Troika

Thank you to Susan J. and Bill for the following info.

From Susan J:

Sue C. has been teaching "Troika", a Russian dance. The name means "trio", and refers to a 3-horse configuration that was used in Russia to pull sleds in past times. Some of the movements of the dance mimic the prancing movements of horses. The dance is traditionally done with a man in the center of the trio, and a woman on either side. (One wonders whether this occurred because men were fewer in number than women, due to death in wars. However, this is pure speculation on my part.) In the United States, this formal assignment of the different genders to different positions in the trio is often not formally observed.

From Bill:

Another interesting tidbit “The troika is traditionally driven so that the middle horse trots and the side horses canter; the right-hand horse will be on the right lead and the left-hand horse on the left lead.” “The troika is often claimed to be the world's only harness combination with different gaits of the horses. ” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troika_(driving)

I am always glad to have help with this blog.

Below are some of the variations on the Troika that I found.

Some have a shoulder hold for the circle.
Only one had the "kick" forward running step.
One had the shouldar hold for the whole dance.
I have seen none that have the grapevine step that Leigh and I do when we do the circle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CiQ8bKU4bw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ-yoBTFmmc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBJHGvRinhA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q624FkX7D5U&feature=related

Keep on Dancing,
Another Day, Another Dance!