#polovtsian

[dontforgetukraine]

A nearly 1,000-year-old Polovtsian "Baba" (warrior) statue was evacuated from the frontline near Hektova Balka and transferred to the Dmytro Yavornytskyi National Historical Museum in Dnipro. The 3rd Brigade’s Khorunzha Service conducted the rescue under heavy shelling, saving the statue from destruction by Russian forces. A member of the service stated that the statue would be returned to its original location after the war but would undergo research at the museum in the meantime. This is the second Polovtsian sculpture saved from the frontlines in recent months. The Polovtsi, also known as Cumans, were a nomadic Turkic people who inhabited the area north of the Black Sea and left a lasting influence on Kyivan Rus and other kingdoms. Their "Baba" statues, found throughout Eastern Europe, were erected between the 11th and 13th centuries as sacred tombstone figures representing ancestors. More than 2,000 have survived, though many are now threatened due to their proximity to the war zone. Photo 3: Polovtsian stone sculptures (babas) of IX-XIII centuries on Mount Kremenets in Izium city (Kharkiv Oblast) after Russian shelling during the Battle of Izium in 2022. One statue was completely destroyed by a projectile. Nearby monument to WWII heroes (in the background on the right) is partially destroyed. (Photo: Wikipedia) —Euromaidan Press

Photo credit: Oleksandr Alfyorov FB

[dozydawn]

Aleksandra Soldatova Ribbon Qualification, 2015.

Polovtsian Dances from the opera Prince Igor by Alexander Borodin.

[figureskatingcostumes]

Natalia Acosta Moises skating to Stranger in Paradise (performed by Sarah Brightman) for her free program at the 2022 Junior Grand Prix Riga.

(Source: kissncry_pics)

[postcards-from-here]

Da, tovarishch Aleksandr

The Polovtsian Dances (by Borodin) were on the radio and the Maternal Unit was bemused to get a loud free concert on random, disassociated vowels (NO idea what the Russian is, never had to learn it for a concert, you sing Russian like Italian, on the vowels, so I had to be right occasionally, yeah?) but I was having heaps of fun getting my Russian late Romantic on till the Maternal Unit said "...don't you have work you were going to do?" in a very non-subtle way.

My father was a beautiful bass-baritone (context for non-singers: yes, he waa a beautiful man; but when singers say stuff like that, they are referring exclusively to the voice and what you do with it) and I definitely got my large-concert-venue-filling projection from him. He had terrible anxiety unless he could see his words, and was never comfortable on stage; but he happily sat down at the piano to practice every single day until he had the first of the strokes (at 78!) that would eventually carry him off.

So as he played and sang opera arias and rollicking baritone selections from musical theatre, it was my mother's custom to have her afternoon nap in the next room. I watched this most of my adult life and was fascinated by it.

Then one day I had to squeeze some practice in (master degree recital of DOOM coming up) and this time there was only a glass sliding door between my mother, and me singing Verdi, Wagner, and Very Large Puccini, and when I stuck my head out to check on her, she was snoring.

I think large, Romantic repertoire voices have been her everyday for way too long (you should hear her talking about what she calls "little tweety bird" sopranos, it's hilarious). She was a Dame Joan Sutherland fangirl from way back, but people forget Dame J started as a young Wagnerian, so that was always there somehow in the voice I think.

tl, dr: enjoy the Polovtsian Dances, you probably know the melodies already :)

Bonus Dame J content for funsies:

[amaribelt]

i swear im going to properly introduce the rest of my twst ocs soon i just need to get a fully colored ref but cos is a classical music snobs like if a classical peice was used in like a show movie or game they would be like "oh yeah thats cool or whatever we found out about him in ballet class, where were you tiffinany you cant just sleep on the master peice that is Eine Kleine Nachtmusik or Morning from Peer Gynt Suite"

[russianfolklore]

Tamara Shevaryova's illustration for russian tale "Marya Morevna".

