Altay Research Articles

ПРИЕМ ПОВТОРА В АЛТАЙСКИХ ГЕРОИЧЕСКИХ СКАЗАНИЯХ

Altai heroic tales are unique monuments of the people’s epic heritage. They act as a cultural code that preserved the originality of the ethnic worldview, traditions of the people, as well as the peculiarities of their poetic language. At the same time, the Altai epic has much in common and peculiar in comparison with the epics of other Turkic-speaking peoples. The study of the epic style originality is special interest for folkloristics. The relevance of this study is determined by the insufficient study of style features of the Altai people’s heroic tales. The scholarly novelty of the work consists in the fact that it is the first to study the types of repetition as one of the stylistic phenomena of the Altai epic. The purpose of this research is to study repetition as a stylistic phenomenon of folk poetics. The sources for the study were the heroic tales published in the series “Altai Bogatyrs”. An important criterion for selecting sources for the study was the observation of this phenomenon in authentic texts, where the features of the narrator’s living language are preserved to a greater extent. The study is based on the analysis of Altai heroic tales from different narrators and other folklore sources. The descriptive method, methods of comparison and generalization were also used in the work. As a result of the study, the types of repetitions found in the Altai epic were identified and described; their main functions were defined. It is established that repetition in folklore text is an important and multidimensional phenomenon. In heroic tales it is manifested at different levels. Repetitions of individual words and word combinations, phrases and whole episodes are distinguished. According to the frequency of use, there are twofold, threefold and more repetitions. Repetitions occur within a line, at the beginning, end or at the junction of poetic lines, forming such stylistic figures as anaphora, epiphora and epanaphora. Each type of repetition fulfills a certain function in the text. The study has shown that the functioning of repetitions in heroic tales differs in the activity of their use by narrators.

Plots and Motives of Altai Myths about the 12-year Animal Calendar

The purpose of this article is to identify the plot-motivational features of Altai etiological myths about the appearance of the 12-year eastern calendar. Analysis of historiography on the problem of the origin of this animal cycle allowed the author to come to the conclusion that the animal calendar existed among the Turkic peoples already in the distant past. Based on the material of the narrative folklore of the Altai people, the plots and motives about the appearance of the 12-year animal calendar are considered. The main research method is plot-motive analysis of the text. The novelty of the research lies in identifying the plots and characteristics of the characters in the myths about the 12-year calendar cycle. The animals present in the calendar – dragon, tiger and monkey – indicate the influence of the mythology of other eastern peoples. The results of a comparative analysis of Altai myths about the 12-year animal calendar with the myths of the Kazakhs, Mongols and Chinese showed a difference in the main characters: among the Altai people the creator of the calendar is the deity Kudai (theonym variants: Dayuchi / Dayaachy), the mythical character Dyylchy, others among the southeastern peoples are Buddha, and in particular among the Chinese – Yu Di. A chronological feature of Altai myths is the relationship between the appearance of the calendar and the mythological time after the flood. In the folklore of the Altai people, based on the plot of competitions between animals wishing to enter the calendar, independent plots of an etiological nature also arose. Independent motifs include the mythological motifs “who will see the sun first” (about a camel and a mouse), “thunder is an animal” (about a dragon), “the cloven hoof of a cow” (about a cow and a monkey). The Altaians have developed certain mythological ideas about the characters of each of the twelve years, repeating in a cycle, which they associate with the behavioral characteristics of animals. Using this calendar, people figured out what the coming year would be like.

Жанровые особенности песен и благопожеланий в свадебной обрядности алтайцев

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the genre elements present in Altai songs and wedding well-wishes. The relevance is due to the lack of research on the poetics of wedding genres in Altai folklore in modern folklore studies. The novelty is identifying the functions and semantics of wedding songs and good wishes in the wedding rituals of the Altai people. During Altai wedding ceremonies, oral wishes and songs, known as jaŋar, are performed at every wedding stage. The distinctive characteristic of these genres is their strong association with ritual actions. Songs are an integral part of various ceremonies, including matchmaking, weddings, the bride’s procession, braiding, and rituals in the house of the bride’s parents. Good wishes are predominantly sung during the blessing ceremony. In terms of genre pragmatics, wedding songs and good wishes play a role in blessing a young family and honoring the parents of the bride and groom. The functional and semantic feature of wedding songs and good wishes of the Altaians is the affirmation of moral and ethical values and principles of living in society. The objective world of the Altai wedding is filled with symbolic meanings determined by their role in the ritual. The analysis of wedding songs and good wishes revealed the wide range of artistic and stylistic techniques employed in language, encompassing both formal and semantic aspects to convey specific conceptual ideas.

ЭТНОПОЭТИЧЕСКИЕ ОСОБЕННОСТИ ПЕРВОГО ИГРОВОГО ФИЛЬМА В РЕСПУБЛИКЕ АЛТАЙ

The article presents an analysis of the first feature film “The Path”, created in the Altai Republic. The stylistic searches of M. Kulunakov in recreating on the screen a visual picture of the life of the Altai people are revealed. The author of the study, highlighting some features of national cinema, examines the visual principles in the film “The Path”, its ethnic identity, and interprets the images of the characters. Based on the analysis of film language, the originality of the artistic and figurative embodiment of national identity is revealed.

Этнокультурные аналогии в традиционной культуре кыргызов и южных алтайцев: ретроспективный анализ материалов российско-кыргызской этнологической экспедиции 2022 года

The article opens a section devoted to the problem of ethnocultural ties of the Turkic peoples. Its author describes four phenomena of the traditional culture of the southern Altai people, which were discovered during an ethnological expedition to the Altai Republic. All of them in one form or another are characteristic of the traditional culture of the Kyrgyz. The paper discusses the game chatyrash, which was revived by the Altaians, lost by the Kyrgyz, but it was mentioned in the Kyrgyz epic “Manas”. The second evidence is the ritual of serving ucha – rump, which is the culmination of serving a meal among the Altai peoples and the Kyrgyz, the most honourable dish. However, Kyrgyz people serve it to a wider circle of relatives. The third one is similar traditional methods of butchering a sheep carcass, names of its bones, the order of serving parts of the animal during a meal, and preference of horsemeat. Finally, the Altai word tagyl, recorded during the expedition, allowed the author to put forward a hypothesis about its similarity with the Kyrgyz San-Tash as a phenomena associated with stones. The author comes to the conclusion about the close ethnogenetic and ethnocultural connection between the southern Altaians and the Kyrgyz, which emerged in the Middle Ages.

National picture of the world in modern Altai literature

The article is devoted to the study of the national picture of the world in the works of modern Altai authors. The relevance of the work and its novelty are determined by the fact that the literary work of Altai poets has not been sufficiently studied and requires further research. There is a need for an in-depth study of cultural and ethnopoetic traditions in creating a national picture of the world in Altai poetry. The purpose of the study is to study and analyze works that reflect the worldview of young poets of the Altai Republic. The work draws conclusions that, due to the conditioning of Altai literature by historical and geographical features, the rich heritage of oral folk art, poetic traditions, the work of Altai poets has its own specific features in the picture of the world they created. Here, archetypes such as horse, hitching post, cedar, hearth, ail (dwelling), Altai stand out. In recent years, regional literature has especially highlighted this feature of reflecting poetic space, where images are aimed at artistic understanding of a person’s inner world in its multifaceted connections with the surrounding reality. According to the author, modern Altai lyrics widely and diversely represent the folk worldview and national traditions, which reflect the ethnic identity of the Altai people. The works of the poets considered in this study — A. Samunov, B. Burmalov, B. Ukachin — show the nature of the Altai Mountains, the character of the lyrical hero, archetypal images, presenting a holistic picture of the world of the Altai people. This is what makes their work special, recognizable and memorable, enriching Altai poetry with new images, expanding the horizons of the literary picture of the world.

Central obesity in the adult populations of the Altai Republic and the Republic of Tuva. Anthropological and genetic aspects

In the present study, we identified the factors affected central obesity prevalence in the adult Altains, Russians and Tuvans permanently residing in the Altai and the Tuva Republics. The data was collected in 2018–2020. The examination program included anthropometrical examination and the genetic testing of females and males, aged 18–35 years. Anthropometrical examination was carried out in accordance with the guidelines accepted in the Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology. Body composition was analyzed by bioelectrical impedance analyzer. The SNPs rs1800592 UCP1, rs660339 UCP2 and rs1800849 UCP3 were assessed. The prevalence analyses of underweight, overweight and general obesity in the groups of female and males were conducted. The anthropometric indices were used to estimate the prevalence of central obesity. General obesity occurred more often in the group of Altai people, whereas in the Tuva people the central obesity is more pronounced. The Altai and Tuva people are alike in the total body measurements, whereas Russians were significantly higher. All studied groups demonstrated the sexual dimorphism of the body composition and waist to hip ratio. No significant differences in waist to height ratio between males and females were identified in the studied groups. No association between genetic variants and the obesity-related traits, which reflect the body fat and its distribution, was revealed. All factors included in the model are able to predict 8 % of the variability of the central obesity-related traits. Ethnic background contributes the most to the variability of the central obesity index.

알타이 설화에 나타난 어휘의 상징성

The purpose of this study is to analyze the characteristics of Altai tales and the symbolic meanings of words in Altai tales. Altai refers to the Altai Republic in the Russian Federation, located in South Siberia. Altaians - the common name of a kind of historically formed union of six autochthonous Turkic-speaking ethnic groups. Altai folklore is the traditional beliefs, customs, and stories of a community, passed through the generations by word of mouth Altai people. Altai folk tales are life stories that reflect the traditions, belief systems, religions, and cosmic views of the peoples who have lived around the Altai Mountains since ancient times. Altai folk tales have similar themes or modified contents found in other regions and peoples, but reflect the uniqueness of the Altai peoples and culture. In Altai folktale texts, color words that symbolically express the main character and surrounding objects, as well as names of people and numbers using color words, are found. These vocabularies are linearly combined with other vocabularies and function as text components unique to narrative texts.

Зоонимы, обозначающие оленевых в алтайской лингвокультуре

The article is devoted to the linguistic and cultural specificity of zoonyms denoting reindeer family members (sygyn ‘deer, deer’ and bulan ‘elk’) in the Altai culture. A case study of artistic and folklore texts and field materials allowed the phonetic, dialect, lexical-semantic, folklore, and ethnographic features of zoonyms denoting deer animals in the Altai language and folklore to be identified for the first time. The cultural stereotypes of the Altai people about deer are closely related to hunting customs and traditions. In hunting folklore, reindeer family members have a sacred meaning: they are considered sacred animals of Altai, the personification of the master spirit of Altai. In this context, a complete system of prohibitions and taboos has been formulated within the realm of hunting ethics. In the fiction of the Altai people, the deer and elk became animal characters of hunting stories and are also used for comparisons and metaphorical allegories about humans. In folklore and artistic texts, the denotative features of zoonyms characterize the features of the body structure or color, the habitat of these wild animals. The connotations associated with these zoonyms serve as a reflection of a person’s moral and ethical character. In the linguistic consciousness of native speakers of the Altai language and culture, deer and elk are associated with male strength and courage. The participation of zoonyms-reindeer in the conceptualization of spatial and temporal concepts is presented in chrononyms (sygyn ai ‘month of deer’) and toponyms indicating the habitat of moose and deer (for example, Bulandu ‘with moose’).

Образ культурного героя Сартакпая в алтайском фольклоре

Introduction. Altaian mythology is a distinct religious and mythological system, since historical and cultural ties of the Altai people go deep into the ancient and medieval history of Central Asian Turks and Mongols. The article analyzes Altaian myths centered around the culture hero Sartakpai whose image is widely known in folklore traditions of Southern Siberia and Mongolia. Goals. The work aims to identify mythological foundations in the system of cultural landscapes (or ethnocultural space) inherent to the Altai people. Materials and methods. To facilitate this, it is urgent to reveal mechanisms that sustain the religious and mythological tradition, and serve to select, preserve or remove certain elements in plots of myths, folktales, and legends. So, it is a combination of traditional folklore research methods and an interdisciplinary approach that proves instrumental therein. The paper examines multi-genre texts of Altaian folklore from a comparative perspective, and involves comparative materials of related cultures. This makes it possible to consider the Altaian religious and mythological system in its close relationship with the mythological world view, identify some new dimensions, and actualize relations between its ‘ancient’ and ‘new’ layers. Results. It is generally agreed that Altaian mythology is largely etiological by nature and tends to express worldviews and attitudes of the people’s distant ancestors. The Altaian system of cultural landscapes (or ethnic space) comprises a concept of its mythological development. Hierarchically arranged deities and spirits — each occupying a special niche in three-dimensional space — co-exist with culture heroes that had arranged (developed) certain places, rivers, lakes in the Middle World. And it is Sartakpai who proves a most popular hero of Altaian folklore and whose name is associated with origins of some natural objects. In Altaian mythology, he is viewed as a most active builder of the human-inhabited Middle World — and a native of the Altai. His image is creative, and it is him who had left behind lots of productive evidence in cultural heritage of the Altai people that survive to date, the culture hero himself being still perceived as a glorified historical figure rather than a mythological character. Therefore, the image of Sartakpai persists in present-day ethnocultural processes and discourse.

