Russian & Ukrainian music

[Olga]

The soundtracks

Legends of Russian cinematography

[ECR844]

"Olga,"

   I agree with "mendeleyev," Your, talent and cultural knowledge are greatly appreciated and provide a great benefit to the board.

THANK YOU!!!

ECR844

[mendeleyev]

Alla Borisovna Pugachova (Алла Борисовна Пугачёва) 


We've accomplished so much on this thread, yet still have not recognized the biggest popular music success in Russian history.  That's right, only now are we featuring the biggest artist in the history of Russian music. 

Think of this for a moment:

- She began her public performing career in 1965.  That was over 40 years ago!
- She still sells CDs and her concerts are sold out at every event!
- She is not young, thin, sexy, etc...yet she is the single biggest music sensation in modern Russian history!
- She has sold more records than any other Russian artist in history.
- She sings in several languages and is popular in Northern European countries such as Sweden and Norway.
- There is a perfume cosmetics line (Alla) named after her.
- There is a Russian cultural magazine (Alla) which bears her name.
- There is a radio station (Radio Alla) named after her.
- She is also a popular television show host and a television show producer.
- Despite her criticism of the Soviet government she received the highest artiist honour of "Peoples Artist of the USSR."

Who are we speaking of?

Alla Borisovna Pugachova (Алла Борисовна Пугачёва)!  This popular entertainer/singer has outlasted the Beatles, Elvis, and the Rolling Stones.


Telling her audience to stand up and dance at one of her concerts, here she is, Alla!

To the dramatic:

To the humourous:

To some modern Rock and Roll:

To Russian traditional sounds with a touch of pop:

A Soviet television documentary about her:

Check out that accent as she sings in English:

Is her music still popular with young demographics?  Check it out!

Speaking of kids, watch as she reads Pasternak:

Performing on Soviet television:

Check out this video from 1976!

One of the greatest, Alla Pugacheva!

www.alla.net

[Olga]

Nadezhda Babkina (Надежда Бабкина)





The Cossack Ataman Nadezhda Babkina   
by Olga Rusanova

She has a colorful appearance: a stately, rosy woman with a long bluish-black plait, with sparkling eyes and lips that seem to be always smiling. When by her side, you cannot help being drawn into the mighty magnetic field of her charm, her vivacity and zeal. Nadezhda was born on the Volga River, near the city of Astrakhan in the Cossack settlement of Chyorny Yar. Even as a child she could sing and dance with gusto. A live-wire by nature, she decided to create a company of her own and conquer Moscow. And she did it. For more than 20 years now Nadezhda Babkina has been a star on the Russian variety stage and the leader of the well-known folk company "The Russian Song".

A long-time resident of the capital, Nadezhda never forgets the place she comes from. Not long ago she organized a new ensemble and called it "The Cossack Circle".




"We have people coming from different regions of Russia," Nadezhda says. "You know, there are Cossacks in Siberia, in the south and in the central regions. Music and songs bring them all together. You know how a Cossack song goes: 'Hi, chaps, let's get together in a circle'. 'The circle' is symbolic, as the sun, as life."
   
The media often describe Nadezhda as an ataman, a Cossack chieftain. "No", Nadezhda laughs, "I am very little of an ataman. They write it for the sake of rhetoric. This is because for many years I've been directing "The Russian song" and as an ataman I am responsible for it."
   
Babkina's arrangements are bright and sometimes quite unexpected. The old Cossack song "My Horse Was Out By Itself" is so arranged that it sounds more like a cowboy song, not Cossack. Nothing wrong with it. The Russian Cossacks, like American cowboys, have always been freedom-loving people, the children of nature and masters of vast spaces. With them a horse has been a helpmate and a friend in need.
   
Nadezhda Babkina has academic degrees in several humanitarian fields, for one, a doctor's degree in folk singing on modern stage. She continues to go on expeditions to collect original folk songs, legends and tales. When the artist was not so well-known, of course, she found it easier to tour villages. Now that people recognize her, she has invented a way to prevent her popularity from interfering with her direct communication with village people.
   
"Just imagine", Nadezhda says, "I cover my head with a small shawl and come to a village. At first some people run after me trying to make sure that's me. Finally I say, yes, that's me. They pull me by the plait and even pinch me to make sure. Then they say: why should we sing for you, we'd rather you sing for us. And now we have it this way: at first we give a concert, then we hold a meeting with village people. This makes things quite different."
   
