Academic literature on the topic 'Ukrainian Folk dance music'

The article investigates ethnographic and educational dimension of functioning of music at folk holiday. The author considers national holiday as an integrated concept that, firstly, integrates a variety of types of art (music, fine arts, performing arts, dance, literature), secondly, is a combination of two cultures – the pagan and Christian. It is noted that folk holiday is a model of highly aestheticized everyday life of Ukrainian people. The author states that music art at folk holiday is represented in the form of choral music, dance songs, music for dancing, marching music, song and instrumental music for listening in the form of ensemble.It has been proved that functioning of professional, amateur choirs or just group singing is common for music content of folk holidays; Ukrainian folk song has always been the basis of that functioning.It has been emphasized that the music art at folk holidays is represented by national folk-songs in the form of dance songs. They consisted of three components: words, music and dance movements.Special attention has been given to the marching music, represented by greeting marches, procession marches, performed in appropriate situations of meetings, farewell, congratulations, and glorification.The article states that the folk holidays that are prevalent in Ukraine have an important pedagogical potential, since they give a child a coherent picture of the artistic view of the world, establish connection between art and life.The recognition of the leading role of folk music in the process of musical and aesthetic education of children is considered by the author as a key to the formation of a highly spiritual personality.The requirements for the organization and conducting of folk holiday have been presented in the article; the teacher’s basic tasks have been defined.

The article considers the impact of globalisation and national revival processes on the development of electronic music in Ukraine. It is shown that in the early stages of development (the late 1990s – early 2000s) Ukrainian electronic music is dominated by the focus on Western European music culture, and early festivals of dance electronic music (“The Republic of Kazantip”, “Ultrasonic”) also borrow Russian traditions, which indicates the predominance of globalization and peripheral tendencies in this area. At the same time, the first creative searches related to the combination of electronic sounds with the sounds of Ukrainian folklore are intensified. In particular, the article considers the works of the 2000s-2010s by O. Nesterov and A. Zahaikevych, representing folk electronics in the academic sphere, and works by Katya Chilly, Stelsi, Kind of Zero representing folk electronics in non-academic music. The aesthetic basis of such combinations was the musical neo-folklore of the last third of the XX century and the achievements of folk rock in the late 1990s. Intensification of these searches in the late 2010s, in particular the popularity of such artists as Ruslana, Onuka, Go_A allow us to talk about intensifying the national revival processes in the musical culture of Ukraine and involving Ukrainian music in the world culture preserving its national identity.

The article explores the ways of development of Ukrainian nativity drama - a genre of musical art that provides an opportunity to recreate the elusive breath of time, to learn not only about the world around but also the prospects for its preservation in Ukrainian culture. For the formation and development of the national musical culture of Ukraine, the traditions of Ukrainian nativity drama, the precondition of which was the folk music of national-historical orientation, became especially important. Besides, the folklore basis contributed to the formation of some professional genres, including opera and instrumental plays. The object of the research is the nativity drama within the opera art of Ukraine. The purpose of the article is to identify the features of the nativity scene as a musical and dramatic art form, which is an original monument of Ukrainian culture. It should be noted, that the nativity scene, especially the images of the second act, the type of its drama, had an impact on the development of Ukrainian musical and dramatic theater even in the XIX century. The mentioned influence was manifested, in particular, in the musical drama "Chornomorets", "Natalka Poltavka" by Lysenko, where folk song and dance are an integral part of the action and are a means of characterizing individual characters and dramatic situations. Some features of the character of Zaporozhets from the nativity scene were developed in the image of Karas from S. Gulak-Artemovsky's opera "Zaporozhets za Dynayem". Ukrainian music and drama art with its sources are associated with the ancient East Slavic agricultural and family holidays, games, dances, in which the element of dramatization played an important role since ancient times. Christmas games with costumes, Maslenitsa farewells, spring round dances, harvest festivals, autumn-winter round dances, and weddings became a rich source for the development of musical and theatrical art of the Ukrainian people in the XV–XVI centuries. To sum up, we can conclude that for the formation and development of the national musical culture of Ukraine in the XIX century, the Ukrainian opera became especially important, the precondition of the one was the folk music of national-historical orientation. Also, the folklore foundations, in particular the nativity scene, served to form professional genres including opera and instrumental plays. The study can be applied to prepare students and graduates in the field of Historical Sciences, Musicology, and Culturology. The significance and influence of nativity drama on the opera art of Ukraine have been studied, where the traditions of Ukrainian nativity scene, the precondition of which was the folk music of national-historical orientation, have been singled out. The study can be the basis for further study of the Ukrainian nativity drama of the XX–XXI centuries.

