ETHNIC DRAMA
ETHNIC DRAMA is a folklore theatrical performance which does not have a fixed text as its basis and exists in stage form. Its origin re lates to the dramatic elements of ritual folklore, ethnic games, minstrel’s, joker’s, buffoon’s, se sen’s art, etc. It has prose and poetic forms. E.d. can be characterized by a variable interpretation of images, movements, mimics; it could have dialogues of actors with the audience, improvi sation. In Russia it appeared at the edge of the 17th–18th c. and reflected contemporary reality, raised relevant issues of that time in dramatic or comic manner. One of the most popular E.d. was “Tsar Maksimilian” which showed the fight of the tsar with his wayward son, personifying people. There are also the most prominent and widespread E.d., such as “Boat”, “Ataman”, “Mashenka” (Rus.), “Malanka”, “A goat”, “A mill, an old man and woman” (Ukr.), etc. The elements of E.d. are included in Yuletide performances, Maslenitsa and round dance games, wedding folklore ceremony. “Akbuzat”, “Zayatulyak and Khyukhylyu”, “Ural-batyr” epics are dramas according to their content and structural peculiarities. Bashkir ethnic song is based on deep drama, which is emphasized by sesens on stage. E.d. served as a basis for professional drama to form and develop.
L.A. Mukhametdinova (Khairnurova)