Koshchei the Deathless is an archetypal male antagonist in Russian folklore.

The most common feature of tales involving Koschei is a spell which prevents him from being killed. He hides "his death" inside nested objects to protect it. For example, his death may be hidden in a needle that is hidden inside an egg, the egg is in a duck, the duck is in a hare, the hare is in a chest, the chest is buried or chained up on a far island. Usually he takes the role of a malevolent rival figure, who competes for (or entraps) a male hero's love interest.

The origin of the tales is unknown. The archetype may contain elements derived from the 12th-century pagan Cuman-Kipchak (Polovtsian) leader Khan Konchak, who is recorded in The Tale of Igor's Campaign; over time a balanced view of the non-Christian Cuman Khan may have been distorted or caricatured by Christian Slavic writers.

[vintage-russia]

Fragment of the painting "After the Battle of Igor Svyatoslavovich with the Polovtsians" (1880)

Viktor Vasnetsov (1848-1926)

[thelostdreamsthings]

Alexander Borodin Prince Igor Polovtsian Dances Bolshoi Theatre

[unhonestlymirror]

Awwww, poor russian baby is upset that Ukraine is beating russian occupiers left and right, so they try to copy with redrawing cartoons about Kyivan Ruthenia as caricatures🥺🥺🥺

Fun fact, russia didn't exist during Oleshko Popovych (russified version: Alyosha Popovich) times. :D

The prototype of Oleshko was the former boyar Olbeh (Olbeshko) Ratyborovych, according to the “Tale of Bygone Years” as a rightful archer and slayer of the Polovtsian warrior Itlar. Possibly taking his part in the further defence against the Polovtsians of Pereyaslav, Khan Tugorkan and his son perished in the near future.

In the epics, Oleshko is called the winner of Tuharyn Zmievych and Idolyshche the Bad, Oleshko defended the lands on the left bank of the Dnipro, where the principalities of Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Pereyaslav were located.

The hometown of the hero was the city of Pyryatyn, Poltava region, where he supposedly often visited fairs.

In one of the legends, it is told how the mother escorted Oleshko to the market square of the Pyryatyn city on a campaign against the enemy. At that time, Pyryatyn stood on the border of the state of Kyivan Ruthenia (Ruś) and was one of its strongholds in the fight against nomads.

In Suzdal region and Ryazan region, the image of the chronicle Oleshko gradually merged with the figure of the Rostov boyar Aleksandr Popovich, who lived in 13th century. In the Tver Chronicle, it is mentioned that Alexander took part in the battle of Kalka (1223) and died together with seventeen other knights.

In the Nikon Chronicle, compiled in the 16th century to substantiate the moscow prince Vasyl III's claims to Kyiv, the name of Aleksandr Popovich also appears in reports for 1001 and 1004 (absent in the "Tale of Bygone Years") - together with Yan Usmoshevets. He is also called the winner of the Polovtsians - Polovtsians first appeared on the borders of Ruthenia half a century later.

But enough about Ukraine! Let's talk about others.

Very nice of a russian to redraw Belarus as an existing nation during Kyivan Ruthenia times. :D Because russian propaganda claims Belarus was created somewhere around Commonwealth times or even by Stalin, and that Belaruthians are, in fact, "polonized russians." Or "russified Poles." Russians don't really care about what they write in their "historical" articles.

Belarus is, in fact, the direct heir of the Polatsk Principality (Полацкае княства) which was quite independent from Kyivan Ruthenia for a while. Implying that Belarus ACTUALLY IS the Polatsk Principality - this is WOW, not even Belaruthians themselves have guts to admit that. That's really cool. I like it.

Belarus (as Polatsk Principality?) riding on the back of Lithuania as a donkey?? 🤣🤣🤣 Dude...