У статті проаналізовано джерела та історичні передумови розвитку національної народно-сценічної хореографії. Визначено етапи становлення й розвитку виконавської школи народно-сценічного танцю та балету в Україні, відповідно, проаналізовано зміст та форми народної хореографії, визначено місце і роль танцювального мистецтва у культурному надбанні українців.Визначено плеяду видатних балетмейстерів, які внесли значний вклад у розвиток та пропаганду хореографічного мистецтва. Зокрема, відзначається праця Б. Ніжинської «Рух і школа руху», в якій висвітлюються педагогічні й естетичні погляди авторки та її увага до використання характерного тан-цю у створених нею балетах «Дванадцята рапсодія» на музику Ф. Ліста та «Похоронний марш» на однойменну музику Ф. Шопена. Наголошено про збагачення танцю новими рухами та його поєднання з виразними засобами, якими є слово, музика, світло, танцювальні костюми, бутафорія тощо, за допо-могою яких більш виразно передаються складні почуття та певні життєві ситуації.Велику увагу приділено відстеженню джерел та шляхів становлення й розвитку системи підготов-ки танцюристів від танцювальних студій і шкіл до професійних навчальних закладів та їх засновни-ків: І. Іваницького, Д. Ширая, М. Піона, В. Верховинця, М. Мордкіна, Б. Ніжинської, О. Гаврилової, І. Чистякова.Акцентується увага на побудову та малюнок українських танців (під пісню, під музику, лінійні, геометричні, коло, вуж, ланцюг, лави тощо), їх тематичну направленість (сюжетні, побутові, релігійні, патріотичні, хороводні, національні тощо).Проаналізовано виділення театрального танцю з побутового та його перетворення на самостійний вид сценічного мистецтва – балет, а також подальший розвиток балету шляхом доповнення мораль-них проблем філософськими, казкових сюжетів реалістичними, наповнення національною тематикою балетних вистав.Підкреслено, що засади, на яких ґрунтувалася виконавська школа народно-сценічного танцю на початку ХХ ст., мали глибоке історичне коріння, зокрема, народна хореографія завжди була невід’єм-ною частиною культурного розвитку українського народу. The article аnalyzes the sources and historical prerequisites for the development of national folk-choreography. The stages of formation and development of the performing school of folk-dance and ballet in Ukraine are determined, the content and forms of folk choreography are analyzed accordingly, the place and role of dance art in the cultural heritage of Ukrainians are determined.A galaxy of outstanding balletmasters who have contributed significantly to the development and promotion of choreographic art has been identified. Particularly noteworthy is the work of B. Nijinsky’s Movement and the School of Movement, which highlights the pedagogical and aesthetic views of the author and her attention to the use of characteristic dance in her ballets. Emphasis is placed on enriching the dance with new movements and combining it with expressive means such as words, music, light, dance costumes, intercommunication, etc., which more clearly convey complex feelings and certain life situations.Much attention is paid to tracing the sources and ways of formation and development of the system of training dancers from dance studios and schools to vocational schools and their founders I. Ivanitsky, D. Shirai, M. Pion, V. Verhovynets, M. Mordkin, B. Nizhynsky, O. Gavrilova, I. Chistyakov.Attention is paid to the construction and drawing of Ukrainian dances, their thematic orientation (story, household, religious, patriotic, dance, national, etc.).The separation of theatrical dance from everyday life and its transformation into an independent form of the performing arts – ballet is analyzed, as well as the further development of ballet by supplementing moral problems with philosophical, fairy-tale subjects realistic, filling the national theme of the ballet performances of “Lily” by K. Dankevych. Svechnikov, “Sorochinsky Fair” by V. Gomolyak, “Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors” by V. Kireyko, “Dawn Lights” by L. Dychko, “Kamianar” by M. Skorik.It is emphasized that the foundations on which the performing school of folk-dance at the beginning of the twentieth century was based had deep historical roots, in particular folk choreography has always been an integral part of the cultural development of the Ukrainian people.

The chamber-instrumental ensemble music in the Ukrainian musical culture of the last third of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries occupies one of the leading places and is characterized by powerful processes in its development. Such circumstances caused the Ukrainian musicologist interests to the problems of chamber-instrumental music creativity and performance. There are appeared researches in the field of theory, history and performance problems covering the most important questions like chamber music definitions, specific genre issues, the growing function of piano in the Ukrainian chamber music, the increasing questions of technique and timbre importance of modern instrumental ensembles. In the significant multifaceted creative work of contemporary Ukrainian composer, Oleksandr Yakovchuk, the genre of chamber instrumental ensemble music represents a complex and interesting phenomenon. Original and skillfully written compositions reflect artistic world of the composer of postmodern time and gained recognition in music life of Ukraine and beyond. These works are highly appreciated in performing practice of our days. The purpose of the article is to analyze the work — “Little Trio” for clarinet, bassoon and piano (1980), which has the signs of neoclassical tendency in the composer’s style. The methodological basis of this research is a comprehensive approach in theoretical understanding of the subject of research (the methods of textology, source study as well as the method of interviewing the author were used). The scientific novelty of this article is in the priority of its main provisions, since the “Little Trio” entered the scientific circulation for the first time. The three-movement “Little Trio” (1980) is notable for the light feeling of timbre colours and the shape clarity. The Ist movement — Allegretto giocoso — is written in a sonata form following all classical traditions. Quite interesting are the two monologues of clarinet and bassoon from the IInd movement, they represent very modern line in Ukrainian chamber music — the possibility of sincere confession which comes through the solo cadence. In the IIIrd movement, the composer took advantage from the folk Ukrainian dance “hopak” using the rhythm of it and creating dance character of the Final.

