Workshop – Dances from Kihnu island
Dancing style in Kihnu has been always an example for those interested in traditional dance and often beautiful but unapproachable. Quotes from the classics. Mare Mätas: “Kihnu joy for dance is indescribable and there is no equal that i have seen elsewhere in Estonia. In Kihnu usually three types of dances are being danced: valse, scottish and polka and in addition some Kihnu special dances. Young people in Kihnu learn dancing mostly in weddings and village parties, where they dance until dawn. In youth we used to finish at around six or seven in the morning so that we could go straight to work from there. In Kihnu folk house parties sometimes we danced even longer, often it was already broad daylight outside and last round of dance was at around nine in the morning when musicians got tired. That was quite usual.”
Ingrid Rüütel (as intermediated by journalist Mari Rauba): “In dances that have been collected from Kihnu island and that are being taught here, unfortunately the swirling lightness, special soulfulness and even the body position are lost in the interpretation of coastal Estonians.”