How to dance like a russian

How to Dance like a Russian

From legendary folk dance to world-class ballet, Russia has a worldwide reputation for dance stretching back centuries. As any Russian would tell you, it is in their blood, and has become an intrinsic part of Russia’s national identity. As our way of paying homage to this much-loved art form, we will teach you about five Russian dances, from soaring leaps to high kicks and squats.

Prisyádka

When you think of ‘Russian dancing’ your mind probably conjures a man in a furry hat, doing a seemingly impossible, tip-toe squatted Can-can. The good news is that you’re right! This infamous dance isn’t simply a cartoon caricature of Russian culture, but the genuine thing; called, the prisyádka. The dance is an Eastern Slavic folk dance, not Cossack as many people assume. The moves originated centuries ago as a form of athletic competition, where excited onlookers would place bets as to which dancers would Kazotsky kick the most times, kick the highest or who might lose balance first. Reputation, masculinity and even fortunes have been won and lost for the sake of a Russian squat dance, and prisyádka is just the tip of the pointe shoe when it comes to the fascinating cultural history of Russian dance moves.

Russian Split

If you lack the balancing skills or leg muscles needed for successful squat dancing, you could attempt the gravity-defying ‘Russian Split’. This move, seen famously in figure skating routines performed by world-class skater Sasha Cohen, is a gazelle-like leap, achieving a straddle split five feet up in the air. Whilst these splits are considered ‘basic’ moves in the figure skating world, they are far from easy and when performed well and with height, they are breathtaking. In fact, a version of the Russian Split called the ‘Grande Jeté’ is one of the most exciting moves a ballerina can perform on stage. No wonder the best ballerinas in the world are Russian.

Khorovod

So perhaps not everyone can Kazotsky Kick or Russian Split, but there is good news for those of us who are less athletic. If you have little fingers, then this next dance could be perfect for you. The ancient Khorovod dance is documented for at least the last 1000 years in Russian and probably originates as far back as the dancing of Chorus groups in Ancient Greece. To get the moves right, you simply link pinkies with a fellow dancer and weave around the dance floor in a circular motion. In Belgorod, the locals achieved a world record of 2511 dancers in one Khorovod. But mind your geography, as in the Northern regions of Russia the dance is known to be gentle and restrained, but in the South, the dance has a more exciting reputation for hot-blooded frenetic movements and complex patterns.

Troika (dance)

“But it is so hard to find a dance partner” I hear you cry. Well, should you find yourself in a dance hall where the number of women far outnumber the men then show no fear, simply request a ‘Troika’, a wholesome ménage a trois. Named after the traditional Russian ‘Troika’ chariots pulled by three horses, one man and two women imitate a prancing horse, much as you may have done as a child pretending to ride. With plenty of bouncing and elegant hoof work, you then duck under each other’s arms in a pleasing pattern. It’s a sociable and light-hearted folk dance that gives everyone a turn.

Barynya

If you have no skill whatsoever, but possess determined enthusiasm for Russian cultural dances, then try the simple and passionate Barynya dance. Performed to lewd and humorous poem songs called ‘chastushkas’ in alternating tempos, this dance simply requires an un-choreographed, but heartfelt stomp around the dance floor. I think most of us can manage that at least.

So, there you are, five Russian dance moves for you to practice in your living room before you visit the real Russia and encounter these dances first-hand. But maybe wrap up the more valuable ornaments first!

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That Russian Squat Dance - TV Tropes

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A vital survival skill in the training of all KGB agents.

"Moscow, Moscow, I-don't-know-the-frickin'-words, I-don't-know-the-frickin'-words, ah-ha-ha-ha-ha! HEY!"

— Chuggaaconroy, Let's Play The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

You know the one the dancers squat down with their arms folded and kick high with one leg and the other, sometimes intercalating more squats up and down between flurries of kicks. If a Husky Russkie is celebrating a victory for Glorious Mother Russia, he is 90% likely to be doing this dance.

This trope's name is one of those cases of mislabeling by foreigners. For instance, its origin is actually both Russian and Ukrainian, and it's not commonly called "Cossack Dance" or some derivate. While it does receive occasionally the names of Kozatsky or Kazatsky, which mean just that, the true name of this stage dance is Hopak or Gopak^noteSpelled Гопа́к in the Cyrillic alphabet. which comes from the word hopaty meaning "to hop", so a better translation of its name would be "The Hopping Dance". Similarly, it gets sometimes referred as the Kazachok or Kozachok ("Little Cossack"), but this is a completely different folk dance that also comes from Russia and Ukraine. The squat dance is also a integral part of Russian dances like Barinya, Leto, Trepak and many more.