AbstractTrends in development of folklore studies in the research and education space at Ukrainian and foreign universities have been analyzed. They are fundamentalization, synthesis of academic science and educational practice, professionalization, institutionalization, humanitarization, anthropoligization, interdisciplinarity. It has been defined that in Ukrainian and foreign folkloristic discourse of the 20th – the beginning of the 21th centuries, folklore is studied through the prism of functional, communicative, anthropological, context-based approaches that is partially realized in the official definition of folklore according to the 1989 UNESCO Recommendation on the Safeguarding of Traditional Culture and Folklore. It has been found out that while structuring the content of folkloristic disciplines as well as directing future specialists’ researches the multivectoring of folklore studies allows instructors to use the achievements of folkloristic directions that were formed in historical retrospective and actively developed at the modern stage: linguofolkloristics, ethnomusicology, folk therapy (folk music therapy, fairytale therapy, folk dance therapy), etc. It has been justified that folklore studies in Ukrainian and foreign research and education space is being developed as an interdisciplinary science based on the historical and pedagogical experience and taking into account modern integration processes that define the problematics of the content of folkloristic, culturological training of future pedagogue-researcher who is to be educated as a man of culture, nationally aware and, at the same time, multicultural personality.

Background. One of the integrating, determining and identifying forces of the social progress of the entire human community is the custom and folklore tradition of the smallest sub-ethnic units / constituents individual nations and peoples, their verbal and ethno-cultural (including ethno-musical) sources, that, like rivers and brooks, fill the ocean of culture promoting for life and further development. The structure of the traditional Ukrainian musical culture, along with the well-known the old practices of group singing, itinerant kobzars and lira players, also consists of a powerful musical-instrumental component (herdsman’s folklore, calendarian-ritual chanting and dance). The aim and methods of the research. This article examines the phenomenon of traditional instrumentalism from the point of view of its fundamental influences on the worldviews regarding the formation and functioning of the ethnic sound of Ukrainians based on the longtime field-type, theoretical, pedagogical and practical (scientific and reconstructive musical performing) the experience of the author. The research results. Especially effective and such that, in recent years, was involved in the processes of salvation and “strengthening” (the term by S. Hrytsa) of traditional musical aesthetics, is the method of scientific and executive reconstruction of old folk music genres and forms. Systematic scientific-theoretical and structural-typological analytical work aimed at reproducing prototypes and structural details of reconstructed objects, forms, genres and actions of traditional Ukrainian musical culture, including instrumental, was reflected primarily in the research of S. Hrytsa (2000; 2002; 2015), A. Ivanytskyi (2007), I. Matsiievskyi (2012), B. Kindratiuk (2012), V. Yarmola (2014) and the author of these lines (Khai, M., 2011a; 2011b; 2013 and others). The author of the article thoroughly considers special issues of indexing musical instruments according to the system of E. Hornbostl – K. Sachs with the principle of division into classes, subclasses, categories, subdivisions; for the first time in Ukrainian ethnoorganology he carrys out a complete and consistent grouping of Ukrainian folk musical instruments. It is stated that the most important criteria of all classifications are: form, construction, structure, way of playing, repertoire, manner of performance. The criteria of traditionalism and functioning of folk instruments are determined separately (see: Khai, M., 2011a: 145–261). Based on this, Ukrainian folk musical instruments are considered in the following groups: 1) folk idiophones (self-sounding), 2) folk membranophones; 3) folk chordophones (strings); 4) folk aerophones (wind). Analyzing the existing classifications of national instrumental music, the author puts forward the thesis: areas of distribution and “density of ingrowth” of non-ethnic and authorial elements in the traditional centers of Ukrainian national instrumental music are mostly related to factors of geographical proximity, of natural extinction and administrative-repressive planting of alluvial and so-called “parallel” culture. Experiments on the instrumental traditions of Ukrainians, along with the autochthonous traditional instrumental repertoire, testify to the active functioning at the level of reception / ingrowth of works of other national origin. The interethnic and inter-genre transformation of the folk-instrumental style is connected with the spread of the Moscow, Polish, Romanian and Jewish intonation elements on the territory of the country. Touching the extremely complex and topical problems of archetypal traditional culture, interethnic relations of nations in the modern kaleidoscope of globalization processes, the article focuses on the negative (forced, administrative-aggressive absorption and destruction) and the positive (diversity, enrichment) interactions of the mentioned cultural elements. Characterizing from the positions mentioned here the main features of the ethnic sound ideal in the instrumental tradition of Ukrainians, the author defends its “European model” (tendency to cantilena sound of violin and flute ) as opposed to the type, which dominates the ethnosonic aesthetics of East – tremolo on one string. For the first time in these studies, the thesis is asserted that sounds that imitate the human voice or complement it predominate in Ukraine: flute cantilena, bandura-kobza and partly cymbal arpeggio, which differ significantly and fundamentally from the “Asian” coloristics of one-string tremolo. Conclusions. The final outcome of the study, about the cathartic function of traditional instrumentalism and musical culture in modern social-sublimation processes of human development and, conversely – about neglecting it as a manner to the complete destruction of human civilization as such, steers away from pessimism, inspiring hope for survival in the cataclysms of nature and society as a whole.