Babkina's ensemble can perform several old rites. The wedding ceremony, for example, is even in great commercial demand. And at request of lovers of the exotic the company has repeatedly played out the ceremony on the spot. They say, the spectacle is tremendous. Babkina will surely go down in the history of Russian performing folk art as a person who managed to establish on the stage a small vocal ensemble, and women's at that. Quite recently, in Soviet times, the Russian folk song could be performed either by a choir, or by a soloist with an instrumental ensemble. This was not quite true to historical reality: in Russian villages people used to sing in small groups.
   
"I believe I was not the only one who went back to the origins of the Russian song", says Nadezhda. "The folk Russian song is intimate. It takes the singer's soul to perform it. And imagine a choir of 200 members standing on the stage and singing a folk song! What does it sound like? I don't know. It's quite another thing if there are four, five, nine singers. Our people used to say: you have to act the song. We have nine members, for example, each with his own character, his own background, his own state of mind. Our song is always an action."

Nadezhda Babkina and Nikolai Noskov

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/FNhzuUjbAzk" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/FNhzuUjbAzk</a>



Nadezhda Babkina, Vlad Sokolovsky and Dima Bikbayev

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/q4-6e17DTpk" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/q4-6e17DTpk</a>

[Olga]

Romantic songs of Nikolai Noskov (Николай Носков)

Nikolai Ivanovich Noskov (Russian: Николай Иванович Носков; born January 12, 1956, Gzhatsk) is a Russian singer and a former vocalist of the "Gorky Park" band.


"Romance"

"Snow"

"She's a miracle"

He also recorded "A candle burned upon the table..." taken from "Winter's Night" one of the poems of Doctor Zhivago.

"Winters Night"
Blizzards were blowing everywhere
Throughout the land.
A candle burned upon the table,
A candle burned.

As midgets in the summer fly
Towards a flame,
The snowflakes from the yard swarmed to
The window pane.

And, on the glass, bright snowy rings
And arrows formed.
A candle burned upon the table,
A candle burned.

And on the white illumined ceiling
Shadow were cast,
As arms and legs and destinies
Fatefully crossed.

Two slippers fell on to the floor
With a light sound,
And waxen tears dripped from the candle
On to a gown.

No object in the misty whiteness
Could be discerned.
A candle burned upon the table,
A candle burned.

A mild draught coming from the corner
Blew on the candle,
Seduction's heat raised two wings crosswise
As might an angel.

It snowed and snowed that February
All through the land.
A candle burned upon the table,
A candle burned.
 
 1946. By Boris Pasternak. Translated by Alex Miller.

Winter's Night (Translated by Christopher Barnes)

Snow on snow the blizzard blew,
All frontiers enswirling.
A candle on the table stood -
A tallow candle burning.

Like summer midges' swarming flight,
Towards the candle chasing,
The snowflakes eddied to the light,
Converging on the casement.

And on the pane the blizzard hewed
Its arrows, darts and circles.
A candle on the table stood -
A tallow candle burning.

And shadows settled overhead
Upon the illumined ceiling,
Dim forms of crossing arms and legs,
Fate's shadows interlacing.

A pair of shoes slid to the floor
And raised a sudden clatter,
And on her gown the waxen flare
Shed tears that oozed and spattered.

And all was lost in snowy murk,
A pallid, gray-white blurring.
The candle on the table stirred -
A tallow candle burning.

A sudden draught breathed on the flame,
Seductive fires enkindling,
With arms outspread in cruciform
Like two wings of an angel.

All February the blizzard raved,
Yet ever and anon, unchanging,
Candle and table still remained -
A candle ever flaming.

http://www.utoronto.ca/tsq/10/barnes10.shtml

Alla Pugachyova - "A candle burned upon the table..." (Winter's Night)

[mendeleyev]

Sergei Nagovicin (Сергей Наговицын)

A gutteral blend of rock and sometimes rock with pop helps to define this important Russian singer. 


Разбитая судьба

Приговор

На Суде

[mendeleyev]

Irina Saltikova (Ирина Салтыкова)


Does Russia have an endless supply of beautiful ladies who can also sing?  Introducting Ирина Салтыкова (Irina Saltikova), another blonde bombshell who is as much fun to watch as she is to listen-to. 






Hope my wife doesn't catch me watching these videos!



Holy mother of mini-skirts, must have watched this about 87 times already!

Of course she can sing too....I think....to busy watching the videos:

Gotta love that dance...beat...

This gorgeous lady is over 40 years old and a staple on the Russian music scene!

