Tales, Dance, Art & Songs

Steps often represent aspects of life Igor Moiseyev ( ) a pioneer in combining classical ballet with popular folk dance: Moiseyev Company (Балет Игоря Моисеева): “character dance” – a blend of folk dance with technique and theatrics Igor Moiseyev Балет Игоря Моисеева Costumes are representative of folk art: Decorative themes Image: Wikimedia CommonsWikimedia Commons

Troika Three dancers (usually a man and two women) represent the three horses pulling a “troika” (sleigh) Image: Wikimedia CommonsWikimedia Commons

Exemplar of Russian “folk” dance

Pagan origins Mokosh/Mother Earth Motifs: Flowers Branches Trees Horsemen/hunters Animals/mythical creatures Decorative patterns

Matryoshka – lacquered nesting dolls or “babushka” dolls Usually women in traditional dress First created in 1800s, presented at 1900 World Exhibition in Paris Image: Wikimedia CommonsWikimedia Commons

Image: Wikimedia CommonsWikimedia Commons

Afanasyev: 1 st major collection and recording of folk tales Pushkin used several as the basis for poems Gogol used several Ukrainian tales in short stories Much remains unpublished – oral tradition Many are gruesome and grim – weather/social conditions related?

Baba Yaga: most famous character in Russian folk tales Witch? Eats children Flies through the air on a giant mortar (or broomstick) Lives in a hut standing on chicken legs Usually evil, but occasionally sought out for wisdom Example: Vassilissa the Fair and Baba Yaga Image: Wikimedia CommonsWikimedia Commons

Image: “Баба Яга” Wikimedia CommonsБаба Яга

Scorned during the 1700s and 1800s by Francophile, cultivated city-dwellers Glinka ( ): Russlan and Ludmilla opera based on a poem by Pushkin, used folk music as its basis. 1861: Emancipation of the serfs End of feudal Russia Rise of Slavophile feeling Major instrument: balalaika (Russian folk guitar) Image: Wikimedia CommonsWikimedia Commons

Shanty: sung by barge-haulers (бурлаки) on the Volga River Inspired by Ilya Repin’s famous painting Barge Haulers on the Volga Image: Wikimedia CommonsWikimedia Commons

Russian barge-haulers (primarily on the Volga) Burlaks (Wikipedia entry) Burlaks Image: “Burlak Women on the Volga” Wikimedia CommonsBurlak Women on the Volga

Internet Archive Fedora Chaliapin 1922 recording Nikolai Massenkoff with the Russian Balalaika Orchestra Nikolai Massenkoff Glenn Miller band:

A more cheerful folk song My “little snowberry” (Viburnum opulus) “Kalinka”Kalinka Image: Wikimedia CommonsWikimedia Commons

Abbott, Alana Joli. "Moiseyev, Igor ( )." Newsmakers. Ed. Laura Avery. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, Discovering Collection. Web. 14 Apr “Baba Yaga.” Wikipedia. Web Apr Hilton, Alison. Russian Folk Art. Indiana University Press, Web. 14 Apr “Igor Moiseyev.” Wikipedia. Web Apr en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igor_Moiseyev Rogers, Elizabeth E., ed. Music Through the Ages. New York, Putnam, Russian Folk Tales. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, “The Song of the Volga Boatmen.” Wikipedia. Web Apr < The_Song_of_the_Volga_BoatmenThe_Song_of_the_Volga_Boatmen>.