Young Russian Dancers Enthrall Young Darien Students

When Tatyana Uspenskaya, 8, and Semen Gilshteyn, 9, flirted on Friday at the Pear Tree Point School, they held the rapt attention of 200 kindergarten-to-fifth graders.

The young Russian dancers, members of the touring folkloric troupe Rossijanochka, told a story without words that their American counterparts had no trouble understanding.

Demure Tatyana, elaborately costumed as a smart young maiden in a turn-of-century village, her head held high and imperious, strolled across the makeshift stage of the private school’s gym, as Semen did everything he could to capture her attention. His antics played out in traditional Russian knee squat, leg kicks and acrobatics, all to no effect. But as he circled Tatyana in a quickening frenzy to the music of a Russian mandolin, Tatyana’s reserve departed, she let out a high squeal of joy (podgolosok), and shortly the two were holding hands and foot-stomping up a storm that could have held back the winds of a Russian winter.

Thusly were American hearts won over in an unusual cultural exchange that, in less than two hours, had the hosts singing in Russian and partnering in dance with their 18 talented guests, aged 8 to 20, from halfway around the world.

The dance troupe, based in St. Petersburg, performs staged versions of traditional folk dances once commonly seen in village squares and in the fields of far-flung regions of Russia.

The company was founded in 1944 to preserve the disappearing folkloric traditions. Dancer Alexander Nosikhin, son of the founder, now heads the company with his wife, dancer Nadezda Nosikhin. Together they partnered with Alan Steckler, of Creative Connections of Norwalk, to create the two-week tour to schools and stages in New York, Vermont and Connecticut; including Pear Tree Point School, right here in Darien.

The repertoire combines elements of classical dance, gymnastics and folk dance. The dancers are disciplined. When they dance, they dance with determined exuberance.

The girls enthralled, their smiling faces flushed with rouge and bright red lipstick, their rapid foot work causing their gorgeous handmade costumes made of silk and lace to shimmer and float.

The boys commanded high attention, literally bringing the well-behaved audience, seated on the floor, to their knees, when they performed a dance with Skakalkis, or jump ropes. Five dancers did every possible variation of rapid jump-roping until five stood in a tight formation, all jumping to one rope, very very fast. The crowd went wild.

Another piece had the girls feeding boys who played the part of geese, creating scenes evocative of rural life of bygone times.

Any lingering cultural barriers vanished as the dancers invited volunteers from the audience to join them in a circle dance, luring headmaster David Trigaux, two teachers and several students.

Other crowd-pleasers were the boys’ dance with balalaikas, traditional Russian lute-like instruments, and a lively polka.

A "workshop" for fourth and fifth graders followed. The performers, now dressed in street attire and looking rather American themselves, sat in a row of chairs facing the students. Steckler stimulated a dialogue.

The dancers introduced themselves individually and each was asked to give his or her favorite food. For many it was potatoes, pancakes (with or without caviar), Russian salad and a Russian style of ravioli.

Cultural heroes? Without hesitation, 14 of the 18 raised their hands for Michael Jackson and Harry Potter.

The dancers got to ask the Americans a few questions.

"Do you know any Russian fairytales?" inquired Tatyana.

The dancers sang a popular Russian song, and, displaying large signs with the Russian lyrics, soon had the Americans joining along.

A jump roping demonstration was given by the dancers and volunteers were given a quick tutorial. Soon everyone was up on their feet again, and a huge circle dance began to form, Russians partnering with Americans. Those who tried discovered the difficulty of executing squat-kicks. Partnered twirls were easier.

Although the troupe's perfect technique seems to require natural gifts, Director Nosikhin begs to differ.

"I can teach a bear to dance, if the bear wants to dance," he said with a smile through translator Olga Vasilieva.

Twenty boxes of steaming hot pizza (a universal favorite) awaited the dancers after the students were excused to return to class. Parents Ana Goizueta and Iris Mix organized the event and found host families for the visiting dancers.

A primary goal of the tour had been accomplished.

"We want to show we are your friends and in that way promote peace," said translator Olga, fittingly, on the very day President Barack Obama was notified he had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his early efforts to bring about international accord.