[mendeleyev]

Aza Bataeva (Аза Батаева)

Time for a very regional flavor:  Аза Батаева (Aza Bataeva) is a 25 year old Chechen singer who lives in Moscow although she was born and raised in Chechnya.  You'll notice her regional style of singing in which she combines more middle eastern themes with modern European/Russian popular music.

She sings in both Russian and the Chechen language.  Chechen is considered a Indo/Euro language however it uses Arabic style alphabetic characters.

"Where Are You?"

Another new hit in 2008!

[Olga]

Larisa Dolina (Ларисы Долинa)


Larisa Dolina was born September 10, 1955 in Baku, Azerbaijan and is a prominent Russian pop singer, jazz singer and an actress. Her voice appears in about 70 films and animations.

She is much more than a Pop Star. She has truly been called The Best Voice of Russia. Although she started as a jazz singer, Larisa Dolina can do it all: from popular music and rock, to jazz and classical arias. Her tremendous jazz performances are full of brilliant improvisations, irrepressible imagination and spectacular energy. Her incredibly beautiful and powerful voice can be compared with the best in the world. She conquered hearts of many jazzmen around the world and won respect of leading musical critics and love of the audiences. Today the number of Larisa’s fans are measured in the millions.

http://dolina.ru/index-e.htm

Larisa Dolina
"All That Jazz"

Larisa Dolina
Summer Time

Larisa Dolina and Garik Martirosian
"Don't die, Love

Larisa Dolina and Alexander Panaiyotov
"The flowers under snow"

Larisa Dolina and Alexander Panaiyotov
"Moon melody"

English website: http://www.dolina.ru/index-e.htm

[mendeleyev]

Olga, I called our Moscow home tonight and my mother-in-law answered.  In the background I was enjoying your posts of Larisa Dolina and mother correctly identified her from the background music immediately!  We spent 5 minutes or so talking about some of her favourite musicians.

Larisa is definitely one of them.   

[mendeleyev]

Valeriy Meladze (Валерий Шотаевич Меладзе)



Hard to believe we started this thread so many pages ago and haven't featured the smooth and silky voice of Valeriy Meladze (Валерий Шотаевич Меладзе.)

Valeriy Meladze is a consumate entertainer.  Singing is just one of his abilities.  Acting is another of his talents.  Thru the years Valeriy Meladze has learned to "reinvent" himself to fit the latest musical styles.  He appears with ViaGra, with Reflex, with Ani Lorak and so many other stars. 

To borrow a real estate term he is an "anchor store."  Bring Valeriy Meladze to a duet or video production and instant popularity is guaranteed. 

Younger American viewers will not like him.  His look is not "hip" enough.  But he has the ability to transcend all that with Eastern European audiences which, like Mexican music from south of America's border, honours older artists as well as the new.  You may think he is too much like Frank Sinatra, but your 23 year old smokin lady will think he is "hot."  It's just the differences in our cultures.  If you still aren't a believer, check out the myspace.com pages on Meladze.  His pages are built and maintained by young females!

Part of the selling power of Meladze is that he surrounds himself with younger and very hot female singers.  But unlike our culture, where that could be a sign of an ego/denial problem on the part of an older musician, Meladze has staying power.  He brings popularity and legitimacy to these younger singers.  He is not a taker of their popularity, he gives to them some of the power of his own popularity.

Entertainer-storyteller-singer-lover-actor.....and like Josef Stalin, he is the man from the Republic of Georgia...Valeriy Meladze!


Here Meladze and the smokin hot Ukrainian Ani Lorak team up for a duet:

This one dance tune stayed on the charts for a record stint.  You can hear it often on Russian radio:

Another smash hit thru Eastern Europe.  Teamed up with the sexy ViaGra:

One of the hits that took young audiences all over Europe by storm:

Check out the 1960's theme in this classic Meladze ballad:

Would you like to see/hear a modern take on ethnic Georgian music?  Click this link:

Beautiful!  (Ah, that's the name of the song), the ballad meets dance:

Finally, my favourite Meladze song.  Simply because it's brash and makes a political and ethnic statement while combining his great singing and acting.  Meladze, a Georgian enters a bar.  There the most beautiful woman in the bar is a gorgeous Georgian (darker skinned) beauty on the arm of an ethnic white Russian man.

Meladze challenges the man for the affection of this maiden.  The man reacts and Meladze continues his challenge.  The song is so interesting because there are multiple themes running thru it at the same time.  "Without Vanity" or "Without fuss" he wins as the girl shoves off the man and then smashes a vodka bottle over his head as she choses to be with Meladze.