The dance is commonly depicted with dancers barking "Hey! Hey! Hey!" while squatting, which is another point of mixing things up and thinking that all Russians say "Hey!" while dancing not just like this, but in any other style. On occasions, it can be substituted with "Hop! Hop!"^noteIf actual Russians were dancing, they would shout "Op! Op!" without any h's.

The squat-and-kick move itself is properly called prisyadka (knee-bending) and is just one part of the Hopak dance, but it's the only part known to most non-Russians due to its inherently funny looks and obvious athleticism required. It's indeed one of the more difficult parts of the dance, requiring good balance and substantial leg muscle strength, but of course Mother Russia Makes You Strong. In fact, there is an entire martial art based on Hopak dancing called Combat Hopak. Prisyadka moves can also be incorporated into the shashka dance, performed with the long Cossack sabre and which involves complex evolutions of movement with the sword.

Despite what is stated above about its origins, Norwegians pride themselves by stating that Russian folklore actually learned this from them. The "squat" is essential in the Norwegian male dance ''halling''.

Also, don't confuse this with the "Slav Squat" meme.

Examples:

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Advertising

The now-infamous "Dancing Cossacks" New Zealand National Party television advert from the 1975 general election campaign featured a line of Russians squat dancing across the screen. The party was trying to imply the ruling Labour Party's compulsory superannuation scheme would lead to Soviet-style communism (they handily ignored the fact that the Cossacks had numbered among the Bolsheviks' bitterest enemies, at least until they were completely crushed by the Red Army).

Anime and Manga

In Hetalia: Axis Powers, Russia/Ivan mentions this, as well as kicking bullies with it.
One episode of The Law of Ueki has this dance done. With cossack hats. As a condition for battling participants to breathe in a special oxygen-deprived environment.
In Soul Eater Tsar Pushka's meister utilised it as a martial art - with some break dancing thrown into the mix.
In Pokémon Black and White Cilan and Pansage start doing this during the events of A Maractus Musical!
Done by Warsman in one Kinnikuman filler. Even stranger, he does it while wrestling someone.
The girls of Pravda Engineering High School do it around a campfire in Episode 9 of Girls und Panzer
In From Eroica with Love, KGB agent Mischa the Cub is stated to be an excellent Cossack dancer.
This is the signature dance of Bones Suzuki and Haruo Sato in Haunted Junction.
In The Voynich Hotel, the witch sisters called the Three Mothers originally hail from Russia, and when the youngest goes back home to visit their teacher, they are shown doing the dance when they first reunite.

Comics

An issue of Topolino, the Italian Mickey Mouse comic book, had Fethry Duck literally kicking Donald Duck's ass this way, as seen on the cover.
Nero: Nero does this dance when surrounded by Russian soldiers in Het Vredesoffensief van Nero ("The Peace Initiative of Nero") to make them believe he is one of them. He, of course, fails and the guards want to take him in. Nero then asks them if they can do it better, whereupon all soldiers start doing the dance. Nero then pushes everybody down to the floor and runs away.
A jubilant member of a Volgan tank crew is doing this in an East End pub when he is interrupted by Bill Savage wielding a double-barrelled shotgun in the first episode of the 2000 AD story 'Invasion!'.
In The Killing Joke, the Joker's entourage of circus freaks includes two men in Russian garb who can be seen doing this dance while he sings about how "I Go Loony". They're less obviously "freak"-ish than playing to how the Joker's philosophy, as written in this book, is informed by an era during which "the bomb" was hanging over everyone's head.

Fan Works

Naturally, works involving the Discworld equivalent of Russians exaggerate this. In the works of A.A. Pessimal, when a group of "Rus" witches performs traditional dance at the annual Witch Trials, members of Lancre's Morris Dancing side are heard to remark that this is only a ladies' team. Imagine an international against the men?

Film — Animated

Anastasia: A crowd of extras dance this way during the opening "Rumor in St. Petersburg" number.
The Russian puppets in Pinocchio do this.
Performed by thistles in Fantasia during the Nutcracker Suite segment. No points for guessing which part they appear in.
Boris the Russian goose performs one in Balto (complete with accompanying yells of "HEY!") in an attempt to cheer Balto up. For some reason, it doesn't work.
In Rise of the Guardians, North briefly does this across a rooftop before jumping down a chimney to get a tooth.
In Return To Never Land, Smee does the dance on Captain Hook's back while giving him a massage.
In Allegro non Troppo there's a moment in which the animator and a costumed ape do this dance on the floor.

