Rasa Ardys-Juška

The Land of My Ancestors

Rasa Ardys-Juška is the editor of BRIDGES.

The last thing one would expect teenagers to say when describing their summer vacation is, "I danced in a Lithuanian folk dance festival in Canada." But that's precisely what over 1,000 children, teens, and college students will be saying this fall. Their parents and, even in some cases, grandparents will also have dancing memories of their year-long practices with their folk dance groups. This really was a family affair when the Eleventh Lithuanian Folk Dance Festival was presented at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga, Canada on July 2^nd, 2000.

It would be wrong to say that the Festival began and ended on July 2^nd. In reality, its theme, dance choices, and organization started after the last Festival in Chicago in 1996. Artistic directors Juozas and Rita Karasiejus together with the artistic coordinators, The Lithuanian Folk Dance Institute; the hosts, the Canadian and American Lithuanian Communities; and the many participating folk dance group teachers combined their talents to produce a spectacular event.

Daddy shows a different skip step. More photos

Each folk dance group sent out their teacher to Camp Dainava in Michigan during the summer to learn the dances planned for the Festival. Upon return, it was time to take out the dancing shoes and begin memorizing and polishing each dance realization.

Liepsna, (Flames) a folk dance group in New Jersey, taught by Monika Murauskas met every Monday from 7:30 to 9:00 PM at Kearny's Lithuanian Community Center. Group members ranged from 14 to 40-something, which placed them in the young veterans' category of dance. Other categories of dance groups were children's, intermediate, students, and older veterans.

In the fall, the Liepsna group was geared up to learn the steps of their dances. Some dances for their category were well-known: the "Suktinis", a lively circle dance, and "Gyvataras", a quadrille-type dance. But the other dances were new, complicated, and captivating. These were "Protėvių Žemė" (Land of my Ancestors), "Dek, Ugnie!" (Burn, Fire!), and "Žolynėlis" (The Meadows). All three were pagan in flavor and tempo, bringing forth the ancient past through dance.

Practice after practice allowed Liepsna and the other participating dance groups to hone their movements as well as convey the essence each dance would bring to the Festival. Liepsna showed their talents during the New Jersey Lithuanian Independence Day celebration in Kearny and at Sts. Peter and Paul Lithuanian Catholic Church's annual summer picnic in Elizabeth.

The first performance was in February and was nerve-wracking for most because the newer dances were just that – new. Tried and true folk dances were part of the fare for every performance and usually expected. The audience was intrigued and enjoyed the show. Feeling confident, Liepsna continued to polish their movements and knowledge of the intricate steps.

The picnic performance further helped Monika see the weak points and also the strong points. The group felt ready and excited to see how an arena filled with over 40 groups would not only perform, but also exact an eye pleasing and very Lithuanian response.

The time had come, and by airplane or car, folk dancers from afar gathered at four different hotels situated near the Toronto International Airport in Missisauga, Canada.

The two-day practices started on Friday morning, June 30^th, with the majority of the dancers congregated at the Regal Constellation Hotel lobby. Fifteen buses were used to transport this mass of dancers to and from the Hotel and the Hershey Centre.

Groups polish up their moves. More photos

The unique aspect of these two practice days is not necessarily the practicing, although vital. This time gives all the dancers a chance to bond with each other as they look across the arena and view the magnificent population determined to pass on a truly physical aspect of the Lithuanian culture. In the crowd, groups from not only the U.S. and Canada were present, but also from Lithuania, Buenos Aires, Punsk (Poland), and Sao Paulo.

All groups came dressed with practice uniforms. Some wore specifically designed t-shirts depicting their group's symbols – Liepsna's flames, Spindulys's rays of sunshine. A Chicago group, Grandis, used the pseudo-Mastercard logo as the background for their lettering. The New York City group, Tryptinis, used good ole' King Kong and a Lithuanian female dancer. All the groups showed their unity, creativity, and high spirits during the two-day practices.

