by JoAnne Hardt Rudo

    How can summer be over?  I still have a lot of sunscreen left!  Katrilli members did a lot of traveling during the summer:  Marina spent three months traveling throughout Russia, Elisabet was in Europe doing missionary work for her church, Winnie and Yura spent time in Hungary and Germany, Marja was in Finland, Elaine and I spent a month in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. On Elaine's and my flight to Scandinavia, it was a nice surprise to see that Gary London, President of Finlandia Foundation Seattle chapter, and his wife Kaisa were on our same airplane.  They were traveling to Finland for an extended stay.   Other Katrilli members did the usual visiting relatives, beach sojourns, camping and all the myriad enjoyable summer excursions and activities. 

      Most of Katrilli was back in the Seattle area so that we could be involved with the August 25th Finland Summer Festival held in Vasa Park , in Bellevue , WA .  We had a run-through for our dance performance and after several times practicing the Fish Net dance with many of us getting tangled in the net, we did have our doubts about performing the dance.  Nothing like having your feet become tangled or part of your costume caught resulting in some interesting new formations and a bit of panic.  Fortunately, during the performance, all dancers escaped the perils of the net and the group received lots of nice comments regarding the program.

     Katrilli members were actively involved with the festival from setting up, preparing food, working in the kitchen, singing in the choir and playing in the kantele ensemble.  Undoubtedly, Marja won the award for being involved with the most activities.  The festival had several workshops and with Satu Mikkola's encouragements, I found myself in her "Anybody Can Play the Kantele" .  My great musical talent is turning on my CD player so I was most skeptical about her workshop learning about Finland 's national melodic instrument.  Satu is a fun teacher and nicely encourages her students. All of us in the workshop were able to play complicated tunes such as:  Row, row your boat.  Never-the-less, they were played and actually sounded rather good.  What none of her new students realized, that within a few minutes after the workshop, she had us on the stage performing for the audience.  Our new musical skills were energetically applauded.  However, I was advised by several friends, to consider keeping my "day job"--rather difficult to do since I am retired. 

     Katrilli is now back to practicing Sunday, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., at the lovely Swedish Cultural Center in Seattle .  We are presently teaching some new, easy and fun dances which means it is the perfect time to consider learning about Finnish traditions and culture through dancing.  We are an active, fun and friendly group that welcomes new members.  We were delighted to have Tommi Keisala, who is from Finland , come dance with us.  I suspect that we will have a lot to learn from him.  Speaking of learning, many Katrilli members are traveling to Vancouver , BC in November to attend a workshop from the ever popular Antti Savilampi. 

     Our fall schedule is always busy:  October 6, we will once again be involved with the Scandinavian and Octoberfest celebration held in Puyallup fair grounds.  Desiree Omdal does an amazing job coordinating the Scandinavian part of the festival.   This is a fun festival with lots of opportunities for music and dancing plus an array of interesting booths and crafts.  After performing, you will find Katrilli in the Octoberfest beer tent enjoying the German music and watching the always entertaining Enzian Schuhplatter, a Seattle German performing dance group.

    Of course, Katrilli will be at the annual Finnish Bazaar, November 3, at the Nordic Heritage Museum , selling the ever popular Finnish pancakes and other traditional pastries and savories.  One of our favorite festivals is the well attended Yulefest also held at the Nordic Heritage Museum   This year, we will be performing on Sunday, November 18 and have our Lucia procession with all the adorable kids who tend to miraculously not fall off the stage or cry.  Traditionally, the star boys seem to lose their stars by using them for mock Star War fights and have their once nicely starched shirts rumpled and hanging in various directions but it all adds to the merriment.  We are looking forward  being involved with Winterfest held at the Seattle Center  sponsored by the Ethnic Heritage Council.  We are scheduled to perform and have the Lucia celebration on Sunday, November 25.  Katrilli will also do several programs for the Seattle Center 's Children's Museum.

     Life seems to be always busy with family, work, commitments, but Katrilli always makes time for gatherings with live music, dancing, and wonderful camaraderie.  I guess that is why so many of us with cranky knees and other owies keep on dancing.   For more information on how to do Finnish dancing with cranky knees, please feel free to call:  JoAnne (206) 329-1443