No, They’re Not on Roller Skates: 16 Traditional Russian Dancers Perform Mind-Bending Optical Illusion

(Illustration - Shutterstock)

Dance has the power to inspire awe and fascination that transcends the everyday. Are there no limits to the ways the human body can memorize and amaze the spectator through performance?

If this troupe of 16 female dancers from the Ensemble Folklorique Russe (Russian Folklore Company) are anything to go by, then we haven’t seen everything yet!

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The group weave intricate patterns and gyroscopic rotations across the stage so effortlessly it seems they are floating on air. The performance takes us on a magical journey through Russian dance history. With a nod to the Soviet dance troupe Beryozka Dance Ensemble, who wowed audiences worldwide in the 1940s and ‘50s, the group performed a traditional “round dance” to an enthusiastic crowd.

This segment is the most share-worthy dance video we’ve witnessed in a while, and it’s all down to some mind-boggling “invisible” footwork that goes unseen behind their low-hanging red dresses. Luckily for us all, the troupe’s five-minute dance has been shared for all to see on YouTube, where it has already racked up an incredible 4.9 million views.

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The clip was filmed and shared after the troupe’s performance at Geneva’s Théâtre du Léman to a folk song called “In the Field Stood a Birch Tree” (hence the branches). This traditional Russian folk dance, performed in equally traditional Russian folk costumes, paid homage to a long history of “round dance” in Russia.

Known today as Khorovod, this style of dance was born of Slavic tradition and usually combines a circle dance and chorus singing, says Rus Moose. The dance troupe Beryozka, founded by Russian choreographer Nadezhda Nadezhdina in 1948, made the style popular among a Western audience. Nadezhdina’s dancers performed in long gowns and moved across the stage as though floating.

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It’s not easy. According to Nadezhdina, “Not even all our dancers can do it. You have to move in very small steps on very low half-toe,” the choreographer told The New York Times back in 1972, “with the body held in a certain corresponding position.”

In most dance performances, of course, the dancers’ impressive footwork takes center stage. But for the Ensemble Folklorique Russe, we are invited to suspend disbelief and enjoy the magic while their incredible footwork remains hidden from view.

The 16 dancers begin slowly, but within seconds the audience’s attention is piqued; the elegant dancers appear to be floating across the stage. Their “secret technique,” concealed beneath floor-length skirts, renders their five-minute-long performance nothing short of surreal.

Are they riding roller skates? Are parts of the stage moving beneath their feet? What exactly is this incredible, secret technique?

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It’s not an illusion. The highly skilled dancers, in fact, have to stay “en pointe” (on the tips of their pointed toes) the whole time. For anyone who has ever attended even a single ballet class, you'll know just how tough this is!

Viewers were truly bowled over by the illusion. “It’s like a glitch in a video game,” wrote one awestruck YouTube viewer, “where one character gets copied many times, and they just hover above the ground as their walking animation stops working.”

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“These women are so beautiful,” contributed another. “Their dance is miraculous; one of the most wonderful things I have ever seen.”

Were you captivated by this synchronous routine as much as we were? Pay homage to hours of practice and 16 dancers’ awe-inspiring skill by sharing this video today!