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Ukrainian folk dance originating as a male dance among the Zaporozhian Cossacks (Cossack) but later danced by couples, male soloists, and mixed groups of dancers. In 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 Semen Hulak-Artemovsky, Mykola Lysenko, Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich).