The Beryozka or Berezka Dance Ensemble (in russian: Берёзка, russian for little birch tree) is a troupe of female dancers founded by Russian choreographer and dancer Nadezhda Nadezhdina in 1948 in the Soviet Union which specializes in performing in long gowns and moving across the stage as though on wheels or floating.[1] Although often considered a form of folk dancing, its founder once stated, "Beryozka's dances are not folk dances. They are dances whose source is the creative work of the people. But these dances are composed by me".[2]

The floating step is difficult to perform. According to Nadezhdina, “Not even all our dancers can do it. You have to move in very small steps on very low half‐toe with the body held in a certain corresponding position".[2] The troupe began touring in Western countries in the 1950s.[3] The 22 September 1951 performance at the hall of the Stockholm Musical Academy in Sweden, for example, drew crowds too large to be accommodated.[4]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beryozka_(Russian_dance_troupe)

There are scant clues as to how the walk was achieved. Historian Antonia Fraser describes the Versailles Glide as a "mincing step" in her acclaimed biography of Marie Antoinette. But to many people, including Maria and me, "mincing" implies lifting the feet and taking tiny steps. And we have also read that the movement was performed without lifting the feet from the floor.

Maria was convinced that the Versailles Glide is the same step performed by the Angels at the top of Act II of Balanchine's Nutcracker ballet. After visiting the New York Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center and viewing a tape of the Angels' dance, I was sure she was right.

In a properly executed Versailles Glide (which was only performed by women at the French court), the lady appears to be rolling. Her feet never seem to touch the floor and yet the illusion is created by never removing the feet from the floor. The wide cages called the Grand Panniers (or big baskets) worn under yards and yards of skirts constructed with heavily embellished brocades and silks, also helped to create and maintain that illusion -- that the wearer is sailing across the floor. The body never changes levels or bounces, and the era's long corsets with their stiff busks down the center keep the torso rigid.

http://leslie-carroll.blogspot.com/2009/08/versailles-glide.html