Kozachok

At a music festival at the school, my second-graders prepared the Russian folk dance "Kozachok"

Kozachok is a traditional Ukrainian folk dance originating with the Cossacks in the 16th century. In the 17th and 18th centuries it was performed throughout contemporary Ukraine and also in the noble courts of Europe. It is a fast, linear, couple-dance in 2

4, typically in a constantly increasing tempo and of an improvisatory character, typically in a minor key in Ukraine, and in a major key in Russia. The woman leads and the man follows, imitating her figures - she signals movement changes by hand clapping. In the 17th century, kozachok became fashionable in court music in Europe.

The term "kozachok" can be traced back to the Vertep, the 16th to 19th century Ukrainian itinerant puppet theater. Vertep plays consisted of two parts, the first dramatizing the birth of Christ, and the second with a secular plot, often a morality tale. In Russia there are different versions of the kozachok dance the Kuban Kazachok (Krasnodar region of southern Russia), and Ter Kazachok (northern Caucasus region). Historically, these regions had a predominantly Ukrainian population but were dramatically and intentionally reduced in the Soviet era.