Over and over you hear the refrain смотреть (sma-triy) which means "look" or "watch" as he taunts the man, and all bystanders, to look as I take back which is naturally mine.

This song was recorded at the time of some real tensions between the Russian and Georgian governments and the wildly popular Meladze, a Georgian native, felt cocky enough to weave a not-so-subtle message into a song about who gets the girl.  Even so, the song was a smash hit across Russia. 

http://www.valerymeladze.ru/

[Olga_Mouse]

Re. Meladze

I'd add that his brother is the author & producer of most of Valeriy's songs... as well as ViaGra producer & creator  : 

An important figure in Russian showbiz, definitely.

[mendeleyev]

Olga_mouse, thanks for that reminder.  They used to share a website and I'm glad you mentioned it so that we can post the web address here:  http://www.valerymeladze.ru/

[Olga]

A-Studio (А-Студио)





from Wikipedia: A'Studio is a dance act consisting of Kazakh producers Vladimir Mikloshich, Baigali Serkebayev and Baglan Sadvakasov, who hail from Almaty, and Russian singer Polina Griffith, who hails from Tomsk. The band has been around since 1987, changing many members over the years. In August 2004 Polina left the group to pursue solo work. In March 2005 a new vocalist Katy (Keta Topuria) joined the group, a Georgian native with Italian and Irish heritage.

They released their single S.O.S. in the UK on 26 June 2006, where it reached #64 on the UK Singles Chart.

Baglan Sadvakasov died in a car crash on 2 August 2006



"Sinful passion"

"I fly away"

"I still love"

"Ты"

This is their new song "Angel" released in late December 2008:

As of Jan 2009, new website: http://new.astudio.ru/home/

[Olga]

Muslim Magomayev (Муслим Магомаев)


Muslim Mahammad oglu Magomayev (Azerbaijani: Müslüm Məhəmməd oğlu Maqomayev; Russian: Муслим Магомет оглы Магомаев; born August 17, 1942 in Baku, died October 25, 2008 in Moscow) was an Azerbaijani baritone operatic and pop singer of the 1960s and 1970s.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_Magomayev_%28grandson%29

 
Born to Music
by Svyatoslav Belza
    
There are many stars on the pop music stage nowadays. However, it has been known for a long time that stars differ in their fame.  Sir Lawrence Olivier said, "In the past, actors tried hard to become stars. Today, "stars" are trying to become actors." When applying this statement to show business, one can interpret it like this: many pop stars of today would dream of becoming singers. Too many singers burst upon the stage like blazing stars, only to fizzle out like fallen stars.

The best example of a True Singer who has become the brightest Superstar, is Muslim Magomaev. His brilliant and genuine talent stands out among the "tinsel show" of those who try to attract the public in concert halls and on TV screens. There are no singers in the former USSR who can compete in popularity  with Muslim Magomaev whose magnificent baritone, serious pursuit of excellence, and charismatic appeal have had a profound effect on three generations of admirers.

   The range of his talents is extremely wide -from opera arias to musicals, from Neapolitan songs to vocal compositions of Russian and Azerbaijan composers.

Moscow heard this name for the first time in the spring of 1963. On March, 30th,  newspapers were full of articles telling about his incredible success while performing in the Kremlin Palace of Cogresses. His fantastic vocal skills and brilliant technique convinced everybody that a very talented young singer appeared on the operatic stage.

In 1963 he also appeared in the famous Tchaikovsky Concert Hall for his first recital.  A very popular singer K. Shulzhenko wrote later, "The moment Muslim appeared, it became a huge event. He is greater than all the other singers. Everybody adores him." Hardly 30 years old, he was awarded the highest artistic title, "People's Artist of the USSR".


Hello Dolly

Love story

Every Night

I Know Why and So do you

Tu mi piaci

О Sole mio

[mendeleyev]

Lisa Monde (Лиза Монд)

Russian classical singer, lyricist and composer who makes great pop music too.

This artist sings fluently in Russian, French, German and English.  And anywhere she goes the concert halls are full and CDs sell easily.  This artist is not pop or rock oriented, but popular in international classical circles.  

Introducing the very talented and classical voice of Lisa Monde.





The Gentle voice of Lisa:

So talented to have her own weekly radio programme on Moscow's “Govorit Moskva” radio station!


