About us

"Golden Forests" early dance school was founded in 2000. At the very beginning the school was only a small group of people keen on historical dances. Members of the school studied and reconstructed Western European folk and ballroom dances of XIII–XIX centuries, including the dances not known in Russia at that time.

Today our school unites a large number of dancers and historians of a dance and specializes in Russian dances of XIX century and Western European dances of XVI–XIX centuries. Every year from September till May the regular dancing classes are held. We have a wide range of groups of different specializations and aimed for people of different levels (from beginners to advanced). For details see page about the classes. Along with dancing classes, teachers and students of the school also make scientific research on the history of ballroom and theatrical dance, ballroom culture and historical costumes. The school is a member of Historical Dance Association. The members of the school are frequent participants of international festivals and conferences. The historical balls are organised on a regular basis. Members of the studio often perform at city events and teachers hold public workshops on historical dances in different cities of the country. (for more details see projects).

At our classes we teach students not only the dance techniques, we also try to make them feel the spirit of a dance, tell them the history of dance, explain in what manner this dance was performed, and how it was treated in the society. A lot of attention is paid to the ballroom etiquette of XVI–XIX centuries and the manner one should behave in the ballroom, which was quite specific for each epoch. During the dancing classes we try not only to teach people how to move gracefully with the music but also give our students the opportunity to "feel" the atmosphere of the era, to understand its uniqueness and beauty.