Film — Live Action

Elf: Buddy, drunk in the mail room (having mistaken alcohol for syrup), entertains the workers by doing this dance on a table.
In The Cossacks, they do this when partying with some Gypsy women after a raid.
Spoofed as part of the disco-dance flashback scene in Airplane!, in which Ted Stryker defies the laws of physics.
A Shot in the Dark, one of the films in The Pink Panther series, Clouseau is coaxed into joining in a troupe of dancers - and promptly rips his trousers. In the same film, a dancer doing this move is killed after drinking poisoned vodka.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull features some soldiers dancing happily like this in front of a campfire.
The climax of The Man Who Knew Too Little has the titular character stand in for the lead dancer in one of these.
Simon is doing the Cossack Dance in the music video of "Christmas Don't be Late" in the film Alvin and the Chipmunks.
The Mask - Stanley easily dodges a hail of bullets, transforming into a matador, a Cossack, Vegas Elvis, and a movie cowboy. While he's dressed as the Cossack, he performs this dance to dodge the bullets.
The Mamushka in The Addams Family is one of these. The fact that Gordon is able to dance it is one of the tip-offs that he is really Fester Addams (albeit with amnesia until almost the end of the movie), rather than a Body Double taking his place.
One of the many dances that shows up in Bedknobs and Broomsticks during the musical number "Portobello Road."
The Three Stooges had a famous running gag involving this, wherein somebody would hurt their foot or otherwise hop around in pain rhythmically. The Stooges would then begin clapping in rhythm and take up the dance with multiple variations and vaguely Russian chanting.
The Leningrad Cowboys miserably fail to dance like this at a campfire in Leningrad Cowboys Go America. And they're supposed to be Russians.
Seen in October when the Bolshevik operatives infiltrate the army of monarchist Gen. Kornilov and make friends. This results in the failure of Kornilov's coup attempt.
In Patton, Russian soldiers do this at a party after Third Army has linked up with the Soviets at the end of the war. Patton, who hates the Russians, is not impressed.
Vasyl does the hopak dance in Earth (1930), although he does not bust out the squat move.
In Downfall, a few Soviet soldiers can be seen doing this as they celebrate their victory in Berlin.
U.S. Ambassador Joseph Davies' daughter sees some Russians doing this at an outdoor party in Mission to Moscow and wishes that she could learn now to dance like that.
The Human Comedy includes an approximately ten-second glimpse of some Russians when Tom and Diana observe the various ethnic communities celebrating at a town festival. Naturally, the Russians do this dance.
The Mysterious Lady: Performed, presumably by peasant entertainers, at the fancy ball thrown for Tania, in pre-World War I Russian Poland.
Anna Karenina: They even do it at the opera, or at least they do it at the opera that Anna and Vronsky go to see, which is apparently some sort of Down on the Farm story.
War and Peace (1956): Apparently upper-class Russians do the squat dance too, as seen at a drunken party attended by Pierre early in the film.

Literature

A rare female example: Tib in Betsy-Tacy is mentioned as being able to do this dance, using it as the grand finale of her show dance.
Firebird (Lackey) has Ilya use this as a form of exercise (since he's currently playing The Fool he can't do normal version of keeping in shape) and the narration makes a point of mentioning all the various moves part of it, not just the squatting.
Tommy's friend attempts it in the novel version of Carrie and falls on his ass.
In The Dilbert Principle, Scott Adams mentions "Russian squat dancing," and calls it by that name. In a footnote, he says, "Yes, I know there must be a different name for it. But they should call it "squat dancing."
August 1914: The novel recounts the Battle of Tannenberg at the start of World War I, a Curb-Stomp Battle in which an entire Russian army was surrounded and captured by the Germans. Colonel Vorotyntsev watches a Russian wagon train cross a bridge. One carter "even contrived to bounce along the cobbled road in a squatting Russian dance." Besides adding a little bit of atmosphere, this whole passage is meant to demonstrate how crude and half-assed the Russian supply system is; a theme throughout the whole book is how thoroughly Easy Logistics is averted, as Russian soldiers starve for days while on the march.
Referenced in If I Fall, If I Die. Will practices sliding across the ice in a squat with one leg extended, a move he calls "the Cossack."

