Natalya Levitskaya-Filippova, head of the Kalinka children’s dance ensemble named after V.I. A.N. Filippov.
My dad, Alexander Nikolaevich Filippov, the founder of the ensemble, dreamed of his team for a long time. Before the creation of “Kalinka” he worked for some time as a teacher in the cultural center ZIL, then he was sent to the Palace of Culture. Serafimovich to open a choreographic circle. There, dad met the director A. A. Shurygina, with whom it was decided to create a children’s ensemble. At first, Alexander Nikolaevich recruited children from the nearest schools in the district, walked to neighboring yards, brought the kids to trial lessons and taught dancing through play. So over time, the ensemble team was formed.
Open Classical Dance Lesson
Of course, the love of dancing is the merit of my parents. My mother, a pianist, a graduate of the Gnessin Academy, from early childhood took me to concerts of the ensemble. Moiseev, choir named after Pyatnitsky, Berezki. Always holding my breath, I looked at the stage, I wanted to be among the artists. The folk dance was especially fascinating. I can’t even say at what point I came to him. For as long as I can remember, I remember as many Moiseytsy, Pyatnitskys, Berezka. It always made a huge impression on me, and I wanted to dance, I wanted to be with them on the same stage.
Mom, seeing my aspiration, first gave me to the ensemble to them. Lokteva, I was there for about a year. Then I got into the Kalinka ensemble, where Alexander Nikolaevich Filippov, my dad, and the teachers instilled not only a love of folk dance, but also a love of working on oneself. Then there was the Pyatnitsky Choreographic School. Such a responsible step was already my decision, which I took to work on the professional stage in the direction of folk dance. On tour, I have visited almost all countries of the world, and now I pass on the accumulated experience to the kids, continuing the work of my family.
N. Levitskaya-Filippova, artistic director of “Kalinka” them. A.N. Filippova
Probably, I was born with her, it is not so easy to highlight the moment of awareness. As far back as I can remember from childhood, I always wanted to dance. I was attracted by everything that was connected with the stage, spotlights and the audience. From early childhood my mother instilled an interest and love for folk dance, explaining that this is the heritage of our culture and country. In the USSR, folk groups were a real example to follow, all over the world they could not unravel the secret of the famous dance of the “Birch” ensemble, where the artists float on stage, and the trick numbers of the ensemble. Moiseeva and now the whole world applauds.
The desire to move, the desire to dance, the desire to be on stage is the most important motivation for an artist. I didn’t even consider another profession for myself. Choreography seems to have been embedded in DNA.
To my great regret, the fashion for folk dance in our country often wakes up during major sporting events or international events, when all Russians remember Kalinka and put on kokoshniks. In the USSR, folk dance was considered incredibly prestigious; almost every district of even a small town had its own folk choreographic collective. Traditions were collected and carefully monitored in each region.
After the change of power and the collapse of the USSR, difficult economic times began for the entire country, and folk dance still requires investment, since our costumes are not a white T-shirt and gymnastic leotards, but complex dresses, sewing, and inlay. I remember how in the 90s famous groups were forced to sell unique costumes in order to pay their salaries.
After the last World Cup in Russia, we felt a certain interest in folk dance and Russian dance in particular, I want to believe that interest in our culture is reviving and reviving in full, as it was before, because this is culture and our heritage. Many in this regard depend on youth and young parents, who lay the foundation for their children’s understanding of the country.
It doesn’t matter in which direction: choreography, vocals, folk art. But the nation is strong that knows and honors its roots. Every time my team “Kalinka” them. Filippova performs at international venues, we see what a genuine interest Russian folk dances arouse. If you saw how the people of Asia react to the performance with our legendary dance “Kalinka”, which is 50 years old, then everyone would be overwhelmed with pride for the country.
I really hope that this will continue further and that it will achieve, so to speak, a fanatical love for their culture and their country.
“Kalinka” them. A.N. Filippova, Old Odessa
In fact, determining the genre your child would like to study in is a joint effort of children and parents. For the most part, children go to circles, creative studios in connection with the interest or ambitions of their parents.
