"Dancing minus" is a musical group originally from Russia. The founder of the group is TV presenter, performer and musician Slava Petkun. The musical group works in the genre of alternative rock, Britpop and indie pop.
The history of the creation and composition of the Dances Minus group
The musical group "Dancing Minus" was founded by Vyacheslav Petkun, who played for a long time in the "Secret Voting" group. However, in the early 1990s, Petkun wanted to leave the "Secret Vote" and direct his talent to create his own group.
Initially, Vyacheslav called the team "Dances". The soloists of the group rehearsed in St. Petersburg (then Petkun lived there). In 1992, the first concert of the group took place in the Central Park of Culture and Recreation.
The name of the group "Dancing minus" appeared a few years later. Under this name, rockers in 1994 performed at a music festival in honor of Victory Day. However, the formal date of birth of the team is considered to be 1995.
In 1995, Vyacheslav moved to the capital of Russia, and in the company of Oleg Polevshchikov, the musicians began to hold their concerts in nightclubs and other cultural institutions in Moscow.
In his interview, Petkun said that since moving to Moscow, he seemed to come to life. Life in St. Petersburg was too gray and slow for the singer. In the capital, he was like a fish in water, and this had a positive effect on the work of the young rocker.
The composition of the musical group changed quite often. At the moment, the Dances Minus group is Vyacheslav Petkun (soloist, guitarist, author of words and music), Misha Khait (bass guitarist), Tosha Khabibulin (guitarist), Sergey Khashchevsky (keyboardist), Oleg Zanin (drummer) and Alexander Mishin (musician).
Vyacheslav Petkun is an extraordinary personality, sometimes even extravagant. Once he went on stage in a dressing gown. So he celebrated the week of haute couture.
In his youth, Vyacheslav was fond of sports and football. Having become a popular rock performer, he began to appear in various football programs, on Sport FM radio. In addition, Petkun became an expert in the sports editorial office of the Moskovsky Komsomolets and Soviet Sport newspapers.
The creative path and music of the group Dancing minus
Since 1997, the Dances Minus group has been actively touring. In the same year, the guys presented their debut disc "10 drops". Petkun said that when he collected material for the first album, he did not really imagine what he would like to get in the end.
Despite the lack of rich experience, the album "10 drops" turned out to be quite good. The tracks on this record are assorted jazz and new wave swing. In the songs, the saxophone and cello sound especially beautiful.
The musical group was very popular in 1999. This year, the Dances Minus group presented the song City to fans, which was not inferior in popularity to the tracks of the then already promoted Zemfira and the Mumiy Troll group.
Then the musicians played at the prestigious festival "Maksidrom", "Megahouse" in the Luzhniki complex and in the Yubileiny Sports Palace.
1999 was a very productive year for the musicians. This autumn, the Dances Minus group presented the second album, Flora and Fauna, and two new video clips.
Criticism of the album "Flora and Fauna"
Some music critics and producers were indifferent to the album. In particular, Leonid Gutkin shared his opinion with music lovers that there is not a single track in the Flora and Fauna album that could become a hit.
However, in reality, everything was different. Russian radio stations played the guys' tracks with pleasure. Interestingly, the presentation of the record was attended by "residents" from the zoo - a leopard, a boa constrictor, a crocodile, etc.
In 2000, the musicians were involved in the work on the film Exit. The musical group created a soundtrack for the film, which was later recorded as a separate album. Later, the guys recorded another soundtrack for the film Cinderella in Boots.
In 2001, the leader of the group, Vyacheslav Petkun, announced that he was disbanding the Dancing Minus group. With this statement, he attracted special attention to the musical group.
If earlier on MTV they did not play video clips of rockers, then in 2001 they flashed on the screens almost every day.
As a result, the Dancing Minus group did not break up, even presented the fans with a new album, Losing the Shadow. It was a good PR move from Vyacheslav Petkun, which increased the army of the group's fans several times.
Alla Pugacheva herself came to the press conference on the occasion of the release of the new disc. Prior to that, Vyacheslav took part in the singer's video clip. In addition, the group "Dances Minus" took part in the concert program "Christmas Meetings", which was directed by the prima donna of the Russian stage.
Friendship with Pugacheva
Vyacheslav idolized Alla Borisovna Pugacheva. It was happiness for him to stand on the same stage with the Honored Artist of the Russian Federation. Alla Borisovna and Petkun are good friends to this day.
In 2002, Petkun tried himself as a TV presenter. On the Russian TV channel STS, Vyacheslav hosted a program dedicated to business. In addition, Petkun took part in the Russian version of the musical Notre Dame de Paris. The performer got one of the main roles - Quasimodo.
Vyacheslav Petkun began to realize his career as a TV presenter, which means that he simply did not have time to "promotion" of the "Dancing Minus" group. Despite this fact, the popularity of the team increased exponentially.
Petkun began to appear at pop festivals and concerts. Sometimes he performed solo, but most often he took a rock band with him for company.
In 2003, the musicians presented a new collection "Best". In addition, in the same year, the Dances Minus group played an acoustic concert for the first time at the Moscow Art Theater. At the performance, the guys pleased the fans with old and “tested” hits.
For the next few years, the guys actively worked on a new record and toured the territory of the Russian Federation. In 2006, the next album "...EYuYa.," was released. The disc was warmly received by fans of rockers and music critics.
The musical group is a frequent guest of prestigious festivals. The Dances Minus group appeared four times at the Maksidrome festival, and also from 2000 to 2010. was the guests of the festival "Invasion". In 2005 the band took part in the Russian Winter festival in London.
Group Dances: a period of touring and active creativity
In 2018, the Dances Minus group played a big solo concert at the GlavClub Green Concert in Moscow. The musicians pleased the fans with old hits and new tracks.
In the same year, the group performed at the 16 Tons nightclub in the capital and at the Vegas City Hall. The musical group in terms of touring was not active in 2018. The group gave concerts in Sochi, Vologda and Cherepovets.
In 2019, the Dances Minus group presented the single Screenshot. In addition, the concerts of the guys are scheduled until 2020 inclusive. You can get acquainted with the full discography of the group on their official website, there is also a poster of performances.
On January 20, 2021, the rock band presented the LP "8" to fans of their work. The record was topped by 9 tracks. The composition "Step by step", which was included in the collection, was dedicated by the musicians to Roman Bondarenko, who died after the Belarusian protests. The presentation of the new LP will take place in April, at the site of the club "1930".
Group Dancing minus today
At the beginning of March 2021, the Russian rock band presented a new single to fans. The composition was called "Listen, grandfather." The frontman of the group in the composition turned to his grandfather, who died in the 82nd year of the last century. In the song, the singer told what happened in the country for 39 years.
On February 16, 2022, the musicians presented the video "Vestochka". Note that the artists dedicated the work to Mikhail Efremov, who is serving a sentence in a colony for a fatal accident. Alexey Zaikov's video was filmed in the St. Petersburg club "Cosmonaut".
