Hopak
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Hopak (Ukrainian: Гопак, also referred to as Gopak, and Cossack Dance) is a Ukrainian folk dance in 2/4 time and the corresponding musical style. The name is derived from the verb hopaty which means "to jump" and the corresponding exclamation Hop! uttered during a jump.
The dance is performed mainly by men and includes much high-energy moves: jumps (hence the name), squat-kicks, whirling, and acrobatics. In scenic versions the overall composition usually includes parts of group dance and of solo show-offs (jamming).
The Hopak style of dancing may have originated as battle practice exercises. Cossacks practiced fighting in a dancing manner and many of the moves are similar to those that would have been done in battle.[citation needed]
Hopak based martial art, called Combat Hopak (Ukrainian: Бойовий Гопак, Boiovyj Hopak) was created.
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[edit] Hopak in performance arts
[edit] Opera
A number of composers have written hopaks.
- Modest Mussorgsky, in Sorochintsy Fair
- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, in Mazepa
- Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, in May Night
- Semen Hulak-Artemovsky, in A Zaporozhian beyond the Danube
[edit] Ballet
- Aram Khachaturian, in Gayane
- Vasily Solovyov-Sedoy, in Taras Bulba
Hopak was performed as a part of the choreographic suite Friendship of Peoples by people in Ukrainian folk costumes during the opening ceremony of the 1980 Summer Olympics on the field of the Central Lenin Stadium. With a large sector of the tribune under the Olympic Flame Cauldron coloured in Ukrainian folk pattern during the performance. [1]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Documentary: "Олимпиада - День открытия". USSR Central Television, 1980
[edit] External links
- Hopak @ YouTube
- Ukrainian folk dance @ Encyclopedia of Ukraine