That fundamental that you lay, where you bring the child, then the child will love. At least this is at the age of 4-5 years, when the kids are brought into a team and they still cannot distinguish between modern, folk or classical dance. You will like what will cause positive emotions, the dance where the teacher will praise or tell you how to move, the studio where the parents will support the baby in every movement.
If a parent objectively sees the child’s predisposition to choreography at the age of 4-5 years, then you need to enroll in a team, go through a viewing and further support the talents of your baby. It is not easy to determine at the age of 4 the specific direction in which a child will be able to develop. It is important to adequately assess the physiology of the baby and natural data. Recently, young parents en masse send their daughters to classical dance in ballet studios, not realizing how many criteria a daughter must meet in order for these classes to bring her joy and happiness.
An experienced teacher in a choreography studio will help determine how inclined your child is to one direction or another. But this will not happen immediately, but after several years of study. Because, for example, in the classical direction, certain data and characteristics are needed. Folk dance also has its own criteria. In modern choreography, the requirements are simpler.
Closer to the age of 7-8, it is already easier to determine which dance your child likes. Coordination of movements develops, children correlate their successes with desires, friends and affections appear in circles.
At this age, children already go to concerts of other groups and see what they think is beautiful and how they would like to perform. Some kids will say: I like classics, I like ballet. Because already from the age of 4-5 they plunged into the field of choreography and begin to see the differences. Also, at the age of 7-8, children already participate in concerts themselves, see other groups that have different directions. They understand: I like this more, something that I do, or, conversely, less.
“Kalinka” them. A.N. Filippova on Red Square with Alexei Vorobyov on June 12, 2017
If you brought your child to a team, not to a club of interests, but to an ensemble that gives concerts, which works on large stages, then I have only one advice: trust the teacher. Do what the teacher tells you. Because each team has its own traditions, discipline, work programs.
The teacher, seeing your child, knows how to work with him. Therefore, you do not need to try to manage the learning process and try to train the teaching staff to work with your baby. Trust the teacher, the specialist knows best.
The main advice I want to give to parents who decide to send their children to choreography is to be patient. No matter how light, airy the dance on stage is, when you are sitting in the auditorium, behind the scenes, it is laborious work. A child can sometimes cry, be capricious, lazy, because it is hard and you need to be ready for this.
You need to tune the child to the fact that he must work on himself, be purposeful, hardworking, because without these qualities it is very difficult to achieve something both on stage and in life.
If you come to study in an ensemble that already has certain traditions, then it already has an established schedule, this must be accepted as a medical fact. The schedule is a complex administrative process, which takes into account the employment of teachers, free rooms, the schedules of many other groups in the team.
As a rule, all children’s groups work after basic school, in the afternoon. Therefore, here you need to prioritize. If you are taking your child to several clubs, decide which one is your priority and why. Talk to your child about what activity he would like to do the most, and what he is ready to pay less attention to.
As a teacher and a mother of two children, I can say that it is not worth overloading a child with a lot of extra classes. It is better to deal with one or two directions, and the child will be more successful than you give him to 10 circles, and he will be confused, lost, and more tired.
It is quite possible to combine two areas (for example, music and sports, dance and painting) with the school without harming the health and psyche of the student.
Everybody has crises, but they were fleeting. Literally a couple of times I had such thoughts. But the realization that I am in my place has always won all my crises. Probably, at least once in his life, every person has a difficult period when he wants to leave and slam the door.
There were difficulties both on the professional stage and in working with the children’s team. But due to my great love for children and my profession, the bad mood disappears very quickly when I enter the classroom and see children who are as in love with folk dance as I am.
I can say from the point of view of myself as a teacher and mother. I believe that every child needs to be developed creatively, this will always be a competitive advantage over others.
It is not without reason that painting, choreography, vocals, music were taught in classical gymnasiums, because this always has a positive effect on the development of the child. Whatever you choose from any creative direction, it never hurts development.
Therefore, my opinion is that absolutely every child needs to be creatively developed. The main thing is to choose the right, suitable direction for your baby, which will help to reveal the potential and develop the personality.