Life to a Waltzing Step...
Girls are deployed to face the mirror, and it seems that the reflectionsbelong to contemporaries of Pushkin and Dickens or princesses in a fairy tale. A few minutes later, the distant past will become an excellent present for them. And we find ourselves with them in the era of airy halls, rustling ball gowns, candles blinking, polished manners, gallant gentlemen, ravishing ladies and beautiful music...
Studying historical dances is an incredibly enthralling process. At first, your head is spinning from strange but fancy names for dances — "Ekosez", "Tampet", "Farandole", "Branley" and even "Mr. Beveridge's Maggot". And how different, it turns out, each waltz can be! Waltz-gavotte, waltz-mazurka, and waltz — country-dance, waltz of St. Bernard... The dance programs of contemporary balls often combine dances from different countries and eras — the complex and bizarre baroque dance to light and airy quadrilles of the 19th century, from medieval "Moresca" to Soviet "Sudarushka"...
A conversation between two students in the hall of the HSE Cultural Center:
— How was your microeconomics exam, did you pass it?
— Yes, everything’s fine, thanks. Could you help me to tighten my corset?
Studying historical dances is not limited to studying and practicing dance steps, patterns and pas. Participants are required to know the rules of ballroom etiquette (for example, the ladies are not allowed to appear at the ball with flowing hair, and young men to dance more than three dances with the same lady). We can not ignore the dress code, so that our girls sew or rent real ball gowns, made from sketches in the fashion magazines of two centuries ago.
Historical dancing is a very popular hobby among the Russian student elite. Historical dance clubs exist in all the major universities. That’s why the balls are still a popular place for dating!
2012 was a very important yeear for 'Pa-zefir'. First, our club gained new teachers as now we learn from Alexander Anoshkin and Arina Belyakova, one of the most famous teachers of historical dances in Russia. The study programs added many interesting folk dances such as the "Star of Texas", "Shapeluaz", "Virginia Reel" and many others. In addition to participation in traditional activities (Victory Ball and "Wild Strawberries" in MSTU) our dancers took part in two demonstration performances - at the Seventh Spring Ball of HSE’s Preparatory Department and the HSE 20th anniversary in Gorky Park. In addition, students of our dance club take part in many balls over the year, devoted to the victory in the War of 1812 - in Moscow and Rostov Veliky. In the winter of 2013 we are going to hold a ball within HSE walls and we expect many guests from different Moscow dance clubs to show up.
If your dream is to be in the same place as the heroes of "War and Peace" or "Pride and Prejudice", if you are attracted by the world of elegance, noble manners and sophistication — historical dance is for you. Wait for the announcement of a new set of students on the HSE Cultural Center website!
Maria Glazyrina, 2nd year student, Faculty of Law, specially for the HSE News Service
See also:
Night at the Cultural Centre 2014: Ten Hours of Entertainment
On December 13th, 2014, one of the largest annual entertainment and educational events took place, organized by HSE not only for students and staff, but for all Muscovites, - Night at the HSE Cultural Centre.