You may have seen videos of the Berezka Dance Ensemble before. Their eerie, floating style has often been described as a traditional ethnic Russian folk dance. It's a tradition that goes all the way back to ...1948.
Unreal, right? The dance, also spelled “Beryozka”, was invented in 1948 by Russian ballerina and choreographer Nadezhda Nadezhdina and literally means “little birch”, as the women would usually dance holding birch twigs. Today, it endures as one of Russia’s most iconic dance troupes, but Nadezhda was always quick to say that this wasn’t your average folk dance – this was the dance of the future. “Beryozka’s dances are not folk dances,” she said, “They are dances whose source is the creative work of the people. But composed by me”.
Learn the real history of the dance and the Soviet dance troupe that popularized it at Messy Nessy Chic.