Native Songs, 1948 [RUSSIAN]

NATIVE SONGS, 1948 [RUSSIAN]
Some people don't realize that there is a difference between Russian(Great Russian) and Byelo Russian (White Russian). These songs and dances are Byelo Russian. The DVD is mis-titled and misleading.

This DVD is familiar to me since I was a child. My father rented the film in New York and extracted some of the dances for a local Russian/Byelo Russian/Ukrainian group that existed in the 1930s and 40s in New York.

Some of the material is Stalinist propaganda but most is traditional and choreographed Byelo Russian dances and songs. The youthful singers and dancers are professional and portray a Byelo Russian lifestyle that no longer exists anywhere in the world today. Perhaps I'm just nostalgic, but these songs and dances have a warm place in my heart. I heartily recommend this DVD to anyone interested in Slavic culture. The Radischev Dance Ensemble in New York and all it's surviving members, children and grandchildren would enjoy this film.





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