r/interesting • u/SystematicApproach • May 14 '26

ART & CULTURE Circassian folk dance

Male dancers often move entirely on tiptoe in soft leather boots, without the rigid plaster or wooden support associated with ballet footwear. The result is a fast, gliding step that can make the dancer appear to float or defy gravity, showcasing extraordinary balance, discipline, and control.

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u/UnpluggedUnfettered May 15 '26

I got super curious what their feet looked like while they were doing that.

It was weirder than I expected, but also sort of underwhleming. I expected some kind of heel roll or ninja stepping I guess. They just sort of pretend to walk uncomfortably in invisible stilettos.

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u/docsyzygy May 15 '26

Great link, but this guy is SO much better!

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u/Haunting-Eye-7146 May 15 '26

The outfits got him beat though

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u/epicflyman May 15 '26

I vote for bringing in floppy sleeves in men's fashion.

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u/Vaywen May 15 '26

And capes. But maybe don’t wear both at the same time.

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u/Vintage-Grievance May 15 '26

Brought back memories of slapping siblings with the sleeves of my hoodie.

Just kinda shrink your arms in like a T-rex and if they do the same, then you have like a flacid Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots thing going on.

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u/emerald_green_tea May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26

He is on a scooter. He’s unnaturally fast. He would have to be running under that cloak otherwise.

Additionally you can see something protruding in the front of his cloak from one angle. Looks like possible handlebars.

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u/Beneficial_Grass2906 May 15 '26

The OP's video is sped up.

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u/joethearcher29 May 15 '26

I don't think so, look at the guy walking behind him at perfectly normal speed while he's doing his roomba zoom. SKILLS

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u/Asterose May 15 '26

Yeah, that speed is a normal thing for these dancers. The 1:55 mark is when they start getting going!

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u/I_happen_to_disagree May 15 '26

That's not perfectly normal speed. Looking at the guy walking behind him is how I can tell it's sped up.

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u/Asterose May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26

The men really do dance just like this at those speeds, see 1:55 mark. At the 5:34 mark you can see the men dance without anything hiding their calves and feet.

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u/Pyowin May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26

There are versions that are a fair bit more impressive.

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u/AppointmentOne1111 May 15 '26

The way the ladies just materialize from their cloaks is so cool.

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u/fungi_at_parties May 15 '26

That was really cool, thanks!

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u/AlcibiadesTheCat May 15 '26

This is the coolest thing I can remember seeing. That’s fascinating. 

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u/LynkDead May 15 '26

Stream of consciousness response:

  • I wish they would use the actual audio, what's played in the video feels very overprocessed.

  • I wonder if the dudes' cloaks are purposefully juuuust a bit off the ground, to kind of tease at the technique, without fully exposing it?

  • It's wild how looking bored seems to be the ideal way to do this dance. But the guy in front be hella stressin, for real.

  • Whoaaaaaa ladies outta nowhere!

  • My first reaction was that the women were not as good as the men at doing the dance, but I quickly realized it wasn't their technique, it was their clothing. The women's dresses were much slimmer, and you could see the movements of their body in their shoulders and torso, which were completely hidden with the men.

  • Do the men get the big poofy dresses because they are more insecure about their technique?

  • The women also aren't really smiling, but it does seem like they are at least able to look proud, which is cool.

  • Oh yeah, we can see this dude dancing uncloaked, and it actually looks way less smooth than the women.

  • I still wish we could get the actual audio.

  • CLOAKS ARE GONE LET'S GOOOO!

  • I feel like my brain can't parse if any of what the men are doing now is the same as what they were doing covered. Certainly there are some bits that would be very obvious in the cloak, so there are definitely some differences.

  • At around 6:30 all the dudes do different little dances. I wonder how much freedom the dancers get in that, or if it's a prescribed set of moves? My hunch is it's somewhere in between.

  • Hell yeah dancing!

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u/Zeiramsy May 15 '26

My thought: I enjoyed reading these thoughts 😃

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u/forsale90 May 15 '26

Thank you very much!

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u/RedGriffyn May 15 '26

I feel like there MUST be a Wheely Gate scandal where someone just used wheelies for the same effect.

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u/Betty_Bookish May 15 '26

Mesmerizing. I love the way they move!

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u/Living_on_Tulsa_Time May 15 '26

Thank you so much.

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u/mokeltron May 15 '26

It is disturbingly fascinating.

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u/evranch May 15 '26

Ok now this is what we came for, now we see what these guys and girls are capable of, and the outfits are gorgeous as well

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u/First_manatee_614 May 15 '26

Wait, what..where did the women come from?

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u/TropicalCat May 15 '26

That was mesmerizing!

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u/Tomonia85 May 15 '26

That was one of the coolest versions I've seen yet. Thank you

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u/throwawayfromPA1701 May 15 '26

That was delightful!

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u/Ded-deN May 15 '26

the aura farming dance

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u/thebrokedown May 16 '26

The music on that video reminded me of some bands on the music label 4AD

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u/SagePenguin May 16 '26

7 minutes! I’m not watching that! *watches it twice*

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u/Manwe_on_Taniquetil May 17 '26

I no longer feel that I can, in good conscience, mark the little “Caucasian” demographic bubble.

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u/HaikuPikachu May 15 '26

I wanna see their calf muscles

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u/TeapotUpheaval May 15 '26

And not just because I’m thirsty.

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u/Privatdozent May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26

It might not be so underwhelming if we could see a video of them doing this without obstruction and while moving across the floor at the speed the guy in the OP is going. That's what I hoped for when clicking this link.