Live-Action TV

At one point, Drew Carey appeared to be about to do some of this, then his back gave out.
- Drew Carey appears to know the entirety of the dance in real life, having pulled it off on Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Parodied on The Muppet Show: Pig Muppets in cossack costumes dance like this, one of them kicks with both legs at once and hovers in the air for a split second before falling to the floor.
Three Sheets included host Zane Lamprey asking a Russian about the dance in the Moscow episode. The Russian explained that they didn't dance like that... but that he knew how to, from watching American movies.
Battle Fever J, the third Super Sentai series, had each team member representing a different country and performing a national dance; no points for guessing what Battle Cossack's dance was.
Happy Days had an episode with a dance marathon, with Fonzie throwing this out as a challenge dance at the end, allowing he and his partner, Joanie, to win.
One season of The Amazing Race had the contestants doing this as part of a Detour. MANY of the contestants, both male and female opted to do this, although not without some pain (or trouser splits!)
Mocked in an episode of Hogan's Heroes after Schultz says he'll be sent to the Russian front if Colonel Klink ever does a thorough roll-call and discovers one of Hogan's men is missing.
Colonel Hogan: (sarcastically) Don't tell me you're afraid of a bunch of guys who dance sitting down?
So You Think You Can Dance: Part of the Russian Folk Dance on the season one of its performers (one Jeanine Mason) would go on to win. KALINKA!
Russian spy Illya Kuryakin did this briefly in the second-season episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. entitled "The Yukon Affair".
Star Trek: The Original Series: Mr. Chekov performs this dance in "I Mudd".
The Love Boat episode "Alaska Wedding Cruise" has the boat stopping in Sitka, where a group of Russian folk dancers do the dance.
The Good Place: In "Best Self", Chidi and Jason dance this way while the group are marking their final night in the Neighborhood before it's decommissioned.
This is one of the many dances that Olive and Otto perform in order to solve a bridge troll's riddle in the Odd Squad episode "Trials and Tubulations". Unfortunately, it's not the correct answer.

Musical

Fiddler on the Roof during the song "To Life".
A bit of this shows up in the choreography for "The Soviet Machine" in the London production of Chess.
Act 2 of Riverdance features an elaborate (and awesome) Russian dance number. It starts with Hopek-style dancing and turns it up a notch.
Moskau by German band Dschinghis Khan seems to be associated with this in the minds of many. They never actually perform this at any point in the video, though.
The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Operatic Society Production of The Mikado includes a musical number that cycles rapidly through several national styles, in which the Russian segment features a group of ladies performing the Russian squat dance with the aid of chairs the same color as the backdrop.
In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the squirrels do a Russian squat dance while Veruca does ballet before they kill her.

Music

Mentioned in Boney M's song "Rasputin". The eponymous mad monk is said to dance the Kozachok "really wunderbar" in it. And the Face of the Band Bobby Farrell performed it on stage for the song.
Featured a lot in the Basement Jaxx's music video for "Take Me Back to Your House". Bears get to dance, too.
The music video for the song "Energia" by Russkaja features this every time the chorus plays.
On Shirim's Klezmer reimagining of The Nutcracker, "The Russian Dance" is appropriately renamed "Kozatsky 'Till You Dropsky."
When Hardcore Techno arrived to Russia and was appropriated as the hardbass subgenre, one of the first things to change was replacing the Dutch hakken dance with the Russian gopak dance.
Russian Folk Rock band Otava Yo avert this. Even when their live gigs mean that everybody gets up and dances. The video for Sumetskaya^notesubtitled as Russian Couplets for Fighting features young peasant men engaging in dancing and play-fighting, accompanied by the band's music, and only once gets anywhere near the kozachok. On the other hand, there is this live version. Which has an unseemly amount of squat-dancing.

Pinball

Gomez and Uncle Fester do this in The Addams Family during The Mamushka, and throw their hands and feet every time a target is hit.

Professional Wrestling

Alex Koslov dons his hat before doing the squat dance to the head of an opponent in the "victim" position.

Theme Parks

The "It's a Small World" ride at Disney Land has a Russian puppet doing the squat dance.

