Kazaks (Russian) or Kazoks (Ukrainian) are better known throughout the United States as Cossacks (Turkic word meaning Outlaw, Adventurer or freebooter/freeman). These Cossacks developed from Southern Russia and the Ukraine from the 15th to early 20th Centuries.

    The ordinary dance of Russians is mainly of very ancient Slavonian (Croatia) origin, mixed with some Tatar (Mongolian tribe) elements. It has nothing in common with the

   existing country dances of Europe. It has no whirling or leaping, but is marked by the gentle, one might say tender, walk of the woman and by much bowing on the part of the man, who sometimes bends his knee and rises again suddenly. Whoever has seen Chinese, Mongols, and other Tartars dance, recognized in the Russian art many of the steps.

    Originally, these Russian dances had less correspondence with the manners of neighboring people, in spite of their climate, with its extremes of heat and cold, in spite of the northern element of their character, the Russian had no very energetic dance. His conditions of life had been too oppressed. "He moved in a small confined place, pirouetting slowly, and performed a rather heavy Pantomime, in which his shoulders, arms, and hips had full play." Military habits did much for the men. That of the men (the oppressed became the oppressors) was imperious and lively, the spirit of domination being displayed in their bearing and gestures. A long guitar-like instrument, the Balaléica, accompanies these turns.

    So much for the men, and now let us see what chance there might be for a certain liveliness in the Russian women of the times. Amongst the Kalmucks, the women's dance was monotonous and tame, a sad Pantomime . Most of the women walked to perfection, and it is a very rare art, that of walking gracefully and simply, while being watched. The Makovitza, or Dance of Cakes, was a form of harvest thanks-giving, sometimes a petition for plenty. Each girl here carried a cake made of honey and poppy-seed, and ate it to the rhythm of the dance; whether be it fast or slow, she dared not to fall out of her steps.

    The introduction in the Russian Court of foreign dances coincided with the adoption of foreign dress and other customs; The Polonaise and Mazurka were very popular and in the time of Peter I, A.K.A.Peter the Great (1682-1725,) king of Aragón and Sicily, where ignorance of the Minuet or of Polish and English dances was looked upon as a serious defect in education. Peter the Great and his daughter Grand Duchess 'Yelizaveta Petrovna' made great leaps in bringing the dance to the forefront of the stage. In Russian courts, the Polonaise dance opened the dance and the Mazurka would finish it.

    The Czarina of Russia,Catherine II, A.K.A.Catherine the Great (1729-1796) was very fond of the Ballet , and commanded beautiful dances, operas , and pantomime type ballets and the Queen of Hungary, Empress Elizabeth (1837-1898) was a most accomplished dancer as well as the Grand Duchesses Yelizaveta Petrovna and others. It was said that in order to see the minuet danced to perfection one should go to the Russian Court. Even the national country dance was performed with much cleverness by their sovereign.

    The Russians, it appears, have a special Waltz , light, graceful in character, called the Canaïca . Dancing in Russian society was very much like that in other countries, with the Polonaise of course, opening the ball and that in Russia the ball always ended with a Mazurka. There is an orbicular dance with a sung chorus, surrounding the queen of the festival. Another dance is the Pletionka (the braid), somewhat similar to the Greek Chain dances .

    In 1768 a ballet was given at Court in honor of the vaccination of the Czarina and the Grand Duke (Moscow). It was called 'The Conquered Prejudice.' In the background of the stage was the Temple of Æsculapius; on the left a large ugly building erected by ignorance.

    (According to Lonely Planet.com), "the roots of Ukrainian folk music lie in the legendary kozbar, or wandering minstrels of the 16th and 17th centuries who accompanied their songs of heroic exploits (mostly of the Cossacks) with the kozba, a lute-like instrument. The bandura, a larger instrument with up to 45 strings, replaced the kozba in the 18th century. Bandura choirs were soon all the rage, and the instrument became the national symbol. Today, the Ukrainian Bandura Chorus from Kiev performs worldwide."

    Giovanni Andrea Gallini writes in her book called "A treatise on the art of dancing" which was written in 1762 states:
The Cossacs, have, amidst all their uncouth barbarism, a sort of dancing, which they execute to the found of an instrument, somewhat resembling a Mandoline, but considerably larger, and which is highly diverting, from the extreme vivacity of the steps, and the a oddity of the contortions and grimaces, with which they exhibit it. For a grotesque dance there can hardly be imagined any thing more entertaining. The Russians, afford nothing remarkable in their dances, which they now chiefly take from other countries. The dance of dwarfs with which the Czar Peter the Great, solemnized the nuptials of his niece to the Duke of Courland, was, probably rather a particular whim of his own, than a national usage.

