How do white people dance

Larisa Tretyakova has been living in Rwanda for 14 years and teaches local children ballet at the only classical dance school in the whole country. For Rwanda, classical art is completely unfamiliar and unusual. But love for pointe shoes and Tchaikovsky's music breaks any boundaries

In 2003, Larisa's husband, an engineer, came to Rwanda to work on a contract with one of the major international companies. Larisa stayed at home with her little son. We decided: the husband will see what is happening there in this Africa, and will call them to him.

There was no fear, Larisa recalls. There was a childish interest - oh, Africa! When she asked her husband how it was, he answered somewhat evasively: "Well, white people also live." This answer did not alert the young woman, and she and her three-year-old son flew to her husband. In place, children's romantic interest was blown away by the wind. The first impulse was to grab the child and drive back. Rwanda, survived in 19In 1994, a monstrous catastrophe - a civil war in which about a million civilians were killed in 100 days of genocide - still has not recovered from the post-war devastation. But the first impulse passed. We decided to stay for six months, to look around.

Without electricity, but with bananas

In the first year there was almost no electricity. Without a generator, there was nowhere to store food. Every day, Larisa had to go to the grocery store and cook in the morning. Then the electricity improved, problems with water began. Rainwater was collected in basins to wash the floor and flush it down the toilet. I really wanted to leave. But a year has passed. Then another. Then a daughter was born, and the son went to school. And the Tretyakovs realized that while they were busy with work and arranging their life, they had already missed the elementary school for their son in Russia. He did not know how to write in Russian, and it would be difficult for him to catch up with his peers. This is how the Tretyakovs have been living in Africa for 14 years. But the thoughts that "here the children will finish school, and we will return" still do not let go. nine0019

Over the years, life in Rwanda, and especially in its capital, Kigali, has changed a lot. The country is being rebuilt before our eyes. There were good roads, many new buildings, shops, hospitals. The cinema has recently opened. And although there are still a lot of poor people and poor areas, now Rwanda is the cleanest and most peaceful country in Africa, Larisa assures. Especially compared to neighboring Congo, where all the roadsides are littered with garbage.

Downtown Kigali, capital of Rwanda Photo: SteveRwandacommons.wikimedia.org nine0019

Rwanda is a mountainous and very green country with a comfortable climate: it never falls below +15 and above +32. Eucalyptus groves, forested mountain ranges, the famous picturesque Lake Kivu. There are 40 varieties of bananas growing in Rwanda. Everything is made from bananas - from alcohol to jewelry.

The pace of life is measured, not fussy. After Russia, this slowness is especially felt. In Moscow and St. Petersburg, everyone is constantly running somewhere, in a hurry. In Rwanda, coming to a meeting fifteen minutes late means hurrying up. “When I come to Russia, the first days I always get into a mess,” Larisa laughs. - While I let everyone into the bus at the bus stop, the bus leaves. In Rwanda, you quickly lose the habit of pushing and rushing.” nine0019

Rwandans are very friendly. Whites are treated well, but a priori they are considered rich and are not averse to cheating on occasion. It happens that on the street, having heard Russian speech, those who once studied in the Soviet Union come up. Get to know each other and talk about yourself.

Food from a flower shop

At first, the Tretyakov family was very bothered by the monkeys, who climbed into the garden and stole everything that negligent owners left on the street. Near the house, Larisa and her husband started a vegetable garden, familiar to a Russian person. We planted greens, vegetables and sunflowers. When the flowers gained strength, one after another, someone began to savagely pluck and tear them to shreds. Watched - it turned out, a monkey. nine0019

if the beef is tough, you need to lay the meat with papaya pieces, and after 15 minutes it will become tender and soft

In Rwanda, Larisa spends much more time than in Russia, she spends on cooking. Especially if you want to keep the usual table for a Russian person. There are no semi-finished products. If you want compote or jam - cook it yourself, salt, marinate, make sauces. There are almost no European products either. Cheeses, yoghurts, fish, sausages, ice cream and pastries familiar to Europeans are delivered to two small shops twice a week. There was a time when you had to bake bread yourself, but in recent years several bakeries have opened in the capital, and the problem with baking has been solved. The locals eat mostly vegetables and goat meat. Before coming to Rwanda, Larisa knew how to cook, but without fanfare and out of necessity. I started cooking seriously already in Kigali. I had to adapt to local products, learn local culinary secrets. nine0019

Bananas and avocados at a market in Kigali Photo: Antoshananarivo/commons.wikimedia.org

