Ukrainian Folk Dance Hopak: From Origin to Modern Performance Practice

The purpose of the article is a retrospective analysis of theories of the origin and subsequent changes in the stage versions of the dance Hopak to identify the most expressive interpretations of the composition and basic movements of the dance. Research methodology. Given the historical and cultural nature of the study, historical and chronological approach, historical, theoretical, systematic, analytical methods and generalizations were applied. Scientific novelty. The article analyzes the theories of Hopak dance origin and conducted an art analysis of the preserved video materials of this dance’s choreographic productions for the last century. Conclusions. One of the most famous Ukrainian folk dances in the world is Hopak – the hallmark of domestic choreographic art, which is studied from art history, military-physical, symbolic, and other positions. There is an ongoing debate about the origins of this dance. Some scholars attribute it to the preservation of the remnants of war dances and the system of training of warriors of Kievan Rus’ period, others look for its roots deeper – in pagan shepherd dances, some note the continuation of the Cossack dance tradition, but all agree that it experienced the greatest development in the times of the Cossacks. At that time the vocabulary developed, the leading role of improvisation was determined, and the beginnings of further transformation by involving a maiden part in the dance were originated. We can distinguish different approaches to the presentation of the dance Hopak: in the folk version it is a single dance in the general mass, and in the stage version it becomes a pair-mass with a large number of men’s solos. Early versions of the stage embodiment of Hopak, which are still preserved on film, allow us to talk about the desire of the directors to preserve its authentic basis, improvisation, perseverance, and technicality. Later, this approach changed. Choreographers invented a generalized version, stopping on a pair-mass basis with a large number of male virtuoso technical movements. Along with the positive aspects of Hopak’s academicization, the negative ones should be singled out: loss of improvisation; the transition from a solo form in mass dance to pair-mass, which is inherent in virtually all other Ukrainian dances; stop in the further development of dance variability; loss of authentic basis and variety of Hopak performance patterns. We can assume that the tradition of performing Hopak may be later than the tradition of Kozak dancing tradition because it is not established