Polovtsian Dances

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The Polovtsian dances, or Polovetsian dances (Russian: Половецкие пляски, romanized: Polovetskie plyaski from the Russian "Polovtsy" – the name used by the Rus' for the Kipchaks and Cumans) form an exotic scene at the end of act 2 of Alexander Borodin's opera Prince Igor.

The opera remained unfinished when the composer died in 1887, although he had worked on it for more than a decade. A performing version was prepared by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Glazunov in 1890.^[1] Several other versions, or "completions", of the opera have been made. The dances are performed with chorus and last between 11 and 14 minutes. They occur in act 1 or act 2, depending on which version of the opera is being used. Their music is popular and often given in concert as an orchestral showpiece, often with the choral parts omitted. The opera also has a "Polovtsian march" which opens act 3, and an overture at the start. When the dances are given in concert, a suite may be performed: Overture – "Polovtsian dances and march" from Prince Igor.