The folkloric ensemble and the state folk ballet

What it is

A folkloric show is a suite of short numbers. Each takes a traditional dance, such as a wedding dance, a harvest dance or a men's contest of leaps, and arranges it for a stage. Circles are opened to face the audience. Steps are synchronised, sped up and made larger. Costumes are designed, not inherited. A programme might move from mountains to coast to plains in ninety minutes, and it presents the nation as varied and united at once.

Where it comes from

The pattern was set in the Soviet Union, where the choreographer Igor Moiseyev founded a state folk dance company in Moscow in 1937. Its tours after the Second World War impressed audiences and governments. Similar companies followed across Eastern Europe, including Mazowsze in Poland. Amalia Hernández founded the Ballet Folklórico de México in 1952. The Bayanihan company began in the Philippines in the 1950s. Les Ballets Africains, formed by Fodéba Keïta in Paris, became the national ensemble of Guinea at independence.

How it works

Choreographers and researchers visit communities, learn dances and music, and then adapt them. The company trains daily and performs a fixed repertoire for years. Amateur groups, schools and diaspora clubs often copy the staged versions, which can then replace older local ways. Critics point out that the shows smooth away differences, and that governments have used them to promote an official picture of the people. Defenders reply that the companies have saved dances from being forgotten and trained generations of dancers.

If you go

1. Book a performance at the company's home theatre or catch a tour.
2. Read the programme to see which region each dance represents.
3. Enjoy the skill, and remember you are watching an arrangement, not a village event.
4. If a dance catches you, look for where it is still done socially and go to see that too.

Good manners

• Clapping in time is usually welcome in the fast numbers. Follow the house.
• Do not assume the stage version is how everyone in that country dances.
• Credit the community a dance comes from, not only the company.

What is danced

HopakA lively Ukrainian folk dance known for jumps and acrobatic movesLezginkaA fast-paced folk dance from the North Caucasus, performed solo or in pairsKoloA South Slavic circle dance for groups at weddings and celebrationsJarabe TapatíoA courtship dance from Jalisco, now Mexico’s national danceTiniklingA Philippine dance where dancers step between moving bamboo polesKhorumiA large-scale men's war dance from Adjara in southwestern Georgia

Sources and further reading