Ukrainian Dance

Ukrainian dance is remarkably enduring in its popularity and still performed in numerous cultural contexts. This text unpacks the complex world of this ethnic dance, with special attention to the differences between vival dance (which requires being fully engaged in the present moment) and reflective dance (dance connected explicitly to the past). Most Ukrainian vival dances have been performed by peasants in traditional village settings, for recreational and ritual purposes. Reflective Ukrainian dances are performed more self-consciously as part of a living heritage. Further sub-groups are examined, including national dances, recreational/educational dances, and spectacular dances on stage.

Andriy Nahachewsky has been a performer, choreographer, adjudicator, and historian of Ukrainian dance for over forty years. He has researched Ukrainian dance and other elements of traditional culture in Canada, Ukraine, USA, Brazil, the former Yugoslavia, Slovakia and several other countries.

Andriy Nahachewsky

Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 274
Bibliographic Info: 46 photos, 6 maps, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2012
pISBN: 978-0-7864-6168-4
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8706-6
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments vi
Preface 1
1. Basic Concepts 5
2. Purposes for Dancing 14
3. Ethnic Dance 24
4. Peasants Dancing 40
5. Geographic Zones 53
6. Historical Zones 67
7. Improvisation 73
8. Vival and Reflective Communities 83
9. National Dance Traditions 90
10. Typical Characteristics of National Dance 101
11. Variations in the National Paradigm 111
12. Recreational and Educational Dance 124
13. Spectacular Dance 143
14. Ballet and the Proscenium 157
15. Theatricalizing a Dance 168
16. Three Principles of Staging 192
17. Moiseyev and Virsky 202
18. First Versus Third Principles of Staging 213
19. Expanding Perspectives 224
Notes 233
Bibliography 245
Index 259