A child's lullaby:

Disappearance:

Lisa does a nice venture into soft pop:

Gentle sounds:

Lisa sings "Fluffy Christmas" in English:

Singing in German:

Live in a Paris theatre production:

November 2007 Moscow concerts:
We are glad to announce the first night performance of Моscow-Paris, a new musical by Lisa Monde. Attention! The performance of a new musical by Lisa Monde is to take place at Teatr Muzyki i Dramy theatre, Moscow Tickets are to be booked by telephones: (495) 236 27 16 and (495) 236 27 09 On November 23, 24, 25, 2007 the premiere performances are to be continued. Do not miss them!


Influenced by living in Paris, her variety of languages is very pleasing.  Now she has returned to live in Moscow and is represented internationally by the Russian record company Pervoye Muzykalnoye Izdatelstvo Co.

Her recordings are produced by well-respected Russian producer Aleksey Savelyev.





Her Russian website:
http://www.lisamonde.com/Discography/art8/art1


Her English website:
http://eng.lisamonde.com/

[mendeleyev]

Find a song or artist in the directory, page 1 of this thread.

[mendeleyev]

Pyotr (Peter) Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Пётр Ильич Чайкoвский)


When it comes to classical music, there are a host of very talented Russian composers.  But of all the excellent ones from which to choose, a handful are like the cream which rises to the top.  Here are my nominations:

-Pyotr (Peter) Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Пётр Ильич Чайкoвский),

-Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff (Сергей Васильевич Рахманинов),

-Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (Моде́ст Петро́вич Му́соргский) and

-Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin (Александр Порфирьевич Бородин).

Each left a profound influence on the world of music.  Each gained the admiration of music fans around the world.  Each left a legacy of music brillance to be enjoyed by future generations.

Today we highlight the work of Tchaikovsky--

Born in 1840, he began taking piano lessons at age 5 and as a young man was enrolled in the St Petersburg Conservatory. 

It was at the time when he was a student of the Conservatory that he became associated with, but not a member of "The Mighty Handful" known in English as "The Big Five," a group of Russia's most talented musicians.  This group, "The Big Five" had the aim of producing a specifically Russian kind of art music, rather than one that imitated older European music or relied on European-style conservatory training.  Tchaikovsky worked well with those composers but he did not share their nationalistic goals.

Unhappily married, Tchaikovsky's homosexuality, as well as its importance to his life and music, has been known to the West for at least 75 years. Suppressed in Russia by the Soviets, it has only recently become widely known in post-Soviet Russia.  He wrote many religious scores both of vocal works for the liturgy, but also instrumental works as well.

He lived to be 53 years of age and died of cholera.





Here are some of the most well-loved Tchaikovsky compositions with links:

The Nutcracker

and more from the Nutcracker

Waltz of the Flowers

Swan Lake

and more from Swan Lake

1812 Overture

The Sleeping Beauty

Romeo and Juliet

Original Soviet broadcast of Romeo and Juliet

Nightingale

Website dedicated to researching the life and legacy of this magnificient Russian composer:
http://www.tchaikovsky-research.org/

[mendeleyev]

Living in Russia the first time I head Modern Talking on the radio, I thought they were one of the many Russian groups who sang often in English.  They were the dream of every teenage girl and young adult demographics (18-34) were buying their CD's like crazy.

But soon I'd discover that the two young men were from Germany.  And poor teen girls, these guys are gay.  But that didn't seem to matter and as long as they stayed together, Russian radio pumped out the hits and the buyers kept buying.

My wife and our DJ planned the entertainment at our wedding and we danced that night to 2 or 3 songs by Modern Talking.

They even had at least one hit on American radio.  I don't know how they were received in the UK, but for awhile they were all the rage in central and northern Europe.

So, let's listen:

Even little Russian teenage girls who couldn't speak English could sing along with "You're My Heart, My Soul"

No dance is a dance, until "Cheri, Cheri Lady"

Here is the song which introduced Americans to Modern Talking, Brother Louie:

Here Euro dance meets American hip-hop in Sexy, Sexy Lover:

Every dance party must play this for couples:

SOS for Love, another Euro dance megahit:

A rare ballad, "Give Us Peace on Earth" is their Christmas song:

Late last summer on a trip over to Moscow I sat beside a young American teenage boy who was traveling to spend some time with his Russian grandparents.  He was about 15 years old and passed much of the 14 hour flight from Los Angeles with his CD player.  As we were about an hour outside of Moscow he pulled his earplugs out to ask me a question.  I heard the sound and asked if it was Modern Talking.  He brightened and for the next half hour I listened while this young man enlightened me on his favourite band.  I'd had thought their days of popularity were over...although the duo broke up and the band was disbanded, apparently it's not over yet for Modern Talking.

