gopak

[ goh-pak ]

noun

1. a folk dance of the Ukraine.

gopak

/ ˈɡəʊˌpæk /

noun

1. a spectacular high-leaping Russian peasant dance for men

Word History and Origins

Origin of gopak¹

1925–30; < Ukrainian gopák, derivative of gop interjection uttered during such dances < Polish hop < German hopp, hops, akin to hop ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of gopak¹

from Russian, from Ukrainian hopak, from hop! a cry in the dance, from German hopp!

Example Sentences

There he forces an overweight Nikita Khrushchev to dance the knee-bending gopak.

From Washington Post

Before Brooklyn Mack, a Youth America alumnus with the Washington Ballet, danced “Gopak,” he expressed trepidation because Gennadi Saveliev, a founder of Youth America, had “killed” the piece in the past.

From New York Times

The gopak is a strenuous national dance, performed in a squatting position, with the men rapidly kicking one leg out and then the other, all the time moving around a large circle.

From Time Magazine Archive

Why don't you dance a gopak for us?

From Time Magazine Archive

The finale is perhaps the most extraordinary Moiseyev dance of them all�a Ukrainian gopak in which half a dozen tireless soloists outbound each other in a sequence of eye-dazzling maneuvers that defy both gravity and credibility.

From Time Magazine Archive