When you have over 40 groups in an arena learning the sequence of the program and how each group will coordinate with the ones around it, you have to have intensely calm leadership. Rita Karasiejienė's soft, yet firm voice maintained its assertive demeanor throughout those long hours. And it paid off. For the last practice – start to finish – all stops were pulled and each group performed to peak ability.

That evening, A Folk Art Exhibition sponsored by the Toronto Branch of the Folk Art Institute (Lietuvių Tautodailės Institutas Toronte); and two live-band dances gave the dancers and their families time to relax, catch up with old friends, and make new ones. It wasn't uncommon to hear, "The last time I saw you was…at the last Folk Dance Festival!" And so the three-day Festival was working up to the BIG day.

As each car rolled into the Centre's parking lot on July 2^nd, the distinct red and white Vytis and LT stickers decorating the cars, some with unique Lithuanian-language license plates, transported one dancer after the other or one Lithuanian family after another. One hour before the performance, people were still catching up with each other. They were still exchanging as much as they could to last until the next Festival where they would be bound to meet again. Dancers were sipping water (it’s hot under those woolen “tauts”), fixing their skirts or ties, and reviewing dance steps.

A little after 2:00 PM, Lithuanian starting time, the lights were dimmed. After the Artistic Directors, Rita and Juozas Karasiejus, were presented, Rasa Lukoševičiūtė-Kurienė announced each group as they walked into the arena. Cheers, clapping, and many cameras blitzes greeted the proud dancers.

After the singing of the Canadian, American and Lithuanian National Anthems, the opening remarks, and introduction of Guests of Honor, the Prologue began. Music accompanying each dance was varied: either a professional recording or live music performed by the "Žilvitis" ensemble orchestra of the Vytautas Magnus University of Lithuania.

Each set of dances followed a theme. The Prologue contained dances based on interpretations of pagan Lithuanian life. The youngest members, the children's and intermediate age groups, performed in the When I was Young set. Here, aspects of farm life and children's games delighted the audience.

What was so entirely unique about this Festival was the choreographers' abilities to depict the dances in different groupings. Each group was assigned its own square in which to dance. During earlier Festivals, each group danced the same dance the same way rarely connecting with each other until the finale. During this Festival groups floated around the arena dancing the same dances in different arrangements. Where one group danced in a circle, another danced in rows. At other times groups made large circles weaving in and out for a grand effect.

This type of cohesiveness was clear during Wedding Dances. Pre-wedding celebratory dances (one in which the dancers weave the bride and groom together with long “juostas”). to the day after the wedding were performed with vigor and enthusiasm. The groups combined to show different aspects of the dances by arranging themselves to highlight solo entrances of the bride, groom, and the wedding entourage. The Žilvitis professional dance group from Lithuania performed, solo, a lively wedding dance called "Vestuvinis Šokis". Each dance successfully kept the audience's eyes darting from one end of the arena to the other to capture fluid movements accentuated by the colorfully woven Lithuanian folk costumes.

Within the Family Dances sequence the audience continued to be entranced by the blending of movements. The first dance, "Motinėlė obelėlė" combined all four generations of dancers: grandparents, parents, children, and grandchildren. With "Išėjo tėvelis į mišką", children and their parents performed an amusing and heartwarming dance about a family setting out on an owl (fowl was what they probably were after) hunt. Choreographed movements allowed the non-Lithuanian speaking audience to understand exactly how the hunt was proceeding.

Dances associated with family life and the home were exuberantly performed for The Homestead segment, before the finale. Again a unique blending of movements were clearly witnessed during the "Rusnietis", a quadrille, performed by the students along with the older veterans. The slower weaving movements of the veterans accentuated the jumping students. The unity of these two groups underlined the importance of all the generations in the Lithuanian family unit.

The Finale filled the entire arena with the music and movements to the dance "Suktinis". Yellow, green, and red handkerchiefs were held high, and the dancers waved them to the beat of the music and the audience's delighted clapping.

Once the last people drifted away to their cars, in the distance several dance teachers were deep in conversation. One can only suppose that the next Festival's plans were already in the making.