Hopak ( uk, гопа́к, ) is a
Ukrainian folk dance originating as a male dance among the
Zaporozhian Cossacks
The Zaporozhian Cossacks, Zaporozhian Cossack Army, Zaporozhian Host, (, or uk, Військо Запорізьке, translit=Viisko Zaporizke, translit-std=ungegn, label=none) or simply Zaporozhians ( uk, Запорожці, translit=Zaporoz ...
, but later danced by couples, male soloists, and mixed groups of dancers. It is performed most often as a solitary
concert dance
Concert dance (also known as performance dance or theatre dance in the United Kingdom) is dance performed for an audience. It is frequently performed in a theatre setting, though this is not a requirement, and it is usually choreographed and p ...
by amateur and professional Ukrainian dance ensembles, as well as other performers of
folk dances. It has also been incorporated into larger artistic opuses such as
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
s,
ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
s and
theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
.
The hopak is often popularly referred to as the "
National Dance of Ukraine" and has become very popular in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
. There are similar folkloric dance tunes known as ''
Sirmpa The ''Sirmpa'' ( el, Σίρμπα) is a Greek folk dance (hasaposerviko) from Leros. The dance originated in the Middle Ages as a battle mime with swords performed by the Greek butchers guild, which adopted it from the military of Byzantine era. Th ...
'' in
Leros
Leros ( el, Λέρος) is a Greek island and municipality in the Dodecanese in the southern Aegean Sea. It lies (171 nautical miles) from Athens's port of Piraeus, from which it can be reached by an 9-hour ferry ride or by a 45-minute flight fr ...
,
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
.
Etymology
The name ''hopak'' is derived from the verb ''hopaty'' ( uk, гопати) which means "to
hop," as well as the corresponding exclamation ''hop!'' ( uk, гоп) which can be uttered during a jump as an expression of surprise or amazement. It is also referred to as gopak from the Ukrainian form.
History
Medieval history
![Gopak](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Gopak.jpg)
The Hopak developed initially as a
Cossack
The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...
social dance
Social dances are dances that have a social functions and context. Social dances are intended for participation rather than performance. They are often danced merely to socialise and for entertainment, though they may have ceremonial, competit ...
( uk, побyтовi танці,
translit. ''pobutovi tantsi''), and was practiced in the lands of present-day
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
beginning in the 16th century. While the militaristic
Zaporizhian Sich
The Zaporozhian Sich ( ua, Запорозька Січ, ; also uk, Вольностi Вiйська Запорозького Низового, ; Free lands of the Zaporozhian Host the Lower) was a semi-autonomous polity and proto-state of C ...
generally frowned upon amusements and diversions from
military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
training, such regulations were overlooked when Kozaks returned victorious after battle.
Kobzar
A ''kobzar'' ( ua, кобзар, pl. kobzari ua, кобзарі) was an itinerant Ukrainian bard who sang to his own accompaniment, played on a multistringed bandura or kobza.
Tradition
Kobzars were often blind and became predominantly so b ...
s and other musicians would gather their instruments -
violin
The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
s,
bagpipes
Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, No ...
,
bandura
A bandura ( uk, банду́ра) is a Ukrainian plucked string folk instrument. It combines elements of the zither and lute and, up until the 1940s, was also often referred to by the term kobza. Early instruments (c. 1700) had 5 to 12 strings ...
,
cimbalom
The cimbalom (; ) or concert cimbalom is a type of chordophone composed of a large, trapezoidal box on legs with metal strings stretched across its top and a damping pedal underneath. It was designed and created by V. Josef Schunda in 1874 in ...
s, and
fifes - while other
participants would dance.
This celebratory was performed only by male participants, as they took place in an all-male environment. The performers were young, boisterous mercenaries, and not professional dancers; as such, the dance steps performed were predominantly
improvisation
Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...
al, reflecting the performers' sense of manliness, heroism, speed and strength. The steps exhibited included many acrobatic jumps ( uk, стрибки,
translit. ). Often fights from the battlefield would be re-enacted in
pantomime
Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...
, with real swords, lances or other weaponry, as the performer lashed out at invisible enemies. These dances were not tied down to specific rhythms, and the dancers could change
tempo
In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...
at any point.