   The dance of the Ukraine was originally a mixture of Polish, Russian, and even English.It was not as graceful as the Russian country dance. The above according to F.C. Notts Book "Stage and Fancy Dancing"(1891) is the position at the Commencement. Balance, Forward, and to Right and Left, each waltz to the right once, and balance as before. Each gentleman the same, repeat four times; and finish with balance waltz round the room, forming as before, and closing with the grand side step.

   MALENKY TANEC means "little dance" in Ukranian. It is danced with high steps and kicks, lively in nature which are typical of dances of this country.

    In America, the Russian dance was usually performed with what they called 'Kazotskys', where the dancer squats down, crosses their arms across their chest and Kicks their legs out alternately. Altho this was an allready established Hungarian dance called Czardas and not Russian, most Americans would not know the difference and still today see it as Russian dancing. Ida Forsyne was one of the first American woman to do these 'Kazotsky's' at the end of her performance in her Moscow program. These "Kazotsky's where done long before her but after this one performance, and her improvisations of it, she would be hailed (incorrectly) as the greatest Russian dancer of all time as she traveled the world for nine years without a break. For about 15 years this style Ida started would be done by many dancers in Vaudeville and even on the Broadway stages from 1911 to 1925 (Russian dancing was popular before Ida in the States and was a popular style to do in Vaudeville as early as 1900, but Ida brought it to the forefront).

   Russian / Hungarian dancing was popular in the States especially in American Vaudeville as early as 1900, but Ida Forsyne brought it to the forefront, up until Tap dancers started to control the stages. Ida Forsyne, Greenlee and Drayton, U.S. Thompson, Willie Covan, Dewey Weinglass and others would excell in these qoute "Russian Dances," often times calling it Legomania and sometimes a mixture these and other dances were called Eccentric dancing after WWI.

Russian / Slavic / Cossack Related Films

Ballets / Stage

1901 - Cossack Cavalry

Many Ballets (ie: Nutcracker Suite)

1912 - Heart of the Cossack

1740s - Matrimony and The Ballet of Flowers

1916 - The Cossack Whip

1740s - The Union of Love

1927 - Troika

1883 - Mazeppa

1928- The Red Dance (del rio)

1958 - Beryozka Russian Dance Company

1934 - Catherine the Great

1961 - Once There Was a Russian

1934 - Scarlet Empress, The

1970/80s - Shell Folkloric Festivals

1937 - Duma pro kazaka Golotu

1980- A Night in the Ukraine

1937 - Troika sur la piste blanche

1990 - Don Cossacks

1939 - Bukovina, zemlya Ukrainskaya

1994 - 'The Cossacks Are Coming!'

1940 - Katharina I. von Russland

'Bailes Rusos'

1943 - Ukrainian Dance

Refuge of Virtue (Sumarokov)

1947 - Slavica

Publications

1951 - Kavalier zolotoj zvezdy

2/1924 - Dance Lovers Mag

1952 - V stepyakh Ukrainy

9/1929 - Asia Magazine

1952 - Kontsert masterov ukrainskogo iskusstva

4/1960 - Ballroom Dance Mag

1953 - USSR Today

11/1971 / Dance Magazine

1953 - Zaporozhets za Dunayem

$Dance of the Russian Peasant (Rubinoff)

$ 1954 - Stars of the Russian Ballet

$ Era of the Russian Ballet (Roslavleva)

1961 - Ukrainskaya rapsodiya

$ History of the Cossacks (Glaskow)

1966 - Olga's Dance Hall Girls? (Burlesque) [DVD]

$ Louis Chalifs: Russian Festivals and Costumes

1969 - Troika

$ The Cossacks 1799-1815 (Spring/Hook)

1977 - Turning Point (Ballet)

$ The Cossacks: an Illustrated History (Ure)

$ 1988 - Russian Folk Songs and Dance

$ The Cossacks: Everyman's Library

$ 1990 - Russian Folk Song and Dance

$ Russain Sailors Dance (Gliere)

1992 - Back in the U.S.S.R

$ Russian Dance of Death: Civil War ... (Neufeld)

1998 - Troika

$ Terek Cossacks and the North Caucasus Frontier, 1700-1860

2001 - Russian Dance

Other Related Dances ...