[Olga]

Russian Romance


These songs begun to be formed as a genre to middle of 18 century and it has its roots in the French variety of the romance. In 1759 the outstanding high official of Empress Elisabet also highly educated music-lover and one of the most enlightened persons of that time Grigory Nikolayevich Teplov published the collection of light sentimental songs under one name "Between business and leisure". The author of the lyrics was the nobleman poet  Alexander Petrovich Sumarokov


Even the name of the collection pointed that the collection was destined for domestic amateur leisure.
During the 18 and19 centuries the Russian composers developed light sentimental songs as the particular classical genre Russian Sublime Romance.

Russian Romance "He did not love me..."

Russian Romance "I loved you"

The lyric of famous Russian Romance "Dark eyes" was written by poet and writer Yevgyeni Grebinka in the middle of the 19 century. He devoted the poem to a Ukrainian woman

[Olga_Mouse]

Even little Russian teenage girls who couldn't speak English could sing along with "You're My Heart, My Soul"

Definitely 

SOS for Love, another Euro dance megahit:

Erm... actually this track is entitled "Atlantis is calling"  :

 I'd had thought their days of popularity were over... although the duo broke up and the band was disbanded, apparently it's not over yet for Modern Talking.

As after the "second divorce" in June 2003 the whole crew (musicians, technicians, management) has stayed with Thomas Anders (as he's a much nicer person, and has a great voice!!!), he's successfully touring Russia and ex-USSR countries without Dieter Bohlen 

Wanna book him for your private or corporate event in Russia? Send me a PM  8)

[Markje]

Definitely 

Erm... actually this track is entitled "Atlantis is calling"  :

Ooh, childhood memories I love those guys. But what has this todo with russian music?

[mendeleyev]

Iryna Bilyk (Ирина Билык)


We go to Ukraine for this next artist.  Iryna Bilyk (Ирина Билык)  is a lovely adult singer who has combined music and television to keep her popularity high.  Ірина Білик is her Ukrainian name.  She was born in Kiev is a renowned Ukrainian singer and song writer. She wrote her first song at the age of 10 years old.

In 1995, Bilyk performed for the United States President Bill Clinton. She has produced twelve musical albums (inlcuding several in Russian and one in Polish), many video clips, and continues to be active in the music industry.

On October 27, 2007 Iryna Bilyk got married with the dancing partner from her show "Dances with the Stars-2", 22-year-old Dmytro Dykusar. The wedding ceremony took place in Rio de Janeiro.  Irina is 37 years old, still very lovely.

If you have trouble following along with some of her songs, perhaps it's because she sings in Russian, Ukrainian and Polish.

We'll start with one of her biggest hits, "Remember:"

Love and poison.  Sometimes a relationship has both:

Here we go a more traditional route.  We've already covered the popular "Kalinka" song and it's massive folk popularity.  Well, "Kalinka" has a twin, sort of, at least in long-term popularity.  It's Katushka (Катюша) and here is Irina's very nice version:

For her Ukrainian fans this song does a great job of blending old style Ukrainian melodies with modern dance.  I love the effect!

This lady can dance with the pop stars or touch you with a smooth ballad.  Like this one, Your Hands:

In this song our beautiful singer teams up with another popular Ukrainian, (Серге́й Фё́дорович Бондарчу́к) Sergei Bondarchuk.  Sergei was born in a little village near Kherson, Ukraine.

On Polish television:

A powerful ballad about love.  She is an accomplished pianist as well as singer, actress and dancer:

Her newest release, Нас нет, is very thought provoking.  The song and video are taken from a new movie release:

Here is the website for the movie:
http://www.film.ru/afisha/movie.asp?code=INDIFILM


Her My Space address has some nice free downloads:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=150709963

[mendeleyev]

Swing/Lindy Hop


When I first started traveling to the Soviet Union the western music most copied seemed to be jazz.  Jazz is still very popular but today Russian kids are fascinated by a close cousing to jazz--Swing and Big Band styles and dance styles like the "Lindy Hop," etc.

You can find Russian kids dancing to Elvis and all the early stars in night clubs, on walkways and bridges, in parks and at squares and just about anywhere.  For a look at this unique experience, follow us on a video journey into the swing dancing craze, not in Memphis, London, Los Angeles or Philadelphia.....but in places like Moscow, St Petersburg, Kiev, Kharkov, and Minsk.  Here we go!

"Sultans of Swing" competition:

Moscow nightclub....kids dancing to "Elvis:"

Speaking of ELVIS, this hot Moscow nightclub uses the music of Elvis, and hot Russian babes dressed up like brides to attract business on a Friday night. The babes are worth watching this video!