The originality of literary anthroponyms in the artistic space of Boris Ukachin

The article is devoted to the study of the originality of literary anthroponyms in the works of Boris Ukachin. This problem has been little studied and requires further research. The relevance of the research is determined by the need to interpret the artistic anthroponymicon in order to comprehend the deep meaning of the text. The anthroponymic vocabulary of Boris Ukachin's artistic works has a significant potential for understanding the ways of the individual author's organization of the artistic space and the system of subtext connections. Therefore, the study of the anthroponymy of the author's works makes it possible to expand and streamline information about the traditional and new in the writer's artistic heritage. Literary anthroponyms serve as a means of designating characters, isolating and distinguishing them, concretizing and generalizing. The anthroponymic space of Boris Ukachin's works is extraordinarily rich, there are names in it that reflect the customs, traditions and worldview of the Altai people, which are formed by different ways of word formation. The name and her appearance largely determine the artistic thought of the author, it is closely related to the plot, portrait, landscape of Boris Ukachin's works. Since people call an object by their personal names, they do not attribute any properties to it, however, in a literary text, thanks to anthroponyms, the writer hides a certain meaning that reflects the character of the hero. It is thanks to proper names that the reader becomes clear which character is in front of him. Anthroponymic semantics manifests itself especially vividly and profoundly in the title of the stories. According to the author, anthroponyms are widely and variously represented in the work of B. Ukachin. Many of them are divided by lexical and semantic characteristics into descriptive names, wish names and names that give some information about a person's personality.

From kip to leather: revisiting the reconstruction of the traditional technology of material proc-essing among the Altai people (early 20th century)

Based on the analysis of literary and archival sources, all stages of hand currying of animal skins, represen-ting the full cycle of technological processes of their transformation into leather among the Northern and Southern Altaians, are reconstructed. The main materials about the work of the Altai tanners are drawn from the sources of the 1930s — the time when traditional leather currying was a mundane task in every family of cattle breeders or hunters. The main techniques of manual processing of hides and the basic stages of their transformation into leather are considered. The purposes and results of each stage of the technological process in the production of leather material are shown: preservation, soaking, grounding, dehairing, impregnation with special solutions for the purpose of fermentation, tanning, softening, and smoke-drying of the skin. Like other pastoral and hunting peoples, the Altaians sewed fur clothing and footwear, for which purpose they used a composition made from fermented crushed liver and brain of animals to loosen the “bakhtarma” (the reverse side of the skin) and pre-serve the hair on the skin. When currying sheepskin, the Teleuts, who were engaged in agriculture, used grain crops for the same purpose, preparing liquid dough for impregnation and tanning of the skin. Following the curry-ing, the hide (skin) was smoke-dried. Soaked in fat and smoked skin did not harden in the rain and snow, and in summer its smell repelled mosquitoes and parasites. The result of laborious and time-consuming operations car-ried out by the ancient Altai tanners was the mastery of the technique of producing rawhide and tanned leather, as well as the manufacture of suede, which were used for the production of traditional clothing, footwear, objects of worship (shamanic drums) and everyday life. The southern Altaians even in the first third of the last century preserved the ancient tradition of sheepskin softening by fingernails. Women used their teeth to soften tough raw-hide. One of the wooden implements for leather softening — edrek (Rus.: myalka), widely used in the cultures of nomads of the steppes and taiga, — still existed, according to the findings of archaeologists, among the early nomads of the Hunno-Sarmatian epoch (2nd c. BC — 5th c. AD). The results obtained by the study can be used to popularize the knowledge about environmentally friendly technological methods in the production of leather and peculiarities of local Altai traditions in the manufacture of hides by hand.