Research objective. The article aims to describe the structural and stylistic components of performing folklorism and consideration regarding the existing definitions of multifaceted concept «performing folklorism», which represents theoretical and methodological tools for deep analysis of stylistics, genre, technical and performing elements and musical features that folklore expresses, their extrapolation to performing interpretative diversity in the context of Ukrainian music art. The methodology of the research is based on the theoretical, historical, comparative and analytical methods. The scientific novelty outlines structural and stylistic components of performing folklorism, which significantly affect the expression of national features in modern Ukrainian performing art. Conclusions. In a concept “performing folklorism” are two ponderable constituents in the dialogic form of intercommunication of these systems: professional academic performing art and folklore in his various palette of expression. Performing interpretation is a main point of arranged and ethnographic folklorism, that present performing folklorism. An important value in the context of modern national performing style belongs to the Hutsul instrumental traditional music, which is the unique artistic phenomenon of the Ukrainian musical culture. In general, the Hutsul genres played an important role in the formation and development of Ukrainian instrumental music, even though the Hutsul performance tradition mostly has an instrumental type of music presentation. The Hutsul region presents a numeral musical tool, ramified genre palette, and original stylish description that is provided due to the whole complex of structural and performing elements (strokes, articulation, fingering principles, timbre descriptions of sounding, dynamic). The outlined lines of the Hutsul folklore are traced in academic performing art. It follows to underline the originality of artistic expression and stylish originality of musical art of the Carpathian region, that predefined by the row of objective structural and style components: 1) maintenance and functioning of archaic elements of musical structure, such as a variant, improvisation, repetition; 2) considerable genre variety of executable music (kolomyjka, hutsulka, Ukrainian dance, hopak, snowstorm); 3) rhythms, as a cementing factor of musically-composition structure; 4) ornamental melodious line. The outlined structural and style components of the Hutsul folklore present wide interpretation multiplicity within the performing folklorism. The ponderable constituent of traditional music is the various system of technically-performing features. On technically-performing and genre-stylish levels, violin traditional art of the Hutsul region presents all system of the musical expressive features, presents traditional professional school of the violin performing art with a clear vector on the maintenance of archaic structures of musical compositions and them highly-artistic interpretation based on a wide palette of the whole complex of technical possibilities, that crystallized in the folktraditional performing. Ukrainian vocal, instrumental and vocally-instrumental collectives reconstruct an authentic genre-stylish model within the performing folklorism. Underlined the diversity of folk styles, symbiosis of the folk manner of singing with the academic vocal art. Thus, the national performing style provides an intelligent and deep interpretation of authorial works of folklore maintenance, a study of a wide palette of the traditional music that is characterized by ethnic characteristic intonation (concept of O. Kozarenko) musicians. The stylish component of performing folklorism presents differentiation of folk styles of implementation, following regional features, genres, forms, features of the traditional musical expressiveness. Performing folklorism, as a highly artistic phenomenon in Ukrainian music art, opened new possibilities for the representation of folk-instrumental and vocal traditions in the context of the national professional academic performing. Review and learning of the structural and stylistic components of performing folklorism, such as ethnic-regional style, genre characteristics, details, articulation, fingering, manner of play, vocal manner, dynamic nuances, timbral coloristic palette, determines the quality of the performing interpretation of the music compositions with the brightly national dominant. Within the performing folklorism crystallized appropriate professional repertoire, which comprises genres of vocal, choir, and instrumental music with the bright images and symbols of Ukrainian national folklore.

