Inventory

   Search
Region:       District:

  • Dancing the ‘Sporaŭskaja Poĺka’ is more than a century old tradition of Sporava Village. The ‘Sporaŭskaja Poĺka’ belongs to pair-group dances and is characterized by multiple dance figures in which commands (calls) are given by one of the dancing men or by one of the musicians; the commands are given in a free manner and in any order. There can be from twelve to any number of commands that reflect different distinctive elements of the dance. The ‘Sporaŭskaja Poĺka’ is a colourful and vibrant dance, which reflects not only the special nature of the villagers, but also their original outlook and has the potential for uniting generations in the same space of the dance. The polka develops coordination, a sense of rhythm. The distinctive feature of the ‘Sporaŭskaja Poĺka’ is that the dancers’ feet almost never leave the floor, all movements of the pairs are slow, restrained, which only enhances the beauty of the dance. The relationship between the dancing young man and the girl is distinctive of its modesty, innocence, while the mischievous nature of the dance remains too, because every pair do their best to thrive as the most capable and smart. The ‘Sporaŭskaja Poĺka’ is danced at all festivals and celebrations in the village. Practically all villagers including the youth know the technique of the dance. There is ‘Žuraŭka’, a folklore ethnographic ensemble lead by Valiantsina Chajchyts, which actively preserves and passes the tradition on, as well as ‘Žaŭručki’.
  • The singing style of Turaŭ Mižrečča (area between the Prypiać and the Scviha Rivers) is represented by the songs performed in the Agro-Town of Ryčoŭ, which have been traditionally passed on from generation to generation by the local people for decades. The singing tradition is developing in an organic natural environment, so the performance of the songs in the open space — in the streets, fields, at noisy celebrations — explaines the characteristic loud singing with open sounds. The singing heritage of the local community exists both in the traditional impovisation form (during various celebrations, traditional ‘biasiedas’ /talks/), and in the contemporary organized concert form. The original local song culture manifests itself primarily through a wide variety of genres. Along with the genres of the calendar-agricultural cycle of songs, mostly Christmas and spring ones, it embodied a most complete array of the wedding song cycle, including karavaj (bread) songs. Both single and group singing represent the traditional melodic styles, the latter being mainly single voice-based unison-heterophonic form and polyphonic singing forms with with a top solo voice. The distinctive feature of single voice unison-heterophonic singing is formulated tuning and narrow tonal range, some are characterised by the presence of a refrain, words repeated after each line. The same style of performance include ‘forest’ songs, which are performed in the woods while gathering mushrooms and berries, also when rakeing hay in the appropriate time of the year. Singing with a top solo voice is represented in songs of non-ritual genre