ROUND DANCE
ROUND DANCE is a circle synchronized group dance which can be accompanied by singing or sometimes by playing musical instruments. Being a syncretic type of ethnic dance, it combines music, choreography, poetry, drama, symbolism of ethnic costumes etc. Its origin is connected with the ancient pagan ritual traditions of many peoples. On the territory of Bashkortostan R.d. was used in 19th – early 20th c. as a magical rite to charm nature’s powers at the period of its wakening (from Krasnaya Gorka Day – the first Sunday after Easter, during Maslenitsa days) and at the most important calendar periods, such as the day of summer solstice (semikand Trinity rituals, Greatday, Semyk). The climax of round dancing art was observed in the mid. 19th c. Local mass media mentioned R.d. performed by Turkic people in the 1870’s (Bashkirs, Tatars, Chuvashes). R. d. was the main entertainment of youth and the way to meet a future spouse. Traditionally it was danced in the countryside, in the outskirts of villages including Ufa city (see also Youth games). Ancient round dances which included game activities were dedicated to Flora and Fauna which were considered to be magical and responsible for fertility. Thus, singing the song “Ya seyala, seyala lenok” the game participants would make a circle and imitate the process of sowing and processing flax. Many Russian round dancing songs were recorded in the 18-19th c. in Bashkortostan into handwritten manuscripts that were also known in other regions (“Pereveysya, khmelyek”, “Gde zhe ty, zainka, gulival?”, “Po tropinke galka shla”). A number of round dancing songs have mating motifs (“the garden hop”, “a swan with cygnets, with its little nestlings” are mentioned, etc.; see Folklore poetics). Some Russian round dancing songs are borrowed by Chuvashes and Udmurts (“Akh po moryu”, “A my prosto seyali”). In ancient times Chuvashes celebrated the holiday of Earth for 12 days, then for 3 days. When Christianity was adopted, people began timing it to the Orthodox semik and Trinity holidays, thus the celebration ended on Petrov day (July 12). It was prohibited to work in fields, to set fire in stoves before the sunset, to wash clothes, pour sewage on the ground, wear clothes made of coarse motley cotton fabric, etc. Breaking the prohibitions were believed to bring natural disasters. The main figure of R.d. is a round which looks like the Sun, and the movement goes along its course. Game R.d. was also common. The order and specific movements of R. dancers, the character and manner of round dancing songs and dances depended on the dance content and local traditions (see “Small rope”, Ethnic song). Thus, Chuvash songs were characterized by polyphony and dominating second voice; some people from settlements of Aurgazinskiy, Gafuriyskiy, Ishimbayskiy, Sterlitamakskiy and other districts of RB used to perform a special movement during the youth festivities: women and men would stand in a line singing a round dancing song. The person that went last had to choose a partner and stand at the beginning of the moving line. The move is common for many peoples.
R.d. were common for the Bavlin Udmurts too (Kupcheyevo village, Yermekeyevskiy district, RB). Between the Sunday after Easter (Bydzynal) and the night before Holy Trinity holiday people used to install swings on the top of a mountain. The youth would go there in the evenings and have rides, dance R.d. and sing different songs. The youth used to sing round dancing songs, go around the village and break the swings before dawn.
In the beginning of the new century R.d. became popular and nowadays it is being revived by means of different ethnic holidays and cultural events. E.g., during the Parade of national costumes at “Heart of Eurasia” art festival the record of the largest international R.d. was registered in 2018 in Ufa.
F.G. Galieva, T.G. Minniyakhmetova, I.G. Petrov, R.R. Sadikov
