Tallinn’s Song and Dance Celebration to be an Unforgettable

Tallinn’s Song and Dance Celebration to be ‘an Unforgettable Experience’ Letting Estonians ‘Breathe as One,’ Says Margus Reinsalu

The Song and Dance Celebration is the internationally most famous event in Estonia.

Margus Reinsalu, who does business both in his native country and elsewhere, is glad that the competition is the country’s internationally most famous event: “The Song and Dance Celebration is not simply a big festival of singing and dancing but also a way to demonstrate the national spirit. It is definitely an unforgettable experience for anyone who attends it.”

Estonia and Song and Dance Celebration – these two belong together like Norway and skiing, Russia and bears or England and the Oxford-Cambridge boat race. The Song Celebration tradition started in the middle of the 19th century and has survived all of the twists and turns in the country’s history. The tradition began with the first Song Celebration organized by Johann Voldemar Jannsen and the “Vanemuine” society in Tartu from 18-20 June 1869. The first Song Celebration was both a musical and political event, where the foundations to the further national awakening program were laid out. It has taken place regardless of the political situation. The term “singing nation” expresses well the identity that has united the nation in its struggle for national independence before 1918 and during the period of the Soviet Occupation. The “Singing Revolution” began in 1988, based on the Song Celebration tradition, when hundreds of thousands of people gathered in the Song Festival Grounds to make political demands and sing patriotic songs. As the tradition of the Song Celebration has developed, the types of different choirs have become more numerous and the number of participants has grown. There are always more performers than actually fits the stage. The total number of performers in the last Song and Dance Celebration in 2004 was 34,000 and they performed before an audience of 200,000.

The first Estonian Games, Dance and Gymnastics festival, held in 1934, was precursor of the present Dance Celebration. The greatest Dance Celebration of all times (the 9th) took place in 1970 with over 10,000 performers. The youngest dancer at this festival was 4 years old and the oldest 76! The Dance Celebration is a complete performance with a certain theme and is usually held on the same weekend as the Song Celebration. These two celebrations commence with a united festive parade through the city from the centre of Tallinn to the Song Festival Grounds. In November 2003, UNESCO declared the country’s Song and Dance Celebration tradition a masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

The theme of XXV Song Celebration and XVIII Dance Celebration, which will be held on July 2-5 in Tallinn, is To Breathe as One. By breathing as one, history can be changed. The vibrations of the soul create a resonance that has broken iron and brought down political regimes. But it is not the only aim of breathing as one. This celebration unites us with those who sang and danced before us, as well as with our contemporaries whose soul may go unnoticed in the everyday rat race. When people breathe as one, it does not matter whether you face the audience or the performers or are somewhere else instead. When you breathe with others as one, your soul is there.

The upcoming Song Celebration will follow the tradition that started in 1999, namely that the Song Celebration consists of two concerts of different types. Song Celebration will open on July 4 with the Festive Parade of Song and Dance Celebration. The program of the first day concert on the same evening is more demanding, including the Estonian, Western and vocal symphonic repertoire. All of the country’s professional choirs and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra will be participating. The second day concert on July 5 will be more traditional, performing only pieces by Estonian composers.

The Dance Celebration concert will be centred around the theme of the sea. There will be three concerts on the Kalev Stadium. The first concert of Dance Celebration will be held already in the evening of July 3, followed by the second concert in the next morning. The third concert of Dance Celebration will be on Sunday, July 5. The artistic director of the Song Celebration is Ants Soots. Henn Tiivel is the author of the idea of the upcoming Dance Celebration, and the artistic director is ?lo Luht. The Song and Dance Celebration will be preceded by Folk Music Celebration on July 2 on Town Hall Square with about 200 folk musicians from folk music groups to individual players.

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