Особенности функционирования одного эпитета в якутском и алтайском эпических текстах

This paper examines the “metallic” epithets in the Yakut Olonkho and Altai kai chӧrchӧk in a comparative aspect in order to reveal the parallels and specific features of the functioning of these epithets in the epic of peoples related in the historical past. The following methods were used: contextual analysis, analysis of dictionary definitions, quantitative methods, and the inductive method, which allows generalizing the results of applying all the methods. The comparative study revealed many similarities. In both epics, metal epithets in the structure are radical, derived from the lexeme denoting the name of the metal. In a denotative meaning, they characterize objects by the material from which they are made. The choice of specific metallic epithets as contextual synonyms in the structure of the epic formula is due to the phenomenon of vowel harmony inherent in most Turkic languages. The genetic community of the Yakut and Altai peoples probably explains the similar features of the metallic epithets. Also, the differences have been established: according to the frequency of using the epithets formed from the nominations of precious metals, the ancient Yakuts preferred silver, and the Altai people preferred gold. The differences and peculiarities of functioning of “metal” epithets in the Yakut and Altai epic texts can be explained by the stage difference in the development of the epic texts compared.

Zoomorphic code in the mythological and ritual tradition of Altaians

The article reveals the peculiarities of the zoomorphic cultural code implementation in the mythology and rituals of the Altai people. Folklore texts of different genres: myths, legends, historical legends, tales, and ritual works of Altaians were studied using the descriptive method, the method of semantic reconstruction, and the method of motivational analysis used in ethnolinguistics. The concept of “double coding” serves as a methodological basis for studying the zoomorphic code in the mythological picture of the world of the Altaians. The culture code is understood as a way of expressing meaning when describing the material and spiritual world in the cultural space by native speakers, as well as a linguistic way of conceptualizing the surrounding world. Cultural codes in mythological texts are enclosed in lexical representatives-mythemes denoting various objects of the material and spiritual world and united by a theme. The author concludes that the zoomorphic code is one of the main ones involved in the coding of conceptual cultural meanings in the language picture of the world. The mythological interpretation of certain mythemes as zoomorphic entities in the mythological and ritual culture of Altaians provided one of the means of coding and reflecting the world picture. The zoomorphic code plays a role in the conceptualization and formation of various myths: theonyms, demonyms, names of cult objects, cosmonyms, and chrononyms. In addition, motivational models of mytheme formation are identified.

Алтайская этничность, сибирское областничество и становление советской Ойротской автономии

This paper analyzes the emergence of ethnicity and nationalism among the indigenous people of the Altai Mountains in the late imperial and the early Soviet period. It is argued that the emergence of ethnic self-awareness of Altai people and the growth of nationalism among them originated from the following sources. First, it was the activities of Siberian regionalists (oblastniki) who heavily contributed to the formation of the indigenous Altai intelligentsia; the latter became the spearhead of the ethnic awareness among the Alta­ians. The second factor was the prophetic movement White Faith (Burkhanism), which arose among the native grassroots in response to the civilizational challenge – the ad­vance of non-indigenous peasant settlers onto the Altaian lands in the late imperial pe­riod. Third, the disintegration and eventual collapse of the Russian empire in 1917 along with the emergence of the Soviet state, whose nationalities policy was based on the prin­ciple of a national-territorial autonomy, created a fertile ground for various utopian projects that focused on the creation of supranational “Oirot” autonomy that was ex­pected to match the borders of historical Dzungaria. The Bolshevik authorities eventually rejected that project, limiting the newly created Oirot Autonomous Province (1922) by the borders of the Mountain Altai.

Человек в алтайской эпической картине мира в контексте проблемы национальной идентичности

The aim of the study is to determine the specificity of the human problem in the Altai epic. The article describes the architectonics of the world of the Altai epic legends, determines the place and role of the Altai hero in the epic worldview, and identifies the distinctive features of the Altai batyr as a bearer of the national distinctness. The scientific originality of the research lies in the fact that for the first time the image of the batyr is considered in the context of the problem of the Altai identity formation. As a result, it is proved that in the epic legends of the Altaians, the batyr expresses the idea of a man in general and at the same time embodies the moral ideals, values, and national character of the Altai people.

