Theme

Dance Flows from the Inside!

The theme of XVIII Folk Music Festival held in the Castle Hills and the centre of Viljandi during 22-25 July 2010 is "Dance Flows from the Inside!"

The name of the theme is similar to what Joosep Toots in the movie "Summer" shouted to his former classmates then they started dancing in a flour mill. XVIII Folk Music Festival will be as merry, uniting and why not even naughty as that dance in the flour mill. In 2009, the skills of single instrument players were honoured. Next, the festival aims to make the guests dance as they have never danced before.

Music and dancing have since the beginning of history been tightly connected to and dependent on each other. If the musician is able to play in such an enchanting way that the listeners feel something moving in their hearts and feet, the dance will emerge involuntarily and it has to break out and be seen.

In his book "Kontratantsud", Estonian traditional dance researcher and teacher, the legendary Krisjtan Torop has said: "Society dances have from the beginning been wholly in the service of entertainment, they have not been connected to any kinds of rituals or holidays. /.../. Folk dance in general has a wider meaning because in addition to the entertaining aspect, it also includes magical, ritual, acrobatic, and imitational dances the use of which is confined to specific situations."

Dance is a means of communicating without words, a reason to get together, get to know each other, and fall in love. The magic of reproduction has always been one of the traditional aims of dancing. Dancing is the flywheel of the circle of life which also emphasises our origins and brings people together. In order to achieve all that, the rhythms and moves have to be traditional.

XVIII Viljandi Folk Music Festival will try to create situations where the dancing tradition of different Estonian places could develop and become more contemporary through the means of improvisation. All that has to be done within the boundaries of the tradition as Torop has pointed out. Why not rock to a polka and swing to a rheinländer? Wouldn't it be nice to start out with the basic moves of labajalavalss (an Estonian folk waltz) and add turns and twirls? Why not? The festival aims to develop people's individual self-expression and improvisation skills through traditional dance.

At the last festival, musicians showed their magic. For this reason, it is more than certain that next July, Viljandi Folk Music Festival with its heavenly atmosphere will witness several dance miracles.

Dance has to break out from within!