Trepak

{{Short description|Russian and Ukrainian folk dance}}

{{other uses}}

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File:Танец Трепак crop.jpg

Trepak ({{langx|ru|трeпак}}) or tropak ({{langx|uk|трoпак}}) is a traditional East Slavic folk dance (Russian and Ukrainian).{{in lang|ru}} Фраёнова Е. М. Трепак // Музыкальная энциклопедия / под ред. Ю. В. Келдыша. — М.: Советская энциклопедия, Советский композитор, 1981. — Т. 5.Humeniuk, Andriy (1962): Ukrainian Folk Dances (Українські Hароднi Танцi). Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR.

The dance is included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, whose form is preserved in Tacheng.[https://www.prlib.ru/en/events/664785 Russian culture abroad: Russian folk dance Trepak to be put on the list of Xinjiang intangible cultural heritage]

In music

The dance is a brisk allegro in {{music|time|2|4}} time in a major key. Accompaniment is usually on two alternating chords; dominant and tonic.

One of its best known representations is Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's "Trepak" (also known as the "Russian Dance") from the ballet The Nutcracker. The dance music was also used in the last movement of his Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35. The third of Modest Mussorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death is named "Trepak".

In dance

The characteristic element is a simple walk with a syncopated stamp, often done to a quick duple meter rhythm.

On So You Think You Can Dance (Season 4), Joshua Allen and Stephen "Twitch" Boss performed a Trepak routine, interpreted as a dance duel, in Week 9 (August 6, 2008).

References