Such
festive dancing differed greatly in character from the older ritual dances ( uk, oбpядовi танці,
translit. ''obryadovi tantsi''), such as the
Khorovod
The khorovod or horovod ( rus, хорово́д, p=xərɐˈvot, uk, хоровод, translit=khorovod or uk, коло, translit=kolo, label=none, be, карагод , bg, хоро, pl, korowód) is an East Slavs, East Slavic and pagan art ...
, which had previously been the dominant
choreographic works in
Ruthenian lands. A primary distinction was the gender of the participants – all male – as opposed to the predominantly all-female ritual dances.
With the elevation of Cossack status in the region, began to appear in the villages within their domain. Unlike the all-male dances found in the Sich, these dances were mixed, with young boys and girls dancing celebratory movements together. While the lead role was retained by male performers, structural elements began to be added in, such as
circle forms and pairs moving together in formation; these developments most likely were derived from the choreographic history of ritual dances in the area.
None of the dances performed by Cossacks during this time were ever recorded.
Guillaume Le Vasseur de Beauplan
Guillaume Levasseur de Beauplan (c. 1600 – 6 December 1673) or William le Vasseur de Beauplan was a French-Polish cartographer, engineer and architect.
Beauplan served as artillery captain for the army of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland b ...
recorded the fact that Cossacks danced in such a manner, and other historical accounts verify this. Later,
Ivan Kotliarevsky
Ivan Petrovych Kotliarevsky ( uk, Іван Петрович Котляревський) ( in Poltava – in Poltava, Russian Empire, now Ukraine) was a Ukrainian writer, poet and playwright, social activist, regarded as the pioneer of modern Ukra ...
and
Taras Shevchenko
Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko ( uk, Тарас Григорович Шевченко , pronounced without the middle name; – ), also known as Kobzar Taras, or simply Kobzar (a kobzar is a bard in Ukrainian culture), was a Ukraine, Ukrainian p ...
incorporated the Hopak and dancing Cossacks into their works. However, with the destruction of the Sich in the 18th century, the dance survived only in its mixed-gender village format as a celebratory dance.
Concert dance
After Hopak-like dances began to be performed on stage in the 18th century in
Serf and
Peasant
A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...
theater
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...
s, professional dramatic troupes began to incorporate this popular dance into their repertoire. These performances only incorporated the Hopak into a larger opus, such as Kotliarevsky's
operetta
Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...
''
Natalka Poltavka''. It was the pioneering work of a performer in a dramatic ensemble, the
ethnochoreologist Vasyl Verkhovynets, in the early 20th century, that enable the dance to develop into its current format. Verkhovynets' initial work entailed gathering authentic village steps throughout central
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
and constructing dances which more accurately represented the
Ukrainian cultural tradition. His break-through, however, was demonstrating that staged
Ukrainian dance
''Ukrainian dance'' ( uk, Український тaнeць, translit. ''Ukrainian 'tanets' '') mostly refers to the traditional folk dances of the Ukrainians as an ethnic group, but may also refer dance of the other ethnic groups within Ukrain ...
could exist as a distinct
performing art
The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perfor ...
, in the form of
concert dance
Concert dance (also known as performance dance or theatre dance in the United Kingdom) is dance performed for an audience. It is frequently performed in a theatre setting, though this is not a requirement, and it is usually choreographed and p ...
. He and his disciple
Vasyl Avramenko
Vasyl Kyrylovych Avramenko ( uk, Василь Кирилович Авраменко; sometimes transcribed as Vasile) (March 22, 1895 – May 6, 1981) was a Ukrainian actor, dancer, choreographer, balletmaster, director, and film producer, ...
began staging performances throughout western Ukraine, forming troupes of dancers in village after village.
In the spring of 1935, the
agreed to send a delegation to the upcoming
First International Festival of the Folk Dance in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. Verkhovynets worked with
Leonid Zhukov of the
T. Shevchenko Kyiv Opera and Ballet, and professional dancers from both the Kyiv and
Kharkiv Opera
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.[Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...]
