale themes, and even with social overtones – they ridiculed vices or greedy rich people. In the hands of those leading the game round dance there can be various objects: handkerchiefs, wreaths, sticks, buckets. The round dance is pure creativity, improvisation, but with its own signs and symbols. A wreath symbolizes marriage, a scarf – a pillow, a silk whip – a symbol of strength and humility.

Dancing is an idle occupation, and therefore round dances were led on time and on a specific occasion. Russian round dances were distributed according to the time of year, free days, everyday events. A round dance for a girl is one of the ways to look after her husband, and the guys also looked after their brides: is it a good face, does it float, does it sing loudly. Round dances were popular both in the village and in the city, women and girls, preparing for round dances, put on the best outfits.

Dance is a bright, colorful creation, an artistic representation of life, creative imagination and the depth of human feelings. The Russian people, over their centuries-old history, created highly artistic epics, wise fairy tales, wonderful weaves of lace, magnificent ceramic products, amazing wood carvings, various embroideries, many songs rich in content and bright in rhythm, gave rise to fantastically beautiful in design and very diverse in content. dancing. And the true masterpiece of dance art is the Russian round dance. The participants of the “Round Dance of Russia” gathered at the same time in various parts of the Earth to join hands and festive round dance to feel the unity of the people!

Mikhail Kovalev.

Author’s photo