Partisans of the Moiseyev
I know I’ve posted a video of this dance (“Partisans”) before, but I want to show it again. This video is of better quality than those that were previously available on YouTube, which makes me happy because it happens to be one of my favorite dances ever since childhood. Watching the video is not as good as seeing it in person, of course, where the illusion is especially stunning. But some of the magic nevertheless comes across, and since the company doesn’t tour the US too often any more, YouTube is much much better than nothing.
The performance is by the Russian professional folk/character dance troupe known as the Moiseyev (after its founder, Igor Moiseyev), which I saw in person for the first time in the late 50s as part of the Khrushchev-initiated cultural “thaw.” Their first visit here was apparently in 1958 to the old Met, but I have a very clear memory of seeing them in Madison Square Garden, so it must have been a year or two later that I attended. I saw grown men (probably Russian expats) weep, and many people in the audience were practically hysterical with joy and some other complexity of emotion. I had never seen anything even remotely like the group’s theatricality and athleticism, its thrills and chills, its beautiful and emotional music, and the overwhelming masculinity and force of this type of dance.
This particular selection is a tribute to the partisans who fought in Russia during WWII. You might say it’s schmaltzy and showy and almost circusy, and I’d say you’re right, but the skill and artistry of the performers save it from being a mere trick.
The dance features imaginary horses, too, going from a walk to a jog/trot, canter, and full gallop at times. You’ll see what I mean in a moment. Enjoy:
I think that, in addition to the magic of the horses’ gait, the sudden changes of pace to the smooth glide, and the Russian facility at mime (smoking, laughing, talking), my favorite parts are the pair of shooters beginning around 6:40, followed by the Georgian man (love those Georgian men!).
Awesome! The gliding effect in particular was eerie, and really damned difficult to achieve.
That said, all the leaping and spinning makes for a poor firing platform, particularly with automatic weapons. And it’s typically poor practice to grasp the weapon by the magazine.
Brian, it’s a dance performance, not an actual combat.
Loved it.
Very Soviet…
snopercod:
Very Russian, with a bit of Georgian thrown in.
It celebrates the partisans in WWII, which is really the only “Soviet” thing about it, but there’s nothing “Soviet” there as opposed to “Russian,” as far as I can see.
The gliding trick, the Russian music, the virtuoso dancing and strong emotion—none of that is “Soviet” in my book. The Soviets certainly used and exploited those things, but the things themselves are not “Soviet” in spirit, and they have survived the Soviets.
I usually don’t like many filmed stage productions. That was done very nicely though.
(by filmed I mean filming the stage, not the wholesale transfer to the movie genre.)
It’s rare to see them with such high techie production values. Can you recommend any other vids of them that look as good? Most of those I’ve seen have been fairly rough productions. This one is just . . . nicely done.
The swively gliding thing sucked me in and I watched the whole performance at the edge of my seat. That was really good.
Esther:
That “swively glidning thing” was pretty amazing. Maybe Neo can shed some light as to what is involved (dumbed down if possible for non dancers)?
I’m as good at metaphor as the next guy. But enough is enough. Six of those knee-destroying, thigh-wrecking squat jumps tells the tale. Twenty-thirty of them is too much. My legs started hurting.
And the backward squat jumps while firing….waiting for somebody to fall on his butt.
Okay. They take risks. And conquer them. Butt-falling is fixed in rehearsal and those with orthopedic injuries no doubt have an entire hospital wing reserved for them.
“If some is good, more is surely better….” has an upper limit.
I suspect, as neo suggests, that having a dog in the fight, metaphorically speaking, as a Russian emigre for example, would light this thing up like the sun.
But as a performance….think I’ll do some stretches.
Stunning. What artists. What athletes. The gliding is magical and hypnotic.
I sent you something, Neo. I didn’t know how timely it would be until I saw this.
Check your mailbox.
‘That “swively glidning thing” was pretty amazing. Maybe Neo can shed some light as to what is involved…’.
My theory is that they’re Shriners and they have little scooters under their robes.
Very fast small steps done so smoothly that the upper body is not disturbed by the movement and appears motionless. I believe that the steps are done with slightly bent knees rather than straight knees. I’ve never seen anyone demonstrate it, but my brother and I used to practice it in our basement when we were kids, after we saw the Moiseyev for the first time.
It was impressive.
A big part of the effect is that the dancer doesn’t show any facial sign that they are working hard – their mouth closed and they don’t look like they are breathing much.
That alone is an extremely difficult feat to do on a sustained basis.