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Pages: 1

Inquiry re Russian Music

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Posted by: kerncal2000

Please forgive me for my ignorance but can anyone on this BB tell me the name of the music that traditionally there is a Russian cossack dance. I think this is a western perception of what cossack dance music is, but the dancers are squatting down and are doing front kicks with their legs extending each leg several times then they jump up extend there arms and and say "Hey". They then repeat the movement again. I realize this is not the entire dance but it is the best way for us to describe the piece of music that we are searching for. I know this sound really lame and culturally ignorant but we desperately need to know the name of this piece of music.

Thank you,

kerncal2000



Posted by: AkMike

First thing is that the Cossacks were Ukrainian NOT Russians. As for the music I'll find out tonight when my wife returns.



Posted by: lester

Hello, and welcome kerncal2000.

Browse "youtube" for cosssack dance and music, you're sure to find it there.

Note, I have removed your email address from your post, it's unwise to make it public these days!! with all the spam / viruses etc.



Posted by: kerncal2000

Again I apologize for the cultural ignorance. Thank you for editing my post to protect me



Posted by: AkMike

Quote:
Originally Posted by kerncal2000
Again I apologize for the cultural ignorance. Thank you for editing my post to protect me

We all are on a learning curve.. Don't worry about it. Check back late this evening about an update on the music.



Posted by: AkMike

Quote:
Originally Posted by AkMike
We all are on a learning curve.. Don't worry about it. Check back late this evening about an update on the music.


My wife says that kind of music and even the daancing is called 'gopak' the a sounds more like a soft 'O' sound. It could be spelled gopok possibly.
I hope this helps a bit.



Posted by: Jill

Quote:
Originally Posted by AkMike
First thing is that the Cossacks were Ukrainian NOT Russians. As for the music I'll find out tonight when my wife returns.


Actually they were both. There were--and are to this day-- Cossack groups in both Ukraine and Russia. And actually those groups are further broken down into smaller groups (e.g. Don Cossacks, Kuban Cossacks, etc.)

However, Ukraine claims that their status as an independent state goes back to the Hetmanate that reigned for some time in Ukraine--hence the cultural and historical importance of Cossacks to Ukraine. (And actually there were several groups there as well--the Ukrainian Cossacks, who served the Polish king and whose leadership was generally Polish or Lithuanian; and the Zaporizhzhyan Cossacks who were what one might consider "proto-Ukrainian" in the modern sense, although much of the time they did serve the Russian czar, but kind of went back and forth on alliances, and at one point claimed their territory to be automous--the first "independent Ukraine" so to speak).

So, yes, the were and are Russian Cossacks also. It is not uniquely Ukrainian. It just played a larger role in Ukrainian statehood than it did in Russian statehood (although they did play a role in Russian expansion).


Quote:
gopak


Yes, this is it. Also sometimes called hopak.



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