2016, Term 1 Weeks 7 and 8 . . . and even more Tchaikovsky: Trepak (Russian Dance)

This week we are learning about another dance from the Nutcracker ballet. It follows straight after the Chinese dance and is is called Trepak  or the Russian Dance.  It is based on a traditional Ukranian folk dance, and although there are many variations on how ballet companies decide to perform it, it always involves some aspects of Russian dance steps which require great strength and high leaps. 

Cartoon version of Russian dancing

This is the San Fransisco ballet version of the Trepak (Russian Dance) from The Nutcracker.

A percussion play along video 

Here's Walt Disney's Fantasia version from 1942.     
How did the animators show Russian characteristics in their animations?

This is a very clever performance of the Trepak Russian Dance by the famous Russian dancer and choreographer  Alexanader Kalinin - although it is not part of the ballet in this video; it is done to show the skills of these Russian dancers.

- Why do you think the tempo (speed) of the music goes faster, and then starts slower when the dance is repeated?

Here's more of the outdoor concert by the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra conducted by Seiji Ozawa.

- What instruments can you see and hear?
- Listen for the tambourine; how and when is it played?
- Are all the instruments playing all the time? Listen for when you can hear different instruments take the lead, and watch for when you see the musicians start and stop playing.
- How do they all manage to stop playing so suddenly at the end?
- What does the conductor do before and after the music starts playing?

This is an extended jazz version of the Russian Dance from the Nutcracker.

- What is the same?
- What  is different?
- What instruments do the jazz players use  compared to the orchestral instruments? 
Even though the music is much longer  than Tchaikovsky's original and with added extras,  you can still hear  recognisable arrangements of the original.  Can you identify what changes they make, and how they do it?  

This is another jazz version played by a solo pianist - in Tchaikovsky's home city of Saint Petersburg in Russia.

And another jazz version, played mainly on a vibraphone also from Russia.  What instrument do we use that looks a little similar to a vibraphone? What is the same and what is different? What other instruments are in this group.

Here's a "So You Think You Can Dance" video  of the Russian Dance showing some of the rehearsal scenes and the actual competition performance of two very competitive guys.

Check out these little guys and see how they do the Russian Dance!  (How much of this do you think you could do?) 

Maybe you could try a "finger dance" to the Trepak. Watch the video and try to follow the movements. It's much easier doing this with your fingers than it is with your feet!

And,  of course, the rock guitar version.

One of the most prominent instruments in the Trepak is the tambourine.  

Tambourine

Check out this demonstration of how the tambourine is played to get the specific sounds you hear in this music.   This is another version of a percussionist playing the tambourine. Can you see what they do the same and differently to get the same sound?


via GIPHY

 And here's a cat playing a tambourine for real.

A visual interpretation of the Russian Dance.

Here's some listening maps for the Trepak (Russian Dance). Try follwing them while you listen to the music. Are they all the same? 

 Here's a rhythm pattern using plastic cups, but we could easily use it to play other percussion instruments. Can you find quavers, crotchets and rest?

Trepak using cups

And, because it's Saint Patrick's Day: 

The Rattlin' Bog is a fun Irish folk song about a  a tree in a bog (swamp).  As with most folk songs, there are many versions  of the song, and the lyrics (song words) differ in each version. 

Here's one version of The Rattlin' Bog. 

(Chorus 2x) 

O ro the rattlin' bog

The bog down in the valley - o 

O ro the rattlin' bog

The bog down in the valley - o 

And in the bog there was a tree

A rare tree, a rattlin' tree

With the tree in the hole  and the hole in the bog,

and the bog down in the valley-o 

(Chorus 1 x) 

And on the tree there was a limb

A rare limb, a rattlin'  limb, 

With the limb on the tree,  and the tree in the hole, 

and the hole in the bog

and the bog down in the valley-o. 

And on the limb there was a branch ...

And on the branch there was a twig ...

And on the twig there was a nest ... 

And in the nest there was an egg ...

And in the egg there was a chick ...
And on the chick there was feather ...  

And on the feather there was a flea ...