Background. Today in the minds of Ukrainians there is a process of reappraisal of values, which requires new approaches to the cultural education of citizens. At the current stage of the formation of the Ukrainian state, in front of its culture, in particular, children education, important and responsible educational tasks arise for the younger generation to develop a worldview focused on national ideals and traditions, preserved in folk songs, tales, in outstanding literary, musical works and other significant achievements of spiritual culture. That is why there is a need to study the children musical and dramatic heritage of the past – an inexhaustible treasury of cultural and educational ideas that in modern conditions can get their new life. The pearl in this treasury are the children plays by Olena Pchilka. The lack of research that fully and comprehensively covers the scientific and practical significance of children musical plays by the writer for the development of children theater in Ukraine determines the relevance of the chosen topic. Appeal to it seems very timely, given the growing popularity of the children musical genre today both in the world and in Ukrainian musical culture. The process of creative development of this genre is now one of the important problems of a modern professional theater for children. Olena Pchilka’s work has been studied by such scientists as D. Dontsov (1958), I. Denysiuk (1970), N. Kuprata (1998), H. Avrakhov (1999), L. Miroshnichenko (1999, 2014), L. Novakivska (2002), L. Drofan (1992, 2004), O. Mikula (2007, 2011), V. Shkola (2010), A. Zaitseva (2014), I. Shchukina (2015), O. Yablonska (2019) and others. In critical and scientific studies, innovative genre features of the writer’s work are identified, attention is focused on the specifics of his problematic and thematic range, the features of literary and aesthetic, sociopolitical, pedagogical views of the writer. However, there is still no work that would comprehensively reveal our chosen topic. The purpose of the article is to show Olena Pchilka’s contribution to the development of children musical theater in Ukraine on the basis of a study of the children’s musical and dramatic work of the writer. The research methodology is comprehensive. The work uses knowledge from various fields of art and related sciences: the history and theory of theater, the theory of music, music and theater psychology, vocal and theater pedagogy. Analytical method is applied for Olena Pchilka’s musical plays for children’s theater, which are the material of this study. Results of the study. Results of the study. An outstanding Ukrainian writer, translator, editor, teacher Olga Petrovna Dragomanova-Kosach (1849–1930) is known better under the nickname Olena Pchilka. Half of all her works are works for children and youth: poems, translations, tales, stories, plays. Olena Pchilka’s legacy in the field of children theater, in terms of his qualities – an active educational orientation, a benevolent understanding of the child’s inner world and its highly artistic reflection in word and music – is a unique cultural phenomenon. During her lifetime, only three of her twelve plays for children were published. However, every play was put on the school stage. The author herself usually directed performances. The writer’s awareness of musical folklore formed the foundation for the creation of children plays. The author interweaves melodies in the texts of plays (“Melodies for singing”, as Pchilka called it) as an organic component of the child’s very existence, they sound in a dance, game or some imaginary action of children, thereby “feeding” and directing the Grand vector of the stage action. There is the information that Olga Petrovna became the author of some songs. The writer outlined the creative directions of her future children theater: 1) dramatizations of a “suitable” literary work; 2) a children musical play; 3) an original dramatic work with a wide use of poems, fables, folk songs, ritual dances with singing, children games with toys, and the like. “Honor your native...”, “...it is good to know your own folk language, song...” – expressions from Olena Pchilka’s article “Work of upbringing” formulate the dominant of her creativity, pedagogy, social and scientific activities and, to a high degree, her children drama. Olena Pchilka considered the life and work of Taras Shevchenko one of the most influential sources of education of conscious Ukrainians. Therefore, in her children theater, the theme of his life and creativity is a leitmotif (the play “Spring morning of Taras” etc.). Olena Pchilka was convinced that the Ukrainian language, song and native nature are a necessary and irreplaceable environment for a child. Folk art and folk mythology reign in a number of her children plays. In one of them (“Dreamdreamy, or a Fairy tale of a Green Grove” – “Son-Mriya, Kazka Zelenogo Gayu”) we meet a Forest Mouse, a Cuckoo-a girl, a Nightingale-a boy, a Crow-a girl, a Sparrow-a boy, children-Quail, Forest Mermaid, Goblin (Lisovik), Field Mermaid. For this play the author introduced the row of various songs, from the song of field workers to lullaby. The play “Bezyazykiy” (“Without tongue”) touches on the theme of refugees, the psychology of the child, his behavior in the school team, and at the same time the ethical problems of teaching. The play also includes the songs. The operetta “Two Sorceresses” (1919) is the pinnacle of Olena Pchilka’s children drama. The writer repelled from folk melodies and poems; games, ceremonies, festivals; from children’s naturalness, clarity, rainbow imagination, playfulness, organically weaving into the fabric of their works their own verses and melodies to them. The play contains a variety of numbers: solo (“Singing of the Earth”, “Singing of Santa Claus” and others), choral (“Choir of boys and girls”, “Spring-Beauty is coming”, etc.), conversational and vocal scenes (“I’m Winter, Winter”, “Girl, Fish”, “We are the clear rays of the sun”, “Lala, bobo”, etc.). Another title of the work is “Winter and Spring”, so the names of the main characters who oppose each other are placed in the title. The presence of conversational and vocal scenes, folk games and dances, comedy episodes allows us to consider the play as the predecessor of the modern genre of “musical” for children. The festive theme continues in the one-act play “A Christmas tale”. The play traces the process of becoming a person as a person. A large amount of ethnographic musical material has been introduced into the artistic structure of the work. The writer meant the “Christmas fable” as a dramatic action. To “AChristmas Fable” the author has included Ukrainian folk songs: the Christmas Carol “New joy”, a Christmas caroling girls “Oh red, plentiful viburnum”, the dance song “Dance of the groom” (“Kozachok”), the refrain “At the house of Pan Semen” etc. In 1920, in Mogilev-Podolsk, Olga Petrovna Kosach, a teacher of Ukrainian language and literature, organized a children’s drama Studio at the Ivan Franko school, where almost all the plays of her “Ukrainian children theater” were staged: “Peace-Peace!” (Mir-Mirom), “Kiselik” and “Treasure” (“Skarb”). The play “MirMirom!” is based on the games of preschool children: the song “Go, go, rain”, the game for friendship “Peace-Peace!”, the song “My mother gave me a cow” and other. Among Olena Pchilka’s children plays, there are “tales” of Patriotic content. “Treasure” performance in one action, which also include the songs, is teaching for responsibility and patriotism. In her play “Out of captivity”, where the Ukrainian childhood during the October revolution shows, the children sing the choral “liberated singing” – the singing of the Ukrainian anthem. Conclusions. It is concluded that Olena Pchilka contributed to the creation of the foundations for the formation of children musical theater in Ukraine with her creative heritage and practical activities, developing a new literary genre of musical children play, which we can call the genre of musical in modern times. After all, Olena Pchilka’s plays, written in a form accessible to children, are examples of Patriotic and cultural education, full of music, singing, folk and household melodies, folk songs, carols, poems, games, dances, rituals, celebrations. This problem is poorly understood and requires further research.

