HOPAK

also spelled gopak Ukrainian folk dance, once for men only but later danced by couples, male soloists, and mixed groups of dancers. In the western Ukraine, as the hopak-kolo, it is danced in a closed circle. The hopak has no fixed pattern of steps. Men competitively improvise steps, high leaps, squatting kicks, and turns; women dance simple steps, sway, clap, or circle. Changes of step do not necessarily correspond with the musical metre (2/4). Composers who have used hopaks in concert music include Modest Mussorgsky, Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky, and Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov.