This Clever Dance Technique Looks More Like A Magic Trick
By RoseKiss
Of all the artistic talents people can display, there’s perhaps none so awe-inspiring as dance. I know that for me, there’s nothing so impressive as watching somebody push the limits of what the human body can do, and make some art in the process.
Even better? When a whole group of people comes together to move as one! The level of skill so many people have to have – not to mention the hours and hours of practice surely required – to dance in perfect synchronicity is just absolutely electrifying.
And while we’ve seen lots of dance routines over the years both accomplished and adorable – and sometimes both at once! – we’ve never seen anything quite like the one in the video down below. It is, in a word, magical.
I’m not using that term lightly, either. I truly have no other word to describe the effect created by the 16 dancers in this routine. The way they glide across the floor, in such a seemingly effortless way, looks like nothing short of sorcery.
That, or perhaps roller skates? Or scooters? Or moving parts of the stage? Seriously. Scroll down and watch the clip from YouTuber vik22vik, and see if you don’t find yourself wondering the same thing.
Incredibly, the truth is that the troupe of dancers treading the boards in this video is doing everything you see under their own power. And as anybody who’s ever studied dance in any way, or seen a ballerina’s feet without toe shoes on, can tell you, a lot of effort is going into making this routine seem so effortless. In particular, these dancers are spending about five entire minutes entirely on the tips of their toes.
The dancers are members of the Ensemble Folklorique Russe (Russian Folklore Company), and the video is from a performance at Geneva’s Théâtre du Léman. Just as their name suggests, they’re performing a traditional Russian folk dance in traditional Russian folk costume. The length of their skirts combined with the precision of their quick, tiny tip-toed steps creates the illusion that they’re floating fairy-like across the stage— and their incredible, dedicated practice makes sure they’re all perfectly together as they do so.
While those of us who are fans of dance might be used to modern routines throwing in all kinds of impressive, gravity-defying tricks and twists, the magic of this simple routine dates back hundreds of years. The group is dancing to a folk tune called “In the Field Stood a Birch Tree” – hence the branches the dancers carry! – and the dance is of a type known as “round dance.”
You don’t need to know the history of this dance, Russian folk, or any kind of dancing in particular to appreciate what these young women have created together, though. Even if our description has left you skeptical, or even if you think it sounds more like what a friend of mine calls “fancy walking,” we’re sure you’re going to feel differently after you watch the magic below.
Were you as captivated by this routine as we are? Have you ever seen anything like it before? What other magical feats of dance have you witnessed?
Featured image / facebook image source: vik22vik
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