Shamanistic Elements in Altay Burkhanism

Shamanistic Elements in Altay Burkhanism

Altai National Dance Theater “Altam” as a laboratory of practical implementation of the results of research work on studying traditional culture of the Altai people

The subject of this research is the analysis of choreographic art of the Altai Republic in the context of reconstruction of the concepts of traditional culture of the Altai people on the example of the State National Dance Theater “Altam”. Relevance of the selected topic lies in the fact that Altai dance is studied virtually for the first time. The article reviews the traditional culture of the Altai people, namely dance culture. The goal is to examine Altai dance as an independent form of choreographic art in reconstruction of the artistic stage imagery. The theoretical and practical significance consists in proving the relevance of analysis of the activity of the Altai Dance Theater “Altam” as a laboratory of practical implementation of the results of research work on studying traditional culture of the Altai people. The acquired results on the development of choreographic art in the Altai Republic give a better perspective on the artistic-imagery structure of stage performance. The methodological framework is based on the art, historical, and comparative methods that allows clarifying the specificity of development of the Altai folk choreography in the context of ethnic theatrical art, as well as revealing the peculiarities of such organics in creating the artistic-imagery structure of stage performance. Scientific novelty lies in the attempt to generalize and analyze the sources for studying the Altai dance. The author traces the evolution of the national choreographic art, beginning with the folklore origins. The article introduces into the scientific discourse the factual material, such as examination of dance elements in petroglyphs, folk epic tales, folklore, cultural rites, folk games and songs. The author observes the transformation of the indicated range of sources in various genres of national choreography. The analysis of ethnic creativity of the Altai National Dance Theater “Altam” demonstrates that for many years Altai dance integrates the typical for Altai people motions, poses, gestures, substantiated by ethno-genetic identification. The article directly connects the traditional Altai dance and formation of the Altai folk stage dance for the purpose of establishment and development of the professional choreographic art of the Altai people.

新疆阿勒泰地区沙吾尔冰川的近地表基本气象观测研究

新疆阿勒泰地区沙吾尔冰川的近地表基本气象观测研究

АСПЕКТЫ ТЕОРЕТИЧЕСКОГО ОСМЫСЛЕНИЯ НАРОДНОГО И НАРОДНО-СЦЕНИЧЕСКОГО ТАНЦА АЛТАЯ

The development of Altai dance is closely related to the history of the Altai people. Modern Altai people, like other Turkic peoples of Southern Siberia, have not preserved traditional dances in the form in which they were performed in everyday life. The reason for this was that the art of dance has a spatially – temporal character and it is difficult to record it. It is necessary in the analysis of folk dance to use the instrumentation of all fields of art science, to apply a systemic and interdisciplinary approach. It is in this that the authors see a further research horizon. In modern conditions, when the self-consciousness of each people increases, choreographic art, as part of the spiritual culture of the people, responds to all the events of life. The relevance of this study is due to the modern trend of the revival of the national and cultural heritage of the Altai Republic. One of the pressing problems of modern choreography, its theoretical understanding, is the study of the origins of folk stage dance. The fact that lacunae exist in this area of historical and cultural knowledge is evidenced by the lack of textbooks, incomplete complexes of educational and methodological literature. Choreographers, both in the educational process and in staging practice, are faced with the need for a clear theoretical design, the development of a scientific apparatus in this matter. In folk dance, closely connected with the life and life of the people, the peculiarities of its character, feelings, temperament, manner of artistic thinking are especially pronounced, that is, a kind of “choreographic portrait of the nation” is created. Folk dance, plastically expresses ethnic historical experience, is a kind of artistic embodiment of the historical memory of the nation, and thus affects the strengthening of national identity. The importance of the theoretical understanding of folklore in the development of choreography (as in musical or decorative art) is difficult to overestimate. He is a source of ideas, expressive means, often becomes an aesthetic standard in the creative activities of the modern choreographer. The national identity of the dance culture of the people is connected with the stable historical community of language, territory, economic life, psychological warehouse, culture of life, customs and traditions. National art bears both the originality of what it reflects and how it reflects. All this is reflected in folk dance, affects the nature of plastic. From here, the dances of one people are not similar to those of another, and even one ethnic group, divided geographically, dances differ. For example, Russian folk dance has common features characteristic of Russian dance in general, but at the same time it also has bright regional features. Dance culture in geographically distant territories varies in character, manner of performance, and originality of drawing, and subject matter. The main difficulty in studying this issue is the difficulty of “translating” the plastic language into speech discourse. Hence the difficulty in fixing and writing the description of choreography. There may be discrepancies and misinterpretations of the records of researchers of the past due to the lack of an agreed methodology and categorical apparatus.