Introduction. Theoretical background. The territorial formation and economic development of Оlexandrivsk and the district is associated with the activation of social, including artistic, life all aspects in the Russian Empire. The creative potential of small towns, including Olexandrivsk, has become a fertile ground for the development of the principles and means of theatrical and stage creativity. Theater, as the most democratic form of art, is directly connected with changes in public life. The theater significant social role and insufficient knowledge on it in the Olexandrivsk conditions and its district determined the relevance of the research topic. The researches by S. Voitkovsky (2014), G. Dadamyan (1987), M. Yevreinov (2019) constitute the scientific and theoretical basis of the work. The study of theatrical art in the Oleksandrivsk (Zaporizhzhya) region is based on the works of O. Antonenko (2017), S. Grushkina (2011), T. Martynyuk (2003). The aim of the research is to study the theater art in Olexandrivsk and the district of the same name as an integral phenomenon of a certain time. The tasks of the work are determine the origins of the theater art in the region, coverage of the features of this phenomenon, identification of theater companies’ organizational forms, study of the theater groups’ repertoire and genre priorities, consideration of theater art professionalization issues in the region. The methodology involves the application of the basic dialectic principles (to reveal the internal contradictions of the research subject and the sources of its development); historical principle (to study the theater’ development as a process of changes in existence’ some forms); comparative method (to identify the theater art characteristics in the region); source study method (to create an archival and historical base for studying the problem); axiological approach (to identify of the theater artistic troupes’ value orientations in the region). Results of the research. Historical materials contain a few facts about the theatrical entertainment of the local population long before the foundation of Olexandrivsk. Similar to the more inhabited neighboring regions, in these territories the existence of a folk theater is likely, the roots of which M. Yevreinov sees in magical actions, rituals and buffoonery. The researcher considers the theater of Russia, the roots of which are in the theatrical art of Europe, to be a counterbalance to folk theater. At the state level, these traditions have been inculcated since the 17th century. This process in the region began from the time of Olexandrivsk foundation. There are two most stable groups of theater collectives in the theater environment of the region. Domestic and foreign drama and opera troupes, which were guided by the Western European theater traditions, are made up the first group. Ukrainian artists’ association and local amateur drama circles that further developed the traditions of folk theater consisted the second group. They united by the idea of national dramatic art. The factors of theater collective’ differentiation in this region are the form of organization of theater business, repertoire and genre priorities, issues of professionalization. The sole proprietorship form is characteristic for the Western European tradition collectives. In Olexandrivsk and the district, the private enterprise was the dominant form, as the most active organization type of theater business. This type of enterprise does not have the conventions of imperial, state, municipal and other theaters in terms of repertoire and personnel relations. This provided it with freedom, mobility and ingenuity. The organizational form of the partnership is characteristic for the troupes oriented towards the traditions of folk theater. Democracy of this form manifested itself in collective decisionmaking. The next factor in differentiating theater groups is repertoire and genre priorities. The Western European tradition troupes gave preference to the works of Western European and Russian authors. Ukrainian authors’ works, Ukrainian song and dance folklore dominated in the repertoire of Ukrainian associations, which continued the traditions of folk theater. These groups preferred works of a pronounced national orientation. The repertoire differences between the two groups reflected to the methods and skills of acting. It is necessary to master Italian vocal technique, classic instrumental technique, conducting symphonic skills in the Western European tradition troupes. In Ukrainian troupes’ music and dramatic performances, universal training actor is needed, equally skillful in stage speech, the folk dance, the style of folk singing. The theater groups’ genre preferences repertoire related to an orientation towards the original artistic traditions. The Western European tradition’ collectives repertoire abounded in dramas, operas, operettas and the romances, arias, opera scenes in the concert departments. The Ukrainian folk-theater tradition repertoire dominated by music and drama plays, simple Ukrainian opera and Ukrainian folk songs, romances by domestic composers in concert departments. In Olexandrivsk and the district, questions of theater art’ professionalization were not publicly raised widely. Some striving for the performances artistic level increase we can saw in the practice of inviting famous artists for touring performances. Thanks to this, acting skills, methods of working on the role and the performance as a whole enriched. Invitations to participation in the performance of famous performers of the folk-theatrical tradition to Ukrainian troupes were episodic. An indicative fact of development was the director’s position emergence in the Western European tradition troupes. Conclusions. The peculiarity of theater art in the Olexandrivsk region is the absence of a local professional theater, represented, on the one hand, by the work of guest domestic and foreign troupes, on the other – by Ukrainian artistic societies and local amateur associations. The dominant groups of groups embodied two types of theater: Western European tradition and folk tradition. These types of theater functioned in various organizational forms. Dramatic and operatic corpses of the European tradition were characterized by a form of individual private enterprise; Ukrainian groups that developed the traditions of folk theater – a form of acting society. Theater troupes of these two traditions distinguished by their repertoire priorities. The core of the repertoire of the Western European tradition groups was the Russian and Western European authors’ works. The groups, which developed the folk theater, staged mainly plays by Ukrainian and local authors. The vector of theatrical art development in the Olexandrivsk and region is not clear enough at the historical period under consideration. An organized and purposeful movement towards the theater art professionalization in the region of this historical period is not visible. Certain facts of attracting famous artists and interaction with other groups as well as the emergence of the directed theater can be considered as elements of а professionalization.