Russian dance star Karina Smirnoff strutting her stuff using American swing to a packed audience:

Look at how these kids are dressed! Moscow Lindy Hop competition warm-ups, 2007:

There are about 10 or more competitive type of national swing championships that take place regionally during the year in Ukraine and Russia and then finals are conducted in the spring in Moscow and Kiev. Here is a sample:

American song + Russian singers = Swing dancing in the public square:

Russian regional "Sultans of Swing" competition, Spring 2007:

St Petersburg Youth Dance Club does swing and broadway:

This title says "Jazz in a bad apartment" and I'm guessing by their ages they may be college music students. Somebody forgot to tell them that it's no longer 1929 in the USA!

Swing Camp in Moscow--teaches swing dancing:

Russian teens getting a formal swing dance lesson:

Check out these kids footwork!

Russian kids in an outdoor swing jam at the square:

Russian kids taking a group swing dance lesson:

Russian high school band performance features swing/jazz band--and they are pretty for for their age!

Over in Ukraine Katya and Masha and a bunch of their friends are doing the "Lindy Hop:"

Don't try this at home unsupervised...these guys are pros!

Young adults (college age) taking paid swing dancing lesson:

These girls need to take some lessons!

Ukrainian concert, Big Band style, plays to a full house:

"Put a lid on it"--the swinging big band song that is--Russian style:

Old men play swing tunes like "Hello Dolly" and watch the young people come by and swing dance right there on the bridge: 

Even the little kids dig it!

Teens and young adults dance to swing/big band in Russia:

Russian band "Mad Swing"

"Baby you've got it!" especially if it's the blonde dancing at this wedding....

There are not so many kids in this video but I just couldn't resist posting Russian superstar singer/actor Muslim Magomaev doing his version of "Hello Dolly!"

[mendeleyev]

Swing/Lindy Hop, continued


An article from "Johnson's List," publised primarily for international journalists, investors and career diplomats comes this related article about kids from Russia who have moved to the USA and how their ballroom dancing lessons is used and viewed in the west:





The Russians Are Coming, Stepping Lightly
By JOSEPH BERGER

The brothers Atanasov — Dimitre, Vladimir and Alex — grumble about their after-school lessons like typical American boys; in their case, boys who are being forced to take up to five hours a week of ballroom-style dance lessons.

"I'm there 24/7," said Dimitre, who will not even tell his friends at Dyker Heights Intermediate School that he spends his afternoon dancing. "I spend more time there than at home."

But the brothers, children of an immigrant from the former Soviet Union, do not dance like typical American boys. The other day Dimitre, who is 14; Vladimir, 12; and Alex, 9, spun three stylish girls across the gleaming wood floor of King's DanceSport Center, an island of elegance in the jostling streets of Midwood, Brooklyn.They did a rumba to the music of "Skylark" and a jive dance to Ellington's rendition of "Take the A Train." The couples were not just counting steps but doing splits and raising legs in the air with Astaire-like panache.

The brothers are graceful evidence of how immigrants from the former Soviet Union and the Soviet-bloc lands are infusing new life into ballroom dancing. A telling result is that in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, immigrants from the former Soviet Union now own 11 of the 23 Fred Astaire dance studios, the chain of franchises Astaire founded in 1947. And there are an additional hundred or so Russians who teach in the 89 other Astaire studios around the country.

The Russian dominance of ballroom dancing stems from an influx in the last decade of exquisitely trained dancers from the former Soviet Union who have migrated to the United States seeking greater financial rewards for their skills. In the process, the Russians are spurring something of a revival of cheek-to-cheek dancing.

"Ballroom dancing has increased in popularity and a big factor are immigrants," said Archie C. Hazelwood, president of the United States Amateur Ballroom Dancing Association, the governing body for competitive ballroom dancing known as DanceSport. "It's helped a lot to have so many people coming in who not only know ballroom dancing but appreciate it and are very dedicated to it."

Immigrants from the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe have become the luminaries of professional and amateur competition in the United States and have elevated its quality, executing their rumbas and waltzes with a grace, flourish and precision rarely seen here since Astaire's heyday. They have dressed up their moves with Fosse-like angling of the hips and shoulders, giving dance more of a postmodern edge. "This is extremely athletic, very energetic," said Steve Malanga, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute who is one of the organizers of the Manhattan Amateur Classic run by the dancing association. "It's almost in your face. That's something they've contributed to."

