The Development of the Ball Tradition in Communicative Space of Ukraine from the 15th to the Early 20th Centuries: Culturological and Art-Historical Dimensions

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to identify the main stages of the evolution of ballroom culture in the communicative space of Ukraine and the formation of ballroom tradition, to analyse the socio-cultural life of Ukrainian society in the context of the development of domestic culture. The aim of the study is to identify the main stages in the evolution of ballroom culture in Ukraine’s communicative space and the formation of ballroom tradition, and to analyse the socio-cultural life of Ukrainian society in the context of the development of domestic culture and art from the 15th to the early 20th century. The methodological basis of the study consists of cultural and art history approaches, as well as the application of genetic, historiographical, retrospective, analytical, comparative, and generalisation methods. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that, for the first time, the influence of the development of ballroom culture and traditions on changes in the forms of cultural leisure activities of different strata of Ukrainian society, as well as on the formation of new habits, the evolution of mental and behavioural attitudes, the development of artistic manifestations, and fashion for organising and attending relevant events, has been systematically analysed and determined. This work partially fills the gap in cultural and art studies on the formation of both ballroom culture and the history of the development of the domestic sociocultural space. Conclusions. It has been established that for many centuries, until the early 1920s, Ukrainian traditions (both folk and elite) included balls accompanied by celebrations, festivities, mass revelries, etc. This, in turn, contributed to the emergence and development of new habits, mental attitudes, cultural phenomena, and artistic manifestations that encompassed increasingly larger segments of the population and attracted the attention of both local residents and travellers from other regions, giving these phenomena nationwide sociocultural significance and scale.