Video Games

Zangief's ending from Street Fighter II, where Mikhail Gorbachev arrives to congratulate him^*See? No more scenes like that. That's Why We Are Bummed Communism Fell. In Pocket Fighter he has it as one of his special attacks — he advances while dancing, kicking his opponent further and further back.
- In Street Fighter IV, when you get to the rival battle as El Fuerte, Zangief does this while introducing himself.
In Punch-Out!!, Soda Popinski does this in one of his win animations.
Part of the male dwarf dance in World of Warcraft. But not the Slavic-accented Draenei, oddly enough. They dance to "Tunak Tunak Tun", which is Indian. Perhaps because the squat dance would be anatomically difficult with the draenei's goat-like legs.
The Jack series of robots from Tekken have something like this in their moveset because they are made in Russia.
Beowulf from Skullgirls uses this dance as an attack, while standing on a chair, no less.
In The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, a mask can be used to make ReDeads dance in this fashion. Also, the final boss may randomly do this when you fight it.
The Soviet Conscript from Red Alert 3 does it as an Idle Animation.
Might Guy's Leaf Style Youth Exercise in Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm has this dance as a punishment if Guy cannot do 100 pushups in 5 seconds. He does these pushups while headbutting his opponent's stomach, and if you fail the QTE mashing, Guy will only manage to do 99, will start crying waterfall tears, and does the dance in retreat. He remains in this dance for a bit after the move, leaving him open for hitting.
Unpatched copies and the shareware demo of Duke Nukem 3D allow Duke to use both the off hand "Mighty Foot" (kick with left foot) and Emergency Weapon kick (kick with right foot) at the same time. Fans tend to see it as Duke either doing this trope, or imitating Liu Kang.
In Rayman 2: The Great Escape, Rayman does this after completing every level.
Fable has this as one of the "expression" animations you can make your character do.
Russian Dancing Men is a rhythm game for iPhone & iPad based on the flash music vid below.
In the second game in the Destroy All Humans! series, while Crypto is in Tunguska, the locals will usually do this kind of dance whenever they are under his Free Love spell.
In Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army, Rasputin does this dance at the start of the boss battle against him.
In Super Hero Squad Online, this is Colossus's dance animation. Naturaliski.
Dampierre from the Soul Series has this as one of his kick combos. It can be devastating if timed properly, but hilarious if you fail.
Team Fortress 2 added it as a taunt as part of the Gun Mettle Update with the name "Kazotzky Kick". If one person starts doing it, then anyone nearby can hit the taunt button to follow suit. The best part is that you can still move around (albeit slowly) while doing it, meaning that it's actually possible to capture the intelligence while doing it just to humiliate the other team, as this video shows.
Rash can do this in Killer Instinct, but since he can morph his feet into giant spiked boots, it becomes a lot more painful for his opponents.
When Just Dance 2 included Boney M's Rasputin in its repertory, it logically snuck some bits of cossack dancing in the sketch itself.
- 2014's version of YMCA reused the same dancer and also had him cossack dance in his solo bit.
One Piece: Pirate Warriors: Buggy does the dance before activating his first Limit Break, Bara Bara Festival.
Viktor from Paladins is an old Russian soldier who naturally has the cossack dance as one of his taunts.
The monkey's dancing animation in Ultimate Chicken Horse.
In Feel the Magic: XY/XX's "Dance" stage, the Down instruction briefly makes the player character engage in this.
Final Fantasy XIV as of patch 5.3 has an emote that is in part based on the dance, called the "Lali-Hop".
In Gundam Battle Assault 2, Bolt Gundam does this dance as its crouch kick attack.

Web Original

Russian Dancing Men, which spawned the game.
Someone kindly put a RunD.M.C. song over footage of one of these.

Web Video

Epic Rap Battles of History:
- Rasputin vs. Stalin has the two opponents doing this after the battle alongside challengers Lenin, Gorbachev, and Putin. Stalin, who was not Russian by birth, seems to be having a bit of trouble with it.
- Che Guevara does the Russian dance in the background of his battle against Guy Fawkes, symbolizing his alliance with the USSR during his lifetime.

