There was short notice for this performance, but those of us who managed to get to the show were certainly not disappointed. This incredible performance was held on October 27 at Lake Ashton, a gated community in Lake Wales, who has a room that includes a stage. The problem was that it was a very small stage, and there was no curtain, nor wings, and the chairs were flat on the floor, making it difficult to see their feet. So if a dancer was to go off to the wings, they went down the stairs and exited to the floor or into a dressing room. However this did not deter them from putting on a wonderful wonderful show. This is a group from Daghestan, Russia and they introduced the audience to the “customs of the Daghestan people, its courage and noble-mindness, proud and unique national character, presenting a wealth of choreographic compositions with an original national color and taste”. (quoted from the program). They did 15 traditional dances (with a little modern arranging), some men only, some women only, some combined, some festive, some somber, some romantic. Some beautiful, some fun. The dancers were exquisite, the girls stunning, the boys handsome, their technique faultless – I still don’t know how the girls look like their feet aren’t moving, the men on their toes and lots of gymnastics. The costumes were absolutely gorgeous – they just couldn’t have been any better. The dances were quite varied, never a boring moment, and there were two that were just amazing – really outstanding to me. One was an amazing sword dance – (well, of course I liked it, being a fencer) I know we’ve all seen many – but this was outstanding in spite of the small stage. The other was a drum number. Every man had a drum – 3 different sizes – and the dance was done only to the drums, no other music. I can’t describe how phenomenal it was. I bought the DVD to show at our annual danced camp, and sadly, they do a different sword dance than we saw, but the drum dance is there. Well worth the drive over. They have a website and you can also take a look at them on youtube.
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