The differences of country dancing in the UK and in Belarus
Although country dancing in England is often considered a type of folk dancing, its original base of dancers was from the more educated and wealthy classes of the Renaissance. In Belarusian high society folk art was considered to be “peasant”. Morris dancers wear different clothes depending on the part of the country in which they dance. They are often dressed in white with coloured baldrics (coloured belts) across their chests. Border Morris Dancers generally wear 'tatter jackets' and black their faces - probab disguise. Some dancers have bell-pads tied at their knees, which make a loud and cheerful rhythm as they dance.Dances in Belarus were often accompanied by singing ditties – “prypeyki”. The performing of “chastooshki” sometimes turned into a contest and gave dances more cheerful and comic character.Solo dancing, called step dancing focuses on learning steps of intricate footwork rather than figures. In fact, Irish dancing is unique because step dancer concentrate on footwork and do not use their hands when dancing.Step dancing in Northern Ireland includes two types of dances: soft shoe, performed in ballet-like, laced leather shoes, and hard shoe, performed in special Irish tap shoes. Many popular traditional Belarusian dances reveal the character of the people and show the labor processes and everyday activities, while the British pay more attention to their cultural heritage.Morris dances in England are usually performed with colorful garlands, heavy wooden sticks which are clashed together or blunt swords often accompanied by shouts from the dancers.