Western Animation

The Footloose episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender had a similar dance.
The Futurama episode "A Taste of Freedom" opens with Fry walking in on everyone watching Zoidberg doing one of these in honor of the "Freedom Day" holiday. Fry decides to join in to avoid standing out. Subverts the traditional association with Communist Mother Russia with the chanted lyrics "freedom, freedom, freedom, OY!"
- Later, a bunch of Uncle Sams on stilts are seen doing the dance.
In the Phineas and Ferb episode "The Wizard of Odd", Doofenschmirtz's guards do this dance during their big number.
A Woody Woodpecker short where Woody disguises himself as a Russian visitor takes advantage of this dance to position himself to literally kick Wally Walrus in the butt but good.
In The Simpsons, a file photo of Homer doing this comes back to haunt him when he's accused of being a Communist after heading into Russian waters with a nuclear submarine he unintentionally and accidentally commandeered.
In the Looney Tunes cartoon Hare Tonic, Elmer Fudd is afraid he has Rabbititis, and rushes to see a doctor, who is Bugs Bunny in disguise. Bugs tests Elmer Fudd's reflexes by alternately hitting each knee with a rubber mallet, and alternates between each knee faster and faster until Elmer is doing this dance. Bugs soon joins him, giving away his disguise in the process.
Elmer: HEY! You're not a doctor, you're that scwewy wabbit!
- In another Elmer Fudd cartoon, The Big Snooze, Bugs tells him to "Run this way!" to escape. This includes: doing a silly run, running upside-down, hopping like a frog, running upside-down again, yelling "Hey!", doing this dance, and yelling "Hey!" again before repeating.
- The short Tin Pan Alley Cats has a scene of Josef Stalin kicking Adolf Hitler's butt doing the dance, with Hitler replacing "Hey!" with "Heil!".
- Funny enough, 1943's Pigs in a Polka (a take on The Three Little Pigs set to Johannes Brahms' Hungarian Dances) has The Big Bad Wolf entering by going down a road doing the Russian squat dance. He even does a hand signal when turning left.
In the Popeye short My Artistical Temperature, this is invoked when Popeye gets flung backward through a painting of a Russian man, with his legs sticking out.
Done in The Critic by Franklin during a square dance with Ross Perot's running mate James Stockdale.
This one of the Goofalototots' main shticks, the one that is based off Wakko from Animaniacs, in an episode of The Mask.
In an episode of Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain are subjected to Pavlovian conditioning. Every time a bell rings, Pinky does That Russian Squat Dance, while every time a gong is sounded Brain sings "I'm A Little Teapot" complete with actions.
In the Dilbert episode "The Dupey", after Dilbert's Dupey goes through its metamorphosis and becomes an ugly creature, Ratbert declares himself the cutest thing in the house again and does this dance.
In Oggy and the Cockroaches, this is the cockroaches' victory dance.
In Wonder Pets! episode "Save the Nutcracker", the dance is called The Bear Dance. The Mouse King does it as he makes off with the Wonder Pets' nutcracker, and the Wonder Pets follow suit as they give chase. The Mouse King's guards do the dance while they try to stop the Wonder Pets, who dance right past them.
In the Disney Silly Symphonies version of The Grasshopper and the Ants, the grasshopper and a young ant do this dance a few times to the former's fiddle.
In The Amazing World of Gumball, Gumball attempts to do this in the episode "The Bros," but his torso's too short and ends up kicking himself in the face repeatedly. (Alternatively, he's stretching his legs long enough to hit his own face.)
The Cold Opening to the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Powerless" featured a battle between the "Batmen of All Nations" and the "Jokers of All Nations". One of the Jokers in question was a Cossack Joker, so of course his contribution to the fight was kicking at one of the Batmen in this manner.
The intro of Count Duckula has the eponymous character doing this dance while playing a harmonica.
One episode of Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi has Ami and Yumi doing this dance during a dance competition that the two of them entered. They are even wearing a corresponding costume.
In one episode of Darkwing Duck, Agent Grizzlikof does this dance as an attack against F.O.W.L. agents.

Moscow, Moscow, throw your glasses at the wall, and good fortune to us all, ho-ho-ho-ho-ho, hey!
Moscow, Moscow, join us for a kazachok, we'll go dancing round the clock, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, hey!
Moscow, Moscow, drinking vodka all night long, keeps you happy, makes you strong, ho-ho-ho-ho-ho, hey!
Moscow, Moscow, come and have a drink and then, you will never leave again, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Hey!

—Dschinghis Khan, Moscow (English version)

Kazotsky Kick

Probably the most Slavic dance taunt in the whole game. When you think of the Soviet Union, you think of one thing: the freedom to laugh and love and sing and dance!

If Soda Popinsk...

Alternative Title(s): Cossack Dance, Kazatsky

round dance, quadrille, tank, Kalinka, lady, Cossack, squatting.

Publications of the Traditions section

Let's remember how they danced in Rus'. Kamarinskaya and the mistress, a Cossack and a quadrille, a round dance and a fair dance with a bear. Not a single holiday in Rus' was complete without dance. The dances were named after the melody, the number of dancers or the pattern of movements. The dances were lyrical or martial. One for each case. The soul sings - the legs start dancing .

Khorovod . Dance with pagan roots. Circle in honor of Yarila, the ancient god of the sun. "Walking after the sun" is part of the Slavic rites. Over the centuries, the ritual character has faded into the background. The round dance has become the main decoration of Russian folk holidays. The nature of the dance changes from occasion to occasion. Either they start a round dance in honor of the arrival of spring, then they meet Ivan Kupala, holding hands, scarves or girlish wreaths.