Sociable folk dancing in the UK is an organised group activity in which a significant number of people take part, often practising folk styles which have their origins in other countries. These groups are generally not run for profit, operate under the radar of media attention, and consequentially their activities remain largely hidden from view. This thesis addresses the fact that there have been no in-depth studies of these groups. It reports on the findings of a detailed ethnographic research project, to offer in-sights into the practices and motivations of participants in social dance. The thesis answers the key question: ‘What is the meaning and significance of participation in these folk music and social dance styles to those taking part?’. An interdisciplinary and ethnographic research approach was adopted to investigate two such folk styles: Cajun and Zydeco, and Scandinavian. This approach allowed research participants to make a significant contribution to the focus of the research, and to inform the subsidiary questions: ‘What are the concerns and interests of those involved in social folk dance?’, ‘What is it that makes involvement in these dance practices so appealing?’, and ‘What are the overall benefits of being involved?’ The research produced an interpretive account of these practices, through investigating sites of participation in these dance styles in the UK, which were explored by means of immersive involvement in their dance practices. This gave an insight into the way in which participation was organised and managed, and allowed for introductions to be made which were followed up with thirty in-depth interviews. The study revealed that despite the stylistic differences between the two dance styles and how they are practised, both nevertheless benefitted participants in similar ways. That dance events are organised on a not-for-profit basis was particularly important to participants, and encouraged loyalty and cooperation, promoting feelings of empowerment and ownership. An atmosphere of supportive inclusion was also built in to the loose organisation of events and activities, which allowed a consensus to develop where social attitudes and ideas could be negotiated, cultivated, and shared. This created a sense of belonging to an unboundaried, and fluid community or social network, a safe environment in which participants were able to experience dance as a communicative and expressive dialogue between individuals and within the group. This thesis argues that participants found their involvement in these dance styles socially and personally satisfying, and that this made a considerable contribution to their individual wellbeing. The research found that sociable folk dancing served as a vehicle for community, improving participants’ sense of self-worth, supporting creativity, and well-being. These findings complement clinical research that champions dance, and social dance in particular, as a healthy and worthwhile leisure activity. This thesis supports the results of such scientific studies into the benefits of dance by providing supporting evidence from within a social setting. This has implications for further research, and for policy and practice, whether dance activities are pursued formally or informally and whatever their aim.

This thesis is an investigation of the significance of Mhande song-dance in two performance contexts: the Mutoro ritual of the Karanga and the Chibuku Neshamwari Traditional Dance Competition. In addition, I undertake comparative analysis of the structure of Mhande music in relation to the structure of selected genres of Shona indigenous music. The position of Mhande in the larger context of Shona music is determined through analysis of transcriptions of the rhythmic, melodic and harmonic elements of chizambi mouth bow, karimba mbira, ngororombe panpipes, ngano story songs, game, hunting, war, and love songs. Mhande is an indigenous song-dance performed for the mutoro ceremony, the annual rain ritual of the Karanga. The Mhande repertoire consists of distinctive songs and rhythms used for communicating with the majukwa rain spirits. The rain spirits in turn communicate with God (Mwari) the provider of rain, on behalf of the Karanga. Mhande song-dance is performed exactly the same way in the annual Chibuku Neshamwari Traditional Dance Competitions as in the ritual context of the mutoro ceremony. However, in the context of the Competition, it is used for the expression of joy and as a form of cultural identity. The Competition is a forum in which Karanga songdance traditions such as Mhande, compete with other Shona song-dance traditions such as mbakumba, shangara and chinyambera. I contextualize and analyse Mhande song-dance by using the ‘Matonjeni Model’, which in terms of Karanga epistemology, is culture specific. This Model is grounded in description, interpretation and analysis; the primary methods in my research process.

The folk tradition has often been divided between two sections: on one side is music,on the other is dance. The aim of this research is to study the relationships between dance and music inside one individual to create a new profile: the dancing musician.The process of this research went through different stages. First of all, I relied on my background as a folk musician and dancer to enable dialogue between these two profiles. Then I went beyond the boundaries of the folk tradition by mixing improvisation and folk music. Finally, I analysed movements, meters and expression of each part in order to combine them and to resolve technical issues of the multitasking process. The present study shows different ways of using this dance-music combination as a creative tool and explains what effects those arts have on each other.