In Brooklyn's Russian neighborhoods and in New Jersey's suburbs, Russian instructors have started a dozen schools where hundreds of children learn sambas, waltzes and mambos while their ambitious mothers fret in the waiting room. Many of them are training for a swirl of local competitions and are the seeds of a more expansive future for dancing.

Most of these students are children of immigrants from Russia or the former Soviet Union. But at Brooklyn College, Sergei Nabatov, a 48-year-old Ukrainian and onetime international champion, offers four classes of a one-credit course in ballroom dancing. It is popular with garden-variety Americans as well as students born in the Dominican Republic, Israel and Colombia.

At 8 o'clock one recent morning — not exactly waltz time — Mr. Nabatov put 37 smartly dressed students, some of them still hobbled by the gawkiness of youth, through a series of swirling rumbas and lindys. It was their finals, and Mr. Nabatov was grading them. The students seemed to relish the test in a way they probably would not have had it been in organic chemistry.

"I was a girl who sat out dances," said Julia Mach, a 19-year-old whose parents immigrated from Vietnam. "Now I enjoy it so much, the feeling you get when you can match the mood and the music. I love it."

The Russians here were born to dance. In the countries of the former Soviet Union, reflecting traditions that paradoxically may have their roots in the great czarist balls, children take dance lessons in the first grade and continue at least through the fourth grade.

Afterward, many parents send children for lessons. Just as for gymnastics, the Soviet Union set up rigorous dance programs for the most promising young people so they could shine in international competition. Even now, dance contests are often on television.

Dr. Anna Shternshis, an assistant professor at the University of Toronto who studies popular Russian culture, said the interest in dancing as an expression of what she called culturedness was especially strong among Russian Jews.

In the Soviet Union, they were often barred from religious expression so they adopted secular expressions, filling their homes with books and giving their children music and dance lessons, she said.

Russian parents here are often too burdened carving out new lives to spend money on dance lessons for themselves. But they enroll their children in schools. "It's better than sitting at the computer all day long," said Irina Atanasov, the Russian-born mother of the dancing Atanasovs. She is a professional dancer and her Bulgarian-born husband, Dimitre, manages a Fred Astaire studio on East 43rd Street in Manhattan.

The elder Dimitre tried to explain the lure of ballroom dancing. The studio he manages offers lessons to single people who want to dance without stumbling too badly or seasoned couples who want to put a little romance back into their lives.

"Most of these guys have never held a woman in their arms dancing," he said of some of his students. "I had a Wall Street executive. He juggles millions of dollars on the exchange, but when he steps on the dance floor he is like someone in Madame Tussaud's wax museum."

Former champions like Taliat Tarsinov, who with his wife, Marina, owns the Fred Astaire studio on East 86th Street in Manhattan, have brought a professional polish and intelligence to the world of dance instruction.

"When I teach a couple ballroom dancing, I tell them it will be a reflection of life," he said. "I will teach you how to lead and follow, how to give each other space so everybody will feel comfortable, how to be next to each other but not in the way of each other."

But they are learning some of their capitalist skills from Americans. "We're learning how to run business, how to be successful, how to make dance studio a hot spot," Mr. Tarsinov said. "We Russians don't know how to sell and we like to learn."

Instructors like Mr. Tarsinov do not run studios just to prepare people for weddings and bar mitzvahs; they train dancers for competition. At his studio, Mr. Tarsinov was working on subtly refining the moves of Felipe Telona Jr., a Californian of Latino descent, and his wife, Carolina Orlovsky, a Russian born in Canada, for the Manhattan DanceSport Championships, which will be held in early July at the Regent Wall Street hotel.

Once they learn the basics, young adults like the students in Mr. Nabatov's class at Brooklyn College can go to nightclubs like Roxy or Swing 46 in Manhattan and Astoria in Bay Ridge to try out their skills. At least some of the dances at those clubs can be classified as ballroom.

But ballroom dancing has yet to catch on with American teenagers and younger children. "The big struggle is to get kids born in America to start," Mr. Malanga said. "They think it's weird, their friends will make fun of them. By contrast, in the Russian community it's cool to do this. I think having these Russian-American kids doing this will help break down the barriers."

It will also help the Russians achieve a revenge of sorts. In the 1957 hit musical "Silk Stockings," Astaire played an American who wielded his elegant footwork to convert three comrades and a long-legged Ninotchka, played by Cyd Charisse, to the joys of capitalism.

Now, in real life in the United States, the Russians seem to have turned the tables, wielding their elegant footwork to take over the art Mr. Astaire is most identified with, and doing so in true capitalist style.