Trinity . A folk dance that can be unmistakably recognized by counting the dancers. Initially, it was a man and two women. Rhythm and steps are like in a Russian trio of galloping horses. The troika is danced not only by folk dance groups, but also on the classical stage. As, for example, in the ballet The Nutcracker to the music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

Kalinka . A dance performed to a song that is only reputed to be folk. Authorship belongs to Ivan Larionov. The Russian composer and folklorist wrote Kalinka in 1860. The melody went straight to the people from the stage of the Saratov amateur theater. There are no special choreographic figures in Kalinka: it is an improvisation dance. Including on ice, as in the case of figure skaters Irina Rodnina and Alexander Zaitsev.

Khorovod

Kalinka

Lady . A daring dance like a "social conflict" in the spirit of who will dance whom. The main characters are the "Madame-Lady" and the "Peasant Muzhik". To the accompaniment of an accordion or balalaika, majesty opposes prowess, smoothness of movement versus dexterity. According to one of the versions, the Oryol province became the birthplace of the dance.

Kamarinskaya . The dance "hands on hips, from heel to toe" became a fantasy for the orchestra. Mikhail Glinka in his overture used the melody itself and the overtones characteristic of folk singing, and Pyotr Tchaikovsky included the theme in the "Children's Album". The main role of the dance version is played by the “Kamarin peasant”, a cheerful and provocative resident of Kamarichi, the volost of the Oryol province.

Cossack . Russian, Terek, Kuban. The dance is international with squats, pair dances and jumps. The peppy and fervent melody of a Cossack girl has been known since the 18th century. The glory of folk dance reached the Parisian salons along with the Russian troops. Alexander Dargomyzhsky wrote "Little Russian Cossack" for the symphony orchestra, and since the 19th century, the Cossack in Russia was "promoted" to a ballroom dance.

Kazachok

Russian folk dance

How to dance tango - Wiki How to Russian

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Basics

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Learning to dance the tango is not easy, and you need a good teacher to do it. However, you can learn the basics on your own. If you are ready, then soon you will be dancing this sensual, romantic, elegant dance.

Steps

1

Listen to music. The essence of tango is feelings, not actions. Any master of this art form will tell you that to really learn how to dance the tango, the music has to flow through you. So start listening! Listen in the car while washing dishes; learn to feel how the music "flows" through the body. And as you dance, you will discover something unexpected!
- Which musicians should you listen to? Di Sarli, Canaro, Pugliese, D'Arienzo and Laurenz are five artists that are really worth listening to. Type them into YouTube - everything is at your fingertips!
2

Start with hugs. In tango, hugs are numero uno. Yes, hugging is easy, but hugging should be sensual, light, and strong at the same time. Simply put, both partners should be mirror images of each other.
- The partner raises his left hand and grabs the partner with his right hand, placing his hand on her back slightly below her shoulder blades. The partner puts her right hand on the partner's left hand, and wraps her left hand around him, placing it also in the middle of his back.
3

Maintain perfect posture. Tango originated in the poorest areas of Argentina, but this does not mean that it has not developed since then. To dance the tango correctly, you must maintain perfect posture. That is, your head should be up, your back straight, your lower back and stomach extended, your chest up—your whole body exudes confidence.
- If you don't keep the correct posture, you will not only look a little ridiculous, but also risk hitting or injuring your partner. Imagine a hunched partner who leans on his partner, forcing her to arch her back and mince around his clumsy steps, trying not to touch his legs. So you can generally be left without partners!
4

Practice alone first. Before dancing with a partner, especially if you are leading, it is important to learn the basic steps. Imagine going to the gym in a miniskirt and high heels! Well, I do not. First you need to prepare.
- Both partners must remember this rhythm: slow, slow, fast, fast, slow. Leader steps:
  - Left foot forward
  - Right foot forward
  - Forward left
  - Right foot
  - Connect the legs by moving the left to the right. Like this! Again!
- For the slave (reflection of the actions of the master):
  - Back with right foot
  - Left foot back
  - Back with right foot
  - Left foot left
  - Put the right foot to the left. That's all! Now again!
5

When you're ready, dance with a partner. Of course, tango is not only slow-slow-fast-fast-slow, and that's the beauty of it. Once you learn this rhythm and can dance it counterclockwise in a circle, find yourself a partner. Whether you are leading or being led, feel your partner's presence and spin with him. Otherwise, you will be dancing next to each other, and not with each other.
- Dance with different partners. Some will be easier than others. Same styles work better than different styles. And of course, if you find someone who dances better than you, don't miss this chance and learn from them!
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1