The Relevance of Dance in Folk Music Education The aim of this study was to investigate why and how dance and dance teaching can be relevant in educational programmes in folk music in Sweden. Many of these programmes include dance within them and that fact, in combination with my observation that there is an underlying cultural assumption that dance and music belong together, inspired this research. I wished to look at the function of dance within folk music programmes, and music teachers’ observations of how dance affects their students’ playing. The study has been conducted through qualitative interviews with four music teachers from different institutions, covering three themes: the purpose(s) of including dance in this kind of education, if and how they can see that the students have use for the dance knowledge in their playing, and how they look at the connection between dance and music in this genre. The result shows that there are several reasons for teaching dance as a part of educational programmes in folk music and also that the music teachers themselves use references to dance in their music teaching. These reasons can give dance pedagogues information about how some music teachers think dance is relevant and can be used in the planning of dance teaching. In conclusion, there is a discussion of how this study can be a part of understanding and developing pedagogy within the folk music genre.

The distinctiveness of folk music and dance traditions in Cornwall is at best ignored and at worst denied by the wider British folk movement. Within Cornwall itself, traditional music and dance is not widely recognised as a serious art form. This study challenges this position by arguing that failure to recognise Cornwall’s folk tradition as a distinctive and creative art form is due to hegemonic power relations not the intrinsic nature of Cornish material. It contributes to the debate about the distinctiveness of Cornwall’s historical and cultural identity and shows that folk tradition has an important place in contemporary Cornish studies. This study examines the evolution of folk tradition in Cornwall from the early nineteenth century through to the present day, the meanings ascribed to it and the relationship with Cornish identity. The subject matter is at once arcane and commonplace, for some it is full of mystery and symbolism for others it is just “party time”. It is about what people do and what they think about what they do in relation to the wide spectrum of activities associated with traditional music and dance. These activities range from informal singing sessions and barn dances to ritual customs that mark the turning of the year. In order to establish a research methodology this study draws upon the paradigms of memory, oral history and discursivity. These paradigms provide a range of insights into, and alternative views of, both folk tradition and identity. Action research provides a useful enquiry tool as it binds these elements together and offers a working ethos for this study. Using this model a complex and dynamic process is unveiled within folk tradition that offers a quite different perspective on its relationship with identity and brings into question popular stereotypes.

This thesis investigates the issue of the application of cognitive analysis techniques for Western art music to folk dance melodies for violin, with a view to enabling the development of a computer tool that can aid in the identification and exploration of the stylistic characteristics of the origin of the melodies. The following questions are addressed: Can cognitive music analysis techniques for Western art music be applied successfully to folk dance melodies for violin? Is it possible to define an integrative analysis approach in this context drawing from existing approaches? To what extent can decision tree induction aid in the classification and interpretation of the analysis results? How might the musical data for analysis be represented on computer? What is the best approach to program development for an automated music analysis tool in this context? A series of experiments using samples of American and Irish melodies are presented that verify the use, in this context, of the cognitive analysis approaches of Lerdahl and lackendoff and Narmour. Statistical approaches have also been investigated, since research has shown that such methods can reflect the way in which listeners mentally organise the music that they hear. To enable the analysis to be carried out in an algorithmic way, an experiment using human subjects to further the work of Lerdahl and lackendoff was required. An integrative analysis approach has been identified that can be carried out in an algorithmic way therefore lending itself to future implementation on computer. In order to interpret the results of the analysis process, a decision tree induction tool (SeeS) based on Quinlan's CS algorithm was employed. SeeS was able to classify the melodies based on the attributes derived from the analysis. The decision trees and rules derived by the tool enabled the identification of features of the melodies that pertain to their origins, thus enabling a deeper understanding of the stylistic variations of the melodies. A further experiment indicated that the cognitive analysis approaches and subsequent classification with SeeS compares favourably with the classification abilities of human subjects after a small amount of training in the musical context. Further inductive learning techniques (decision tree induction using Friedman's CART, and neural networks) have been applied to the problem of classification andinterpretation of the analysis results, and although the neural network classified the musical samples with greater accuracy (illustrated using ROC analysis), decision tree induction has been shown to be a more appropriate method in this context. Approaches to music representation and subsequent program development have been investigated, reSUlting in a proposal for future computer implementation of a music analysis tool using the Humdrum toolkit as a means of representation, and a declarative language for the program development.

In “Encountering Greek American Soundscapes,” respected dance scholar and choreographer Anthony Shay investigates the context of Greek musical performances based on his experiences as a young folk dancer in California from the 1950s to 1970s. After first tracing immigration history and exploring the circumstances in which people listened to music, sang, played musical instruments, and danced in Greece, he then delineates the types of music in several different American contexts, as well as who plays or sings each genre and, who forms the audience. Among the contexts that he notes are church picnics, as well as Greek taverns and clubs such as Athenian Gardens and Greek Village.

This chapter discusses the history of African American Music. Many of the roots of black American music lie in Africa more than four hundred years ago at the start of the slave trade. It is essential to realize that the importance given to music and dance in Africa was reflected among black people in America in the songs they sang, in their dancing, and at their folk gatherings. As such, every aspect of jazz, blues, and gospel music is African to some degree. Work songs and the related prison songs are precursors of the blues. One can assume that primitive forms of pre-blues appeared around 1885, mostly in the Deep South and predominantly in the state of Mississippi. However, it was several more years before the famous AAB twelve-bar structure appeared, and when it did, one of its leading practitioners was Charley Patton.