. For his part, Verkhovynets choreographed what became known as the "London Hopak" ( uk, лондонський гопак,
translit. ''londonskiy hopak''): this was a 3-part dance, consisting of a men's dance (much like the original Kozak dance), a second, slower segment danced only by women, and finally a rousing closing with both male and female dancers sharing the stage. This dance, along with Zhukov's addition, won the first prize at the festival that summer. The 3-part Hopak was later reprised in September back in Ukraine as part of the opera,
Zaporozhets za Dunayem
''Zaporozhets za Dunayem'' ( uk, Запорожець за Дунаєм, translated as ''A Zaporozhian (Cossack) Beyond the Danube'', also referred to as ''Cossacks in Exile'') is a Ukrainian comic opera with spoken dialogue in three acts with mu ...
. The format of the 3-part Hopak was subsequently adopted by many professional folk dance ensembles who have choreographed their own variants of Hopak through the years.
In 1990, twenty members of the
State Folk Dance Ensemble of the Ukrainian SSR, split off and created the Hopak! Ukrainian Dance Company, Ukraine's first independent professional dance company, under the direction of Sergei Makarov.
Dance steps
The modern-day Hopak is a choreographed dance made to appear full of improvisation. Much of the seemingly improvised parts involve solo dancers, usually male, performing visually and technically amazing
acrobatic feats. These include jumps and spins and are usually the highlight of the performance.
The rest of the dance includes many movements performed in unison, especially by the female dancers, while male dancers typically perform
squat sequences.
Because of the speed and energy required to perform a successful Hopak, this dance is usually performed at the end of a program. As in many Ukrainian dances, the dancers, especially the women, do not stop moving until the end of the dance.
Hopak music
Music for the Hopak is not standardized by
tempo
In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...
or
melody
A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...
, although
time predominates most arrangements. The dance is supposed to evoke a sense of improvisation, so the pace of the music changes from segment to segment, allowing dancers to distinguish themselves. The melodies of the songs ( uk, Гоп, мої гречаники) and ''Od Kyeva do Luben'' ( uk, Од Києва до Лубень) can be found in many Hopak arrangements. Hopaks usually end on a fast and furious pace, with some incorporating boisterous Ukrainian marches, such as ''Zasvystaly kozachen'ky'' ( uk, Засвистали козаченьки).
A number of
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
s have composed a Hopak as part of an
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
or
ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
:
;Operas
*
Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky ( rus, link=no, Модест Петрович Мусоргский, Modest Petrovich Musorgsky , mɐˈdɛst pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈmusərkskʲɪj, Ru-Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky version.ogg; – ) was a Russian compo ...
, in ''
The Fair at Sorochyntsi
''The Fair at Sorochyntsi'' (russian: Сорочинская ярмарка, ''Sorochinskaya yarmarka'', '' Sorochyntsi Fair'') is a comic opera in three acts by Modest Mussorgsky, composed between 1874 and 1880 in St. Petersburg, Russia. The compo ...
''
*
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...
, in ''
Mazepa
Ivan Stepanovych Mazepa (also spelled Mazeppa; uk, Іван Степанович Мазепа, pl, Jan Mazepa Kołodyński; ) was a Ukrainian military, political, and civic leader who served as the Hetman of Zaporizhian Host in 1687–1708. ...
''
*
Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...
, in ''
May Night''
*
Semen Hulak-Artemovsky
Semen Stepanovych Hulak-Artemovsky ( uk, Семен Степанович Гулак-Артемовський, also referred to as Semyon Gulak-Artemovsky and Artemovs’kyj) ( – ), was a Ukrainian opera composer, singer (baritone), actor, and ...
, in ''
Zaporozhets za Dunayem
''Zaporozhets za Dunayem'' ( uk, Запорожець за Дунаєм, translated as ''A Zaporozhian (Cossack) Beyond the Danube'', also referred to as ''Cossacks in Exile'') is a Ukrainian comic opera with spoken dialogue in three acts with mu ...
''
;Ballets
*
Aram Khachaturian
Aram Ilyich Khachaturian (; rus, Арам Ильич Хачатурян, , ɐˈram ɨˈlʲjitɕ xətɕɪtʊˈrʲan, Ru-Aram Ilyich Khachaturian.ogg; hy, Արամ Խաչատրյան, ''Aram Xačʿatryan''; 1 May 1978) was a Soviet and Armenian ...