Arkan

Folk Dance

Makovitza

Round dance with scarves

Barynya

Gate, the

Malenky Tanec

Slovak Dance

Ballet

Georgian classical dance

Mazurka

Spinning Wheel Dance

Berceause

Gypsy dance

Moldavian Dance

Syberian Lirical dance

Beryozka Waltz

Hopak

Mongolian Dance

Sudarushka (smooth blrm)

Byelorussian Dance

Hora

Pereplyas

Sword Dance (Cossack)

Canaïca

Huzul Dance

Pletionka

the Shepherds

Casaska

Kalinka

Plyaska

Trepak

Caucasian dance

Katinka

Po Plashke

Troika

Chanve-Souris

Kazachok

Polka (rhythm blrm)

Ukrainian dance

Czardas

Khorovodi (ring dances)

Polonaise

Varen`ka

Czarina

Korobuchka

Polzunets

Vesnianky

Dance of the Cossacks

Kozachok

Prokhodka

Waltz (ballroom)

Dance of the Ukraine

Lebedushuka

Rilo (rhythm blrm)

Waru-Waru (rhythm blrm)

Dancers, Choreographers etc.

Political

1950s - Lydia Pushyk

Empress Elizabeth (1837-1898)

1950s - Lyudmova Pavlova (ÙB)

Catherine I (1725-1727)

1950s - Mira Koltsova (ÙB)

Catherine II [the Great] (1729-1796)

1950s - Mykhailo Doschak

Countesses Dolgoruky

1950s - Nahezhda Nadezhdina

Countesses Golovkin

1950s - Natalya Anuriv

Grand Duchesses Anna

1740s - Agrafiena and Aksinya

1950s - Nina Ryabova

Grand Duchesses Yelizaveta Petrovna

1740s - Jean Baptiste Lande

1950s - Nina Vasilieva (ÙB)

Grand Duke of Moscow

1752 - Alexandre Popov

1950s - Poltava Ukrainian Dancers

Peter I [the Great] (1682-1725)

1752 - Ivan Dmitrievsky

1950s - Valentina Suvorova (ÙB)

Princess Cherkassky

1910 - Alexander Russian Dancers (Coney Is.)

1952 - Serge Jaroff

Princess Kantemir

1911 - Ida Forsyne

1954 - Halyna Shyhymaha

1913 - Ivan Bankoff (& Girlie)

1954 - Melville Ukrainian Dancers

Other Russian Dance Names

1914 - Eva Taylor

1956 - Vladimir Kania

Anna Pavlova (1881-1931)

1914 - Greenlee and Drayton

1960s - Vasile Avramenko

Bolshoi

1920s - U.S. "Slo Kid" Thompson

1967 - Fedir Melnyczuk

Diaghilev

1920's - Willie Covan

1968 - Mykhailo Spryn

Moiseev, Igor

1921 - Clotilde & Alexandre Sakharoff

1968 - Nina Lubtchenko

Kirov

1922 - Chauve Souris (did czardas)

1968 - Olia Lubtchenko

Moiseyev

1928 - George Staten (Plantation Club)

1968 - Slawka Shilo

Petipa

1930s - Dewey Weinglass

1968 - Victor Shilo

Ulanova

1950s - ÙBeryozkaÉ Dancers

1968 - Vladimir Kania

Vaslav Nijinsky

1950s - Halyna Leheta

1968 - Wolodymyr Lubtchenko

1950s - George Pushyk

1970s - Kalyna Ukranian Dncrs*

1950s - Irma Pomchalova (ÙB)

1986 - Roztiazhka Dancers*

1950s - Jella Agfonova (ÙB)

Russian State Kuban Cossack Co.

1950s - Julia Grabekina (ÙB)

1950s - Klavdia Romanoa (ÙB)

Books, Magazine Articles on the dance...

Title

Author

Date

Publisher

A treatise on the art of dancing

Gallini, Giovanni Andrea

1762

R. Dodsley (London)

'Ukraiinski Narodni Tanky'

Virsky, Pavlo

1900s?

n/a

Modern Dancing and Dancers

Flitch, J. E. Crawford

1912

J. B. Lippincott Company

ÙBeryozkaÉ Dance Co. Russian Folk Co.

Nadezhda. Nadezhdina.

1965

Russia Novosti Press

The Ukrainian folk dance

Shatulsky, Myron

?

Kobzar Pub. Co

Ukrainian Shumka Dancers: ...

Major, Alice

?

Reidmore Books

Musicians

Artists

Poets / Writers

Scherbian, George

B. Gestwicki (Lustige Blatter mag. 1927)

1928 - Gates (Red dancer of Moscow)

Romanoff, Boris

Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilich (1840-1893)

Misc. Research Words that may be related ... to help your searches

Alcind

Kazotsky's

Minerva

Slavonic, Slaviks

Bylyny

Kiev

Russia (U.S.S.R.)

"The Merry Tsarina"

Chimera

Kozbar

Russian plyaska

Dumas

Other...

Collectable: 1996 Russian Nutcracker coin (Rouble), 1980 Olympic Roubles Soviet folk dance