History Main / ThatRussianSquatDance

* The now-infamous [[http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/video/dancing-cossacks "Dancing Cossacks"]] New Zealand National Party television advert from the 1975 general election campaign featured a line of Russians squat dancing across the screen. The party was trying to imply the ruling Labour Party's compulsory superannuation scheme would lead to Soviet-style communism (they handily [[CriticalResearchFailure ignored the fact that]] [[UsefulNotes/RedOctober the Cossacks had numbered among the Bolsheviks' bitterest enemies]], at least until they were completely crushed by [[UsefulNotes/RedsWithRockets the Red Army]]).

** Funny enough, 1943's ''WesternAnimation/PigsInAPolka'' (a take on ''Literature/TheThreeLittlePigs'' set to Creator/JohannesBrahms' ''Hungarian Dances'') has The Big Bad Wolf entering by going down a road doing the Russian squat dance. He even does a hand signal when turning left.

* In the WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes cartoon ''WesternAnimation/HareTonic'', Elmer Fudd is afraid he has Rabbititis, and rushes to see a doctor, who is Bugs Bunny in disguise. Bugs tests Elmer Fudd's reflexes by alternately hitting each knee with a rubber mallet, and alternates between each knee faster and faster until Elmer is doing this dance. Bugs soon joins him, giving away his disguise in the process.

* Naturally, works involving the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' equivalent of Russians take this UpToEleven. In the works of Creator/AAPessimal, when a group of "Rus" witches performs traditional dance at the annual Witch Trials, members of Lancre's Morris Dancing side are heard to remark that this is only a ''ladies''' team. Imagine an international against the ''men''?

* Act 2 of ''Theatre/{{Riverdance}}'' features an elaborate (and awesome) Russian dance number. It starts with Hopek-style dancing and turns it UpToEleven.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' had SHUSH Agent Grizzlikov use the squat dance as a combat technique.

* Mentioned in Boney M's song "Rasputin". The eponymous [[UsefulNotes/RasputinTheMadMonk mad monk]] is said to dance the ''Kozachok'' "really wunderbar" in it.

This trope's name is one of those cases of mislabeling by foreigners. For instance, its origin is actually both Russian and Ukrainian, and it's not commonly called "Cossack Dance" or some derivate. While it does receive occasionally the names of ''Kazotsky'' or ''Kazatsky'', which mean just that, the true name of this stage dance is ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopak Hopak]]'' or ''Gopak''[[note]]Spelled Гопа́к in [[TheBackwardsR the Cyrillic alphabet.]] [[/note]] which comes from the word ''hopaty'' meaning "to hop", so a better translation of its name would be "The Hopping Dance". Similarly, it gets sometimes referred as the ''Kazachok'' or ''Kozachok'' ("Little Cossack"), but this is a completely different folk dance that also comes from Russia and Ukraine. The squat dance is also a integral part of Russian dances like Barinya, Leto, Trepak and many more.

The squat-and-kick move itself is properly called ''prisyadka'' (knee-bending) and is just one part of the ''Hopak'' dance, but [[PopCulturalOsmosis it's the only part known to most non-Russians]] due to its inherently funny looks and obvious athleticism required. It's indeed one of the more difficult parts of the dance, requiring good balance and substantial leg muscle strength, but of course MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong. In fact, there is an entire martial art based on ''Hopak'' dancing called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_Hopak Combat Hopak]]. ''Prisyadka'' moves can also be incorporated into the ''shaksha'' dance, performed with the long Cossack sabre and which involves complex evolutions of movement with the sword.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' has an emote that is based on the dance.

* ''Film/TheMask'' - Stanley easily dodges a hail of bullets, transforming into a matador, a Cossack, Vegas Elvis, and a movie cowboy.

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[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/StreetFighterII https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zangief_russian_dance_8.png]]]] [[caption-width-right:350:A vital survival skill in the training of all [[UsefulNotes/MoscowCentre KGB]] agents.]]

[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/TeamFortress2 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kazotsky_kick.jpg]]]] [[caption-width-right:350:A vital survival skill in the training of all [[UsefulNotes/MoscowCentre KGB]] agents.]]

-->'''Elmer:''' HEY! You're no doctor, you're that scwewy wabbit!

* Zangief's ending from ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'', where UsefulNotes/MikhailGorbachev arrives to congratulate him[[labelnote:*]]See? No more scenes like that. ''That's'' WhyWeAreBummedCommunismFell[[/labelnote]]. In ''Pocket Fighters'' he has it as one of his special attacks -- he advances while dancing, kicking his opponent further and further back.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}'' during the "Rumor in St. Petersburg" number.

* Russian spy Illya Kuryakin did this briefly in the second-season episode of [[{{Series/TheManFromUNCLE}} The Man from U.N.C.L.E.]] entitled "The Yukon Affair".
* Mr. Chekov performs this dance in [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries "I Mudd"]].

The squat-and-kick move itself is properly called ''prisyadka'' (knee-bending) and is just one part of the ''Hopak'' dance, but [[PopCulturalOsmosis it's the only part known to most non-Russians]] due to its inherently funny looks and obvious athleticism required. It's indeed one of the more difficult parts of the dance, requiring good balance and substantial leg muscle strength, but of course MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong. In fact, there is an entire martial art based on ''Hopak'' dancing called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_Hopak Combat Hopak]]. ''Priskadya'' moves can also be incorporated into the ''shaksha'' dance, performed with the long Cossack sabre and which involves complex evolutions of movement with the sword.

* An issue of ''Topolino'', the Italian WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse comic book, had [[CloudCuckoolander Fethry Duck]] [[LiteralAssKicking literally kicking]] DonaldDuck's ass this way, [[http://www.comicvine.com/topolino-/37-197070/all-images/108-348644/it_tl_2450a_001/105-1126783/ as seen on the cover.]]

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck', Agent Grizzlikof he does dance as an attack against F.O.W.L. agents.

* ''WebVideo/EpicRapBattlesOfHistory'': Rasputin vs. Stalin has them doing this after the battle. [[spoiler:Along with Lenin, Gorbachev, and Putin.]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kazotsky_kick.jpg]] [[caption-width-right:350:A vital survival skill in the training of all [[UsefulNotes/MoscowCentre KGB]] agents.]]

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[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/StreetFighterII https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zangief_russian_dance_8.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A vital survival skill in the training of all [[UsefulNotes/MoscowCentre KGB]] agents.]]

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* In ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'', [[NationsAsPeople Russia/Ivan]] mentions this, as well as kicking bullies with it.

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This trope's name is one of those cases of mislabeling by foreigners. For instance, its origin is actually both Russian and Ukrainian, and it's not commonly called "Cossack Dance" or some derivate. While it does receive occasionally the names of ''Kazotsky'' or ''Kazatsky'', which mean just that, the true name of this stage dance is ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopak Hopak]]'' or ''Gopak''.[[note]]Spelled Гопа́к in [[TheBackwardsR the Cyrillic alphabet.]] [[/note]] Similarly, it gets sometimes referred as the ''Kazachok'' or ''Kozachok'' ("Little Cossack"), but this is a completely different folk dance that also comes from Russia and Ukraine. The squat dance is also a integral part of Russian dances like Barinya, Leto, Trepak and many more.