In Africa, products familiar to Europeans are sometimes found in the most unexpected places. Once Larisa and her husband saw through the window of a flower shop a bouquet decorated with dill umbrellas. They came in and asked to buy "decorations" separately, without flowers. The seller was surprised and began to ask why. He categorically refused to believe in the answer “we will eat them”. “I had to buy a bouquet with a lot of dill decorations. We ran home, chopped dill into a salad, quickly pickled cucumbers and tomatoes with it, and began to look with interest towards flower shops. nine0019

Everyone to the machine

Sometime in the beginning of winter on Kigali street, Larisa saw a poster for The Nutcracker ballet. Ballet in Africa?! I must go and see, she decided. It was a performance by a non-professional dance school, which had been opened a couple of years earlier by an American Caroline. When Larisa came to sign up her five-year-old daughter for classes, she was asked if she danced herself. Larisa admitted that she used to teach dance. And she was immediately offered a job at the school. I did not want to work. But Larisa was asked to work with children for at least a couple of months. The children really wanted to dance, and the teacher returned to the USA at that time. And this “couple of months” has been going on for six years. nine0019

“A lesson at a ballet school costs about five to seven euros. For the rich and middle-class Rwandans, the price is affordable,” Larisa explains. “The school has many children from all over the world whose parents work in Rwanda.” Larisa has girls from America, France, Belgium, Serbia and Italy in her group.

The school is fully self-supporting. The money for classes goes to teachers' salaries, taxes, and the rent of halls. Part of the profit is accumulated to rent the venues for reporting concerts. There are few suitable sites, and they cost a lot of money. The school is managed by the parent committee: it solves financial issues, helps in organizing events. nine0019

Last year, parents had an idea to select talented children from poor families and invite them to learn classical dance for free. Larisa, along with several students, went to classes at the Mindleaps center - this international organization helps children from the poorest families and those who are left without parents with education and social adaptation.

Larisa Tretyakova has been living in Rwanda for 14 years and teaching ballet to local children Photo: personal archive

If European mothers have one of the eternal motives for sending their children to do choreography is good posture, then Rwandans have no problems with posture, shoulder blades, or neck. They always wear something on their heads. nine0069 Larisa selected six - three boys and three girls from 13 to 17 years old. Since January, they have been studying together with everyone in the senior group. But the 17-year-old girl is only 142 centimeters tall. “Apparently they don’t eat well all their lives, therefore they are not tall,” Larisa believes.

According to Mindleaps, 82% of Rwandans live on less than $2 a day

Rwanda has very high taxes and duties. Expensive gasoline and transport. The poor areas of Kigali are far from the ballet school, the road costs two dollars. It is very expensive for poor families. And the school also bears these expenses. nine0019

Matches between the fingers

In class, Larisa teaches children the barre and adagio, the basis of classical dance, combining them with improvisation exercises. Temperamental Rwandans sour on a classic exercise. But without “tandyu” and “plié” in ballet, it’s still nowhere. So that the children do not get bored, Larisa indulges in various tricks. For example, he inserts matches between his fingers. During the exercises, you need to keep your hands in the correct position and not drop the matches. This makes it more fun. nine0019

Somehow, during class, Larisa began to help a new Rwandan girl with her hands to turn her feet into the first position — she burst into tears. She decided that she was unhappy. The girls rushed to explain to her that ballerinas all walk like that. Have calmed down. Larisa thought that the girl would not come to the next lesson. Came. Fits. Smiling. “Madame, look, now I can do it too” - and she herself puts the feet in the first position.

Children in the classroom sorting out a package with clothes and pointe shoes - a gift to Rwandans from Grishko Photo: from personal archive

At first, everything scared the newcomers. There was a fear that rich children would not be accepted, that they needed to dance in a duet with white girls, and even that for some reason their legs were measured. But the anxiety passed quickly. Now the old-timers, on the contrary, are happy to play with the new ones, tell them how to wear ballet clothes, how to tie ballet flats.

At the duet class, you can see with what trepidation the boy clutched at the waist of his blonde partner. He almost doesn't let her move, but he holds on tight - he won't fall for sure. nine0019

After classes, the guys all breathlessly watch videos about how pointe shoes are made, how a tutu is sewn, videos from behind the scenes of a ballet theater, videos from rehearsals and lessons from professional ballet schools. The ultimate dream of all girls is a real tutu. And, of course, pointe shoes.

Priceless pointe shoes

All the girls in school dream of dancing on pointe shoes. But these pointe shoes in Rwanda still need to be obtained. There are no clothes or shoes for dancing in Rwanda. At all. Two years ago, RT was filming a film about post-war Rwanda. The film "From Genocide to Ballet" - about a country twenty years after a terrible catastrophe - was released in several languages. They also told about a small ballet school in Kigali - an island of classical art for locals. After the film, people from different countries wrote to the school, asking how they could help. “In the end, everything remained just talk, but in reality only ours responded,” Larisa says proudly. nine0019

The Russian company Grishko (one of the world leaders in the production of dance clothes and shoes) responded. They wrote: “Ready to help, send a list of what you need.” Larisa made a list of the usual rehearsal clothes: leotards, leotards, ballet shoes, leggings, T-shirts, pointe shoes, simple rehearsal tutus.

