First official record of Russian dancing is related to year 907 when
Great Russian Prince Oleg (Vechshiy Oleg) celebrated his victory over
Greeks in Kiev. During the Gala Dinner 16 male dancers dressed as bears
and four bears dressed as Russian dancers performed for the guests.
After the dinner was over Great Prince commanded to release the bears
into the wild and to execute all the dancers.

As it became clear later on, Vechshiy Oleg, who was purblind, has
mistaken the dancers for the ambassadors from the Northern Tribes
(Severyane) who owned him a few hundred skins of marten - Russian
tiger-cat.

PETRO PREESYADKA

when Grand Prince of Kiev - Sviatopolk II Iziaslavich died in the year
of 1113 from the rather unpleasant disease, big chaos started almost
right away with looting, pogroms and massacres being a favorite
time-spending among the inhabitants of Kiev.

Fast fact: all Russian Tsars, Princes, Presidents and Counts were
Grand, Greatest, or both.

At the same time, mason Petro Preesyadka didn't go with the swindlers
looting shops and houses but was working hard, spending all day in a
squatting position with heavy stones and instruments in his strong
toil-hardened hands. Every evening after work he went walking on
Khreschatyk (Kiev's Broadway) and after having some wine and a loaf of
kalatch (bagel) he started jumping up trying to release tension in his
tired legs.

The best loved Velikiy Kniaz of Kievan Rus Vladimir Monomakh was
invited by the Kievan populace to stop the chaos on the streets of the
city. He was passing by with his bodyguards when he saw a strange dance
performed by a big man on the street. He pointed the dancing guy out to
the Mitropolit Nikifor and just few days later Petro Preesyadka was
dancing at the Monomakh's Palace at every breakfast, lunch and dinner.
It is even rumored that Petro shared a drink with the Velikiy Kniaz
himself.

To dance "like Preesyadka" (knee-bending) or "with Preesyadka" has
become very fashionable in a prosperous city of Kiev. Fat entertainers
(skomorokhi) were trying hard to loose weight by learning
"Preesyadka-dance" and often breaking their curved legs on the nasty
medieval sidewalks.

When Monomakh died in 1126 Petro Preesyadka has returned back to his
usual routine of being a mason. He died as a "very old man" (38
years old), after giving his name to the most famous move of the
Russian dance and becoming a cultural icon of his time.

read full article at ensemble Barynya website:
http://www.barynya.com/RussianDance/russian-dance.htm

Mikhail Smirnov
www.smirnov.org