Add jiggles. This is an American tango style move where you don't step, but sway back and forth, shifting your body weight from one foot to the other. That is, if you take the step that we talked about earlier, then instead of two steps in quick-quick, you take one step and sway with the transfer of body weight. It is clear that nothing is clear, right?
- With a normal step, when you lead, you take two steps forward on the count of fast-fast. Now, instead, take one step and shift your body weight onto your back foot (without moving it). If you are a follower, then you move in a mirror way: a step back quickly, and instead of a second step, you move your body forward.
2

Korte. Korte and rocking can be combined into one movement. Corte is the same as rocking, only it is done in the first two steps (slowly slowly). To make the court look more spectacular, the steps should be long and smooth.
3

Add twists and turns. Stand with a partner in a promenade position where your bodies are facing each other and your heads are turned to the side. Now instead of moving forward and backward, you can move left or right. And now you can perform twists and turns. In most tango figures, the partner does most of the hard work, but the men can get it too!
- Let's imagine that you are a wingman in a pair and take two steps to the right (in slow-slow). Immediately after the second step (before the third), turn the body to the left. And keep moving back in relation to the original direction. It was a swivel.
- To make a turn, the leader must turn around the partner 180 degrees on the first quick step and beyond. Let's rock!
4

As the leader, plan ahead. It may seem that being the leader is easier, because he does not have to try to guess the partner's movements. But the leader has his own difficulties. The leader always needs to plan ahead and understand how the dance should develop. Therefore, in order not to stomp in a circle, think over the dance a few steps ahead.
5

If you are a follower, you should feel your partner's weight. The follower has less worries: he just needs to follow the flow. But it's not easy and can sometimes be confusing if you don't trust your partner. The easiest way to know what to expect is to feel your partner's weight. Feel where it's going. Feel where it shifts between figures. Balance with it. He will take you with him.
6

Everything ingenious is simple. You can make very complex movements, but if there is not this synchronicity between you and your partner, this smooth flow, which tango really is, then none of this matters. Don't chase after the outside, but follow your feelings. Keep things simple, master that simplicity, and the rest will come by itself.
- Have you ever seen an old couple moving in a simple dance? It's so touching because they are just dancing. It is this, this very simplicity that should be your goal.
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1

Find a teacher who cares about technique rather than memorizing steps and figures. The teacher must be able to dance both as a leader and as a follower in order to teach you how to dance in both roles and feel the partner. Try to find a small group of about 10 people so that you have a choice of partners and the teacher can work with each one individually.
- There are three types of tango: Argentine tango, ballroom tango and American tango. Argentine tango has become very popular due to its varied figures, impromptu movements, and greater emphasis on the woman. There are many schools for beginners teaching this type of tango.
2

Circle movement. Whether you're dancing at school or at a party, tango usually moves in circles. So there are a couple of important things to keep in mind:
- Anti-clockwise movement. This does not apply to turns, swivels and other movements. Make sure that the general direction of the dance goes counterclockwise.
- More experienced tango dancers take longer steps and take up more space. Less confident dancers, pushed aside by more daring couples, close in the center of the circle. Don't repeat their mistakes!
3

Go to milonga and tango nights and show off. If you are walking alone, then find a partner with the help of cabeceo (Spanish for "nod" - a signal of invitation or consent to dance). No need to ask, agree with your eyes. Make eye contact - smile or nod. If the person does not answer you, look for another. This method is not so intrusive and does not put pressure on a person.
- One dance set, or tanda, includes 4 dances. Therefore, if you are not sure that you want to dance all 4 dances with this person, then invite him during the 2nd or 3rd set.
4

Be patient. Tango requires balance and a willingness to learn. It will be extremely difficult at first, but trust that it will pass. You will master the steps. But first, crush someone's toes. Don't worry, they'll live. If you practice, you will get better and better.
- Tango is not a dance that can be mastered in an evening or in one lesson. This is what makes it so mesmerizing! There is much to be learned; it can take a lifetime to learn how to dance and understand tango. But don't let this fact put you off, let it inspire you. By learning to dance the tango, you will master the art.
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Tips

Learn from different instructors. Don't limit yourself to one teacher. Before you pay him, visit a trial lesson. It may turn out that you do not like his character or style at all.
Choose instructors who teach in pairs. He will be better able to teach you. Yes, a man can teach you how to lead, but only a woman can teach you how to be the perfect leader.
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