MUSEUM OF HISTORY OF UKRAINIAN CHOREOGRAPHIC ART AS A CUMULATION CENTER OF DANCING FOLKLORE
Authors: Kutsenko Sergiy 
Published: May 2023

The state and prospects for the development of contemporary choreographic art significantly increase interest in the study of dance folklore of Ukraine. The 21st century opens up new opportunities for the study of Ukrainian dance in the context of the latest methodological approaches. This extraordinary issue causes serious controversy. Choreographic folklore is a system of endless creative process. In fact, the challenge for the researchers is to determine the place of individual folk fact in the whole dynamic system of its creative development. This is a rather complex task that cannot be ignored in the research process. When studying the choreographic folklore of Ukraine, we must constantly take into account its dynamic procedural nature as a whole. This phenomenon develops and functions in organic correlation with all elements of people’s life: its historical, social and labor experience, morality, traditions, ethical and aesthetic ideas. The whole course of studying the choreographic folklore of Ukraine demonstrates the complex and organic intertwining of signs of national unity, local specificity and development autonomy. The study of dance folklore is possible mainly through a thorough and detailed study of local choreographic traditions. Of course, in the present state of folklore, this position implies a very hard and time-consuming work. Material, that sometimes retains subtle traces of past years, requires careful differentiated analysis. The historiographical survey shows that, despite the numerous publications, the historical and cultural folklore and choreographic heritage of Ukraine, the center of which is located in the Museum of History of Ukrainian Choreographic Art, located in the small village Nadiia in Kirovohrad region requires a generalizing research. The introduction into the scientific circulation of archival data will significantly expand the scope of folklore-ethnographic research and give a truly historical and scientific coverage of the development of dance culture of the population of Ukraine. The materials collected in the museum reveal the possibilities of comparative characterization of choreographic folklore and cultural traditions as a whole. The exposition of each hall represents the cultural and historical events of the leading artists in the field of choreographic art, the creative path of well-known solo dancers, as well as the artistic retrospective of significant dancing groups who have introduced and continue to multiply and develop the heritage of Ukrainian choreographic art. Among the main tasks of the museum, the leading ones are the popularization of the dance art of Ukraine among contemporary youth, the discovery of the nature of Ukrainian folk dance, the process of its birth, formation and development, as well as acquaintance with a galaxy of leading masters of Ukrainian choreographic art. The Museum of History of Ukrainian Choreographic Art is systematically updated with new exhibitions on the history of the development of folk dance art of Ukraine, and constantly introduces the followers of the folk traditions of the founders of Ukrainian dance. Today, the Museum of History of Ukrainian Choreographic Art is a cultural, educational, research center, filled with the spiritual heritage of the Ukrainian people for many years. The conducted researches allow to ascertain the fact of extraordinary cultural value of the museum, its expositions and folklore-ethnographic content.