Poor Rwandan children had nothing to do at all. It is very difficult and expensive to get tutus and pointe shoes in Rwanda

When the huge box finally arrived at the school and the children began to take it apart, the Rwandans were shocked. They couldn't believe that someone sent it all especially for them. Afraid to touch. Didn't know how to wear. What about shoes. After all, they walk barefoot most of their lives. They giggled and helped each other. They fiddled for a long time. nine0019

And they came to the next lesson with a return gift. They brought a picture-collage, on which ballet dancers were pasted in various poses, obviously torn from some kind of calendar. “The picture was a little wrinkled, but it was so touching! Larisa smiles. — The girls from the group shed a tear. The picture hangs on the wall in our school.”

The first lessons on pointe shoes for unprepared feet, accustomed to running barefoot all their lives, is another test. Larisa shows a video on her phone: two Rwandan dark-skinned girls, clutching the machine with both hands, courageously stand on their toes and try to make the first steps. Chopin's music is playing in the background. One even almost manages to straighten her knees. “Torturing children is not a task, but pointe shoes are a cherished dream and a huge incentive to endure and learn,” Larisa explains. nine0019

Before an open lesson at the center for children from poor families Mindleaps Photo: personal archive

Larisa asks to leave her pointe shoes at school after class. The fabric is very delicate, you can only practice on a clean floor, and getting new ones is very difficult. After a few classes, the girls come up: “Miss Larisa, can we take it with us once? We'll be careful." I ask: “Do you want to show at home?” - "Yes". They came to the next lesson proud."

The girls from the group sometimes order something online. With these parcels, then sheer tears and disappointment. Pointe shoes, which have been waiting for several months, do not fit. All parcels to Rwanda take a very long time, and they are expensive to clear through customs. The fee for the package from Grishko cost the school $200, although it arrived at the embassy address, and the school wrote letters that the package contained items for children from poor families. Did not help. The Russian Embassy in Rwanda also offered to help the ballet school. By the end of the school year, they promised to install additional mirrors in the hall and lay a special linoleum for dancing. Now the children are engaged on a slippery tiled floor. nine0019

In charge of the ballet

It so happened that here, in Rwanda, Larisa is in charge of the entire Russian ballet. There is no right to be dishonored. “For them, Russia is equal to ballet. Therefore, they consider it an honor to study with a Russian teacher. It was amazing for me,” Larisa admits. But he keeps the brand. The whole school has one reporting concert at the end of the school year, Larisa's groups have it twice a year. “The kids are asking a lot,” she explains. But since the initiative is punishable, for an additional concert, all the costumes have to be sewn at your own expense. Once, for the Russian dance from The Nutcracker, the choreographer made twelve kokoshniks with her own hands. Sometimes, when there are a lot of costumes, she turns to the atelier. “Well, like an atelier,” Larisa laughs, “a dressmaker comes to school with a typewriter, that’s all the atelier.” Tutu-like skirts are sewn from a regular mosquito net. Then Larisa paints them and embroiders them with sequins. nine0019

In class Photo: personal archive

In Russia, everyone is busy with their own business: the choreographer puts on a dance and rehearses, the costume designer is responsible for the costumes, the sound engineer is busy with music. In Rwanda, Larisa has to do everything herself. And it takes a lot of time and effort. Sometimes you run out of strength and you want to give up everything. Larisa tried to leave several times. I went to study at the university, and there was no more time. But the children began to write letters, come to her house, beg. And Larisa stayed. “When all these tears begin, “who are you leaving us to,” I feel sorry for them, and I can’t leave. Yes, and the results are pleasing, ”says Larisa. Last year, two girls, after classes with Larisa, entered a professional ballet school in the United States. nine0019

“I was thinking how to work less. But it doesn't work out halfway. This is already the cost of our Soviet ballet school - maximalism. If you have taken it, do it well and with high quality,” the choreographer laughs.

From every trip to Russia, Larisa brings sweets, seeds, gingerbread, buckwheat, flower honey and books to Rwanda. But the main wealth is a suitcase full of ballet accessories: pointe shoes, leggings, boleros, costume accessories and Inspiration chocolate with a ballerina on the packaging - this is already a ritual. “I see what they are interested in, they want to develop, and I understand that I can help them,” says Larisa. - It's important for me". In April, several more Rwandans from a school for the poor joined her group. nine0019

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How to dance hip hop Online publication "Elements of Dance"

“People express themselves most truthfully in dance. The body never lies."
Ange deMille.