Did you know that "russian" (Ruthenian actually) word витязь (vityaź/vytyaź) came from a Baltic language, most likely Lithuanian "vytis" - a horseman, knight, protector? The Ukrainian word "вітчизна" (vitchyzna) means not the "land of parents/fathers" but "the land protected by brave warriors"? Вітчизна word specifically gained the sudden popularity during Commonwealth times - from the 16th century, when the authorities began to appeal not to "subjects" but to "citizens", because people were disappointed in polonization and serfdom.

"Vytis" warriors, especially Yotvingians, were highly valued on the military market of Kyivan Ruthenia.

Thousand of years passed, but Vytis in Lithuania is still a thing - it's their national coat of arms nowadays. :D

In conclusion, op, why are you meddling in the history of the land that does not belong to you if you don't even have enough knowledge about your own?

[leeenuu]

Taisiia Kovaliova, 15, stands amongst the rubble of a playground in front of her house hit by a Russian missile in Mykolaiv, Sunday, October 23, 2022. "I spent all my childhood and life at this courtyard, I already feel nostalgic. I went to this swing that stood it all" Taisiia said. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Destroyed domes lie next to a damaged church in the retaken village of Bohorodychne, eastern Ukraine, Saturday, October 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Andriy Andriyenko)

People queuing up hold plastic bottles to refill drinking water from a tank in the center of Mykolaiv, Monday, October 24, 2022. Since mid-April, citizens of Mykolaiv, with a pre-war population of half a million people, have lived without a centralized drinking water supply. Russian Forces cut off the pipeline through which the city received drinking water for the last 40 years. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Zoo worker Svitlana Shmaldii feeds a giraffe at Mykolaiv Zoo, Ukraine on Wednesday, October 26, 2022. "I go to work at the Zoo every day, despite the sirens and the sounds of explosions, it's scary, but who will look after the animals?" Svitlana said to the Associated Press. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Ancient stone faceless statues of polovets baba (woman), the symbol of ancestors, are seen against the background of recently retaken city of Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Tuesday, October 25, 2022. The Turkish group of the Polovtsian tribes had inhabited Eastern European steppes in the 11th-13th centuries. There are nine ancient statutes near Izium, one of them was ruined by the Russian shelling. Ukrainian cultural officials have said that 377 cultural objects were damaged or ruined since the Russian invasion on February 24. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

A view shows the city centre without electricity after critical civil infrastructure was hit by Russian missile attacks, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, October 24, 2022. (REUTERS/Gleb Garanich)

People queue at the post office to receive back payments of their pension and state aid from the seven-month period of Russian occupation in their town, whereby they say they received no payments and could not work or leave, in Savyntsi, Ukraine, Saturday, October 22, 2022. (REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne)

A house damaged by the Russian shelling is seen in Bakhmut, the site of the heaviest battle against the Russian troops in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Wednesday, October 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Tamara, 50, mourns at the grave of her only son, a military servicemen, killed during a Russian bombing raid, at a cemetery in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday, October 26, 2022. Tamara did not learn of her son's death until four months after he died, when she managed to escape from her village in Kherson occupied by Russian troops. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

[twiginthewind-7]

♡ Улетай на крыльях ветра Ты в край родной, родная песня наша, Туда, где мы тебя свободно пели, Где было так привольно нам с тобою. Там, под знойным небом, Негой воздух полон, Там под говор моря Дремлют горы в облаках; Там так ярко солнце светит, Родные горы светом заливая, В долинах пышно розы расцветают, И соловьи поют в лесах зеленых...

© Copyright: Песня из оперы "Князь Игорь" Александра Бородина /песня половецких девушек/, видеоряд из фильмов "Садко", 1952 г., и "Илья Муромец", 1956 u. Актеры из фильма "Садко": Сергей Столяров, Анна Ларионова/

Song from the opera "Prince Igor" by Alexander Borodin / song of Polovtsian girls /, video sequence from the films "Sadko", 1952, and "Ilya Muromets", 1956 .

Actors from the film "Sadko": Sergei Stolyarov, Anna Larionova.