Parallel Traditions: State Folk Dance Ensembles and Folk Dance in “The Field”

Abstract

In the 1950s, the world saw the birth, growth, and development of a new dance genre, the choreographic creations of the professional state folk dance ensemble (1). The genesis of what became a worldwide phenomenon of professional, semi-professional and amateur folk dance ensembles, with the notable exception of the capitalistic Western powers and Japan, began, in my opinion, in response to the extraordinary success of the Ensemble of Folk Dances of the Peoples of the Soviet Union, known in the West as the Moiseyev Dance Company, under the artistic direction of founder Igor Moiseyev. This ensemble was begun in 1937 at the onset of World War II, but its major impact began with the political reformation of the world in the aftermath of the war. During this period the U.S.S.R.'s direct political domination of Eastern Europe and popularity and influence in other regions of the world led to widespread emulation of the Soviet model of different types of institutions, including the formation of professional state-sponsored dance companies. This dance symbol became so crucial that a small nation like Bulgaria had seventeen professional folk song and dance ensembles by the 1980s (Ilieva 1994, 35).