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Katrilli News July 2006 By JoAnne Hardt Rudo |
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June found Katrilli traveling to two Midsummer celebrations--Astoria’s festival where we performed twice and Skandia’s Midsommarfest held in Kenmore, WA. For Skandia’s festival, we not only performed but we also taught Finnish dances to the audience. At first, it seemed as though we were not going to be able to get very many people on the stage for the teaching as it was already getting pretty warm, but once we began, the stage became crowded with enthusiastic dancers. This year for the Folk Parade, we carried the wooden rakes & scythes used in our new choreographed dance that tells the story of people working in the fields of a farm.
A few weeks later, Katrilli once again traveled to the much-anticipated Finn Fest held in the Astoria/Naselle area. Friday, after a very early Seattle departure, we performed on the indoor dance stage in Naselle accompanied by the wonderful music provided by Pat Spaeth and Larry Gibson. The musicians had some car difficulties and drove to Longview, WA in hopes of solving the problem. Unfortunately, the mechanical problems prevented them from attending our Saturday’s performance.
We were prepared to perform to live music. We had a practice tape but some of the music was longer than our dances and some music had no introduction or lead-time. What should we do? Along with a bit of Finnish “sisu,” and a very good soundman, the dancers and recorded music worked perfectly. Need-less-to say, we were nervous and were relieved that everything went so well.
Katrilli member, Elaine Arnold and her husband Norman drove from Seattle to spend a day at Finn Fest and to see their daughter, Elisabet perform the solo Karelian woman’s dance. The music for this dance is very old and was probably originally written for the kantele and the melody is quite intriguing. It was the first time that Norman had seen Elisabet do this interesting dance and I suspect that he finally saw the results of all those years of carpooling to her ballet classes.
Katrilli was actively involved with many of the Finn Fest events--from the Tori (marketplace) where I parted with a bit of money, exhibits, concerts, and, of course, the evening dance held in the beautiful vintage Elk’s Hall in Astoria. Marja Hall won Katrilli‘s “Most Active Award” during Finn Fest. Friday, she modeled in the national costume segment in the fashion show held in Astoria. Later she played the kantele during the event. That evening, she played for a Kantele Mass in Naselle and, naturally, went to the public evening dance in Astoria. Saturday, Marja was in two choral performances and during one of the performances, while wearing high heels, she along with Katrilli member, Andrejs Udris, demonstrated a jenkka (schottische) on hard black asphalt. Early next morning, she was in Astoria for another Kantele Mass. Some of us tried drinking strong Finnish coffee in hopes of keeping up with Marja, but at the end of the day, most of us were eager for that wonderful invention called BED!!! Katrilli was most impressed with the variety offered at Finn Fest and greatly appreciate all the creativity and amazingly hard work that made this festival so successful. Bravo!!!!
Along with all the exciting scheduled events at Finn Fest, some of the unscheduled experiences were our favorites--seeing old friends, meeting new people over coffee, learning about organizations and festivals in other parts of the country and our all time favorite --music and dancing! On Saturday evening in Katrilli’s motel, the well-known and respected Kaustinen musicians, “Ampron Prunni” played for some great listening and humppa dancing. Arto Jarvela who is part of “Ampron Prunni” also plays in one of my favorite musical groups, JPP. Our youngest dance member, Chris Luquette was able to jam with these fine musicians.
Katrilli men wore their new country-style vests at Finn Fest and several of the men were wearing their new boots that finally arrived from Finland. Thanks to a much-appreciated grant, the women will also have new Fereesi costumes. These dresses often called “summer costumes“ as they are made of cotton have become very popular not only in Finland but also in the United States. Since the Fereesi is an authentic dress from eastern Finland, comfortable and much less expensive than the national costumes, it is easy to understand why they have become so popular. After much discussion, Katrilli women chose fabric for their new costumes and now the hard work begins with the construction of the dresses.
The following Wednesday after Finn Fest, Tanhuajat and Katrilli arranged a concert/dance/ party held at the Finnish church featuring those talented musicians, Perttu Paappanen and Pekka Pentikainen. During the break, we celebrated Katrilli member Eila Viitaniemi’s birthday. No one would ever know that this energetic woman is in her seventh decade--must be all those robust Finnish genes! Perttu and Pekka’s music was lively and beautiful! They wrote many of the tunes that they played. Their music was wonderful to listen to and even more wonderful for dancing. Not a bad way to celebrate a birthday (mine is in February--hint, hint, not my 70th, however!)
Katrilli will begin their new season on Sunday, September 17 meeting at the Swedish Cultural Center, 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm. This is a perfect time to try the fun and lively folkdances from Finland. We will be teaching some new dances and reviewing some old favorites. All are welcome even if you are convinced that you have “two left feet.” You may find yourself wearing a beautiful traditional costume and becoming involved with great festivals like Finn Fest!
For more information on finding dancing shoes for “two left feet,” please contact JoAnne (206) 329-1443 or Marja spoon531@hotmail.com
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