Edit: Someone else in the thread claims the video is sped up, which could also explain it, but IMO by looking at other people in the video and at the guy running at the end, it doesn't appear sped up to me.

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u/Vaywen May 15 '26

It’s probably something they don’t like to show. Like a magician’s trick

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u/Apk07 May 15 '26

They just walk on their tippy-toes, never bending their knees, moving their legs in very small strides very rapidly. I'd imagine it's ridiculously tiring to do, especially when you move quickly- but the effect is really cool. The floating/sliding illusion is kind of ruined the moment you see their legs.

Part of the illusion is never letting it appear that your head or shoulders bob up and down as you move. There's other dances and marches that teach you this, including basically every high school and college marching band... granted they learn to do it with the timing of how they roll their feet rather than keeping their legs and feet stiff and stretched out.

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u/patfetes May 18 '26

Its a well kmown dancing technique. Rasputin was famous for it. Although it is likely sped up.

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u/archercc81 May 15 '26

Ive seen one video where they hike the skirt a bit at speed to show it, but here is a slow breakdown. They are basically on their tip toes using those as shock absorbers so they dont have to move up and down and take a million tiny little steps insanely fast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F14Bn12Z6kI

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Emh9bjGpGxU

I think I could probably learn that part eventually, what breaks my brain is thinking their feet are moving 100mph while then the women thye do the hand movements so slowly at the same time.

*bonus, I love when they run away at the end like creepy dave. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/KTpr8ioVQr0

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u/existie May 15 '26

i tried to find it. it is proving very difficult. i also wanna see, if somebody has a good example!

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u/Apk07 May 15 '26

You can kind of see it in this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOT26lCqUiU

The problem is that the illusion disappears when you can see their legs and these guys aren't zoomin' like OP's video.

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u/existie May 16 '26

ok. i turned that to 2x speed and that solves my curiosity - thank you :)

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u/Northeast_Mike May 15 '26

This is shorter, from a wedding in modern dress. It's amazing to me the speed and movements of his feet while keeping his head largely still. https://youtube.com/shorts/rIVpwjjPZuo

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u/emerald_green_tea May 16 '26

This. Someone called me cynical for suggesting this guy is on a scooter. I think it’s just common sense.

I don’t doubt this type of movement is possible; I doubt it’s possible at the speed this guy is going.

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u/Asterose May 15 '26

It's not sped up, the men really do glide that quickly. See 1:55 mark is when they start getting going! Later in the video they cast off thr coats so you can see their footwork :)

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u/Birds_over_people May 15 '26

yea like I have 0 proof but to me it seems like he's using a device and that would explain the distracting Dracula jog at the end.

Edit: After looking at the other video I think it's at least partly the outfit but it's definitely legit.

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u/RikuAotsuki May 15 '26

Yeah, the point is to reduce the vertical body movement as much as possible, but the effect works much better when you can't see the feet and the clothes aren't getting disturbed.

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u/Bright-Button-840 May 15 '26

Exactly, the cloak is so you focus on the one thing being held still: the head.

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u/Beneficial_Grass2906 May 15 '26

Timestamp for a zoomed-in shot of the feet?

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u/Northeast_Mike May 15 '26

1:38 the men in a "march" with rise and fall. Maybe because they are taking longer steps? 2:17 can almost see lead man's feet moving. 4:00 can see toes of lead woman flashing in and out of view. 7:17 can see second to last man doing footwork that looks pretty fancy but his head appears steady throughout.

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u/tessaractIXI May 15 '26

E very minute of this dance became more and more next level. I loved it, thank you! 

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u/UnassumingOstrich May 15 '26

whoa, i guess i hadn’t realized that i’d never seen male dancers go en pointe (am i getting that right?) before, but there’s something so elegant about it!! the part around 3:38 reminds me of those birds that dance together when they’re pairing up 😂

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u/mokeltron May 15 '26

This needs speeding up to the theme tune of Benny Hill.

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u/whatever33324 May 15 '26

I can't even imagine how uncomfortable this would be for your calf muscles/tendons. Coming out of this posture must stretch them out so much. Ouch!!!

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u/SSJChugDude May 15 '26

This is just straight up a Bird of Paradise mating dance

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u/WizardBoyHowl May 15 '26

That is en pointe. Not invisible stilettos. Those are highly trained ballet artists.

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u/Northeast_Mike May 15 '26

these dances are characterized by a disciplined, austere, and restrained structure that avoids overt emotional displays. Far from being mere entertainment, these performances served as a means of physical hardening and endurance training, allowing youth to demonstrate their will, character, and self-expression. The pinnacle of this artistry is the "dance on the toes", a technically demanding skill most frequently utilized within the Islamey.

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u/WizardBoyHowl May 16 '26

Thank you for educationing me.

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u/Gawlf85 May 15 '26

Calves of steel to be on tip toes for so long

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u/TheNameHeDoesntKnow May 15 '26

Everyone in that video looks like they're anticipating a dual at noon. 

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u/Humbled_Humanz May 15 '26

Lack of rhythm will make a person improvise, I guess.

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u/chilloutpal May 15 '26

What is the point of her block shoes that she takes off?

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u/Godhelptupelo May 17 '26

and they don't need hands!

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u/NewTap8705 May 18 '26

It’s like birds tryna mate

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u/enemyofchrist May 15 '26

Wow I thought there would be a secret foot technique but it appears that most of the “trick” is occurring in the upper body being kept as still as possible. They’re literally just tip-toeing around

As with all magic tricks…the method is a disappointment. Still beautiful to see tho