Alexander, tell us what hip-hop is?

- Hip-hop is a kind of youth culture. She showed up around 7pm.80s in America, among the working class, then spread throughout the world. This culture, like the rest, has its own style of music, dance, demeanor, slang, visual arts - graffiti. In general, this culture is more inherent in African Americans than white people, because they created it for themselves - this can be seen in the dance. Then, basically, there was breakdance - the performance of various acrobatic elements to the beat of the music. Later, new divisions appeared. Today hip-hop includes such directions as Poping , Locking , Weiveing ​​, Power Muv , stylistics Afro-jazz , RAGGA-Dzhaza , such concepts as New Steel , , CRMP . Each style needs to be shown, seen, and then there will be a clear understanding of the division of these dance disciplines.

How developed is modern dance in Russia?

- Now modern dances are highly developed, there are more than 150 dance studios and schools in Moscow alone. In Russia, modern choreography has been developed very strongly. A large number of international congresses are held by such large companies as Nike, Reebok and our federation, the all-Russian dance organization. Many dance teachers, trainers of world and European champions, etc. come here. nine0069 Also, peculiar championships, battles, various tours are held by federations, companies, clubs.

What does a beginner need to get into hip-hop?

- First you need to learn to listen to music, beats, rhythm, in order to start moving accordingly. It is necessary to learn the account on which the basic movements are laid out. Then everything is superimposed on any tempo of the music.
The main thing is to listen to music and put any choreography into account. nine0069 Also in each direction, there are certain basic movements. In hip-hop, this is a body swing, the so-called "kach" or a spring. When a dancer swings his body to the beat of the music, he begins to catch the music and do basic movements at the same time, here the whole body is working. Power loads are definitely needed, at first they are not difficult, but each time they must become more complicated and increase. It all starts with push-ups, in order to strengthen the arms, to feel where and how to fix the muscles. Also, stretching is mandatory - the muscles need not only to be pumped up, but also to be stretched a little so that they are more elastic, which also helps in the dance. nine0019

There are people who are embarrassed to go to hip-hop, what to do?

- Not necessarily 90-60-90. It doesn't matter what type of person you are. A dancer may be dense, but this in no way means that he is slow. I saw many people, both in Russia and abroad, who, with their physique, weighing more than a hundred kilograms, did things that people, roughly speaking, with a sports figure, cannot do at all. It all depends on the structure of a person, on his anatomy, predisposition, whether he can engage in this sport or not, as well as on his physical fitness. When a person comes, you need to look at what he is capable of. He may not be a super dancer in hip-hop, that is, for him it will be like a mandatory training program, for dancing. But, at the same time, a person will find himself in disco, be easy-going, learn to jump very high, and become the owner of an excellent stretch, and hip-hop is simply not his style. nine0069 Sometimes people come to practice modern dance, but find themselves in modern, modern jazz or classical. It all depends on the person, his structure, desire and readiness to understand where he came and why he needs it. It also depends on the teacher, how he will present everything - after all, this is a lot of laborious work, and not as it seems from the outside: a person came, he was shown how to dance hip hop, a park of movements and that's it. No, you need to explain that dance is not just a mechanical work of hands and feet, but also an understanding that a person is dancing. nine0019

Who is more willing to dance girls or young people and why?

- Girls go to dance from childhood, usually either ballroom or modern. The guys, in general, begin to practice already at a conscious age, when they understand everything, when they start to like it, they come to learn, and then show their skills. But still, there are more girls.
You can come to hip-hop absolutely at any age, there are no limits, boundaries, everyone is equal. On the example of our team, I can say that we have both the smallest (about five years old) and people who are over 30. On average, young people come at the age of 10-12. nine0019

How can a dancer develop?

- Look for something new for yourself, work with other teachers besides your coach, go to master classes. Let's say you like the style of Germany, you can go to Germany to study with top teachers.
To go to tournaments in Europe, the world, there to compete with the dance style of other countries, because each country has its own way of dancing. In Russia, hip-hop is well developed and we calmly compete with other countries. nine0069 The exchange of experience is very important for the development of a dancer.

You can learn to dance all the time, as Alexander says, on average, the preparation of a good professional dancer takes 5-7 years, but there is no limit to perfection. And sometimes it’s worth showing your ability to move your body at competitions. There are many hip-hop tournaments in Russia, both for beginners and masters.

Alexander, tell me, how can a dancer competently prepare for a competition, especially if he is going to them for the first time? nine0032