Development of ballroom choreographic culture in Ukraine in the 2010s–2020s

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to reveal the consequences of the challenges of the 2020s, namely the COVID-19 pandemic and full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation with partial occupation of territory, migration of population, expansion of zone of battle actions and the threat of aerial attacks for the entire country. All this had an impact on the ballroom choreographic culture in Ukraine.
 The methodology is based on the principles of a system-synergistic approach. The main methods applied were participant observation, analysis, generalization and systematization of the authors’ many years of dance, organizational and pedagogical experience.
 The results. The challenges of the 2020s, namely the COVID-19 pandemic and the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation with partial occupation of the territory, population migration, expansion of the combat zone and regular missile terror throughout the country, have significantly affected the ballroom dance culture of Ukraine, in particular, changed the country’s dance map, limiting and partially making it impossible to hold competitions and training in the combat zone and eastern regions that are unprotected from sudden missile attacks. The socio-political upheaval has prompted the Ukrainian dance community to seek national self-identification, giving rise to the creation of imaginative and meaningful compositions through ballroom dance that would embody the pressing issues of our time, including the themes of war, occupation and the challenges they have caused. At the same time, the national organization system of the ballroom dance tournaments and training process has revealed significant shortcomings. In particular, the problem of upgrading to an international class of dancing in the context of the pandemic and then the war, which was felt in previous years, made it impossible for dancers in the eastern regions of Ukraine to develop, as they were deprived of the opportunity to regularly participate in competitions.
 The scientific novelty of the study is to analyze the modern tournament and training system of sports ballroom choreography in Ukraine in the last decade and to identify the problems that hinder the development of this type of dance art and have become especially acute during the challenges of the 2020s.
 The practical significance. Some provisions of the article can be used for updating Ukrainian ballroom dance competitions in accordance with current social and political conditions.
 Prospects for further research. A number of problems require scientific and theoretical comprehension, in particular, the place of ballroom dance in Ukrainian culture, its philosophy, images, styles, principles and expressive means of dance composition. The methodology of dancer’s physical training, based on the peculiarities of sports ballroom dance, requires separate research.