, in ''
Gayane''
*
Vasily Solovyov-Sedoi
Vasily Pavlovich Solovyov-Sedoi (; – 2 December 1979) was a Soviet classical composer and songwriter who was born and died in Leningrad.
Solovyov-Sedoi composed the music for many songs such as " Moscow Nights" (russian: Подмосковн ...
, in ''
Taras Bulba
''Taras Bulba'' (russian: «Тарас Бульба»; ) is a romanticized historical novella set in the first half of the 17th century, written by Nikolai Gogol (1809-1852). It features elderly Zaporozhian Cossack Taras Bulba and his sons And ...
''
*
Cesare Pugni
Cesare Pugni (; russian: Цезарь Пуни, Cezar' Puni; 31 May 1802 in Genoa – ) was an Italian composer of ballet music, a pianist and a violinist. In his early career he composed operas, symphonies, and various other forms of orche ...
, in ''
The Little Humpbacked Horse
Pyotr Pavlovich Yershov (russian: link=no, Пётр Павлович Ершов; – ) was a Russian poet and author of the famous fairy-tale poem ''The Little Humpbacked Horse'' (''Konyok-Gorbunok'').
Biography
Pyotr Yershov was born in the vil ...
''
*
Anatoliy Sviechnikov, in ''
Marusia Bohuslavka
Marusia Bohuslavka was a legendary heroine who lived in Ukraine in the 16th or 17th century. She is primarily known from many Ukrainian epic ballads ('' dumas''), usually referred to as ''Duma about Marusya Bohuslavka'', and other Ukrainian folklo ...
''
In other fields
Soviet leader
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
once famously forced his eventual successor
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...
(who had been the Communist Party chief in Ukraine) to dance the Hopak.
The Hopak was performed as a part of the
choreographic suite ''Friendship of Peoples'' by dancers in
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
folk costumes during the opening ceremony of the
1980 Summer Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...
. This event took place on the field of the
Central Lenin Stadium
Luzhniki Stadium ( rus, стадион «Лужники», p=stədʲɪˈon lʊʐnʲɪˈkʲi, ''Stadion Luzhniki'') is the national stadium of Russia, located in its capital city, Moscow. The full name of the stadium is Grand Sports Arena of the ...
, with a large section of the tribune under the
Olympic Flame
The Olympic flame is a symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. Several months before the Olympic Games, the Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece. This ceremony starts the Olympic ...
Cauldron coloured in Ukrainian folk patterns during the performance.
[Documentary: "Олимпиада – День открытия". (''trans. "Olympiad - Opening Day"'') USSR Central Television, 1980]
In the 2000s, Hopak music was extensively used by Ukrainians
Anna Bessonova
Ganna Volodymyrivna Bessonova ( uk, Ганна Володимирівна Безсонова/Ganna Volodymyrivna Bessonova; born 29 July 1984) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian former individual Rhythmic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnast. She is one of the most ...
and
Natalia Godunko in their routines of
rhythmic gymnastics
Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics; gymnasts must be strong, flexible, agile, dexterous and coord ...
.
The Hopak is also in the video game ''
Team Fortress 2
''Team Fortress 2'' is a 2007 multiplayer first-person shooter, first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve Corporation. It is the sequel to the 1996 ''Team Fortress'' Mod (video gaming), mod for ''Quake (video game), Quake'' and ...
'', called the Kazotsky Kick.
Martial art
See also
*
Squat dance
The squat dance ( Russian: прися́дка, ''prisyádka'') is an eastern Slavic folk dance. East Slavic dance arose from millitary Cossack traditions and later has spread as folk dance. The squat dance originated in regions of today's Ukraine ...
References
External links
{{Commons, hopak
Ukrainian folk danceat the ''
Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine
The ''Encyclopedia of Ukraine'' ( uk, Енциклопедія українознавства, translit=Entsyklopediia ukrainoznavstva), published from 1984 to 2001, is a fundamental work of Ukrainian Studies.
Development
The work was crea ...
''
Dance forms in classical music
Partial squatting position
Ukrainian folk dances
War dances