On Friday and Saturday, August 5 and 6, an ambitious event will take place at Mežapark’s Great Stage, where two traditions – song and dance – will join in an unprecedented form. In the concert performance “Dziesma dejo”. Deja skan” will gather more than 6,000 participants from Latvia and abroad. The participants will demonstrate both a well-known repertoire and a creation created especially for this event.
63 choirs and 105 dance groups
The name of the concert performance «Dziesma dejo. “Deja skan” is also a sign of form, because the dancers will dance and sing and the choir will also dance and sing. The repertoire consists of well-known numbers from the world of choirs and dances, as well as new creations, therefore the composer and head of the musical part Uģis Prauliņš has created a unified sound design for the entire concert performance. It will be performed by a group of 14 musicians, 63 choirs and 105 dance groups from all over Latvia, as well as 10 foreign choirs and dance groups, on the Great Stage of Mežapark. This assumes that the choir will also move on the same square as the dancers. This time, the audience will sit in the places intended for the choir of the renovated Mežaparka Grand Stage, while the participants will dance in the square, where the audience benches are usually located. In order to convey the emotional message to the audience, the entire performance will be performed live.
“This idea came to me a long, long time ago, while dancing at the closing concert of the song festival in Mežapark,” says the concert performance “Dziesma dejo. The author and producer of the idea “Dance Skan” is Edžus Arums. He thought even then, why can’t we have a full dance concert accompanied by choral music? “While developing the idea, we realized that dancers can also sing and choristers can definitely dance on the same field with the dancers. And here we are – welcome to our team’s dream, where the song will dance and the dance will sound!”
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The concert performance will use the works of choreographers Uldas Žagatas, Aija Baumanes, Uldas Štein and composers Raimonds Paulus, Mārtiņš Braun, Emilis Melngailis, Imantas Kalniņš and Jāzeps Vītolas.
The creative team of the concert performance: Edžus Arums – author of the idea, producer, Uģis Prauliņš – composer, head of the musical part, Mārtiņš Klišāns – artistic director, chief conductor, Agris Daniļevičs – artistic director, choreographer, chief conductor, Ilze Jakubovska – director, Aigars Ozoliņš – scenographer, Oskars Pauliņš – lighting director, Ints Teterovskis – chief conductor with initiative, Taiga Ludborža – chief conductor, Ilze Mazāne – chief conductor, Indra Ozoliņa – chief conductor, Ilmārs Dreļs – chief conductor, Diāna Gavare – chief conductor, Baiba ķestere – chief conductor, Kaspars Brauns – chief conductor, assistant artistic director .
“Neatkarīga” has invited the concert performance “Dziesma dejo. The dance sings» artistic director, choreographer and chief conductor Agri Daniļeviču.
What makes the upcoming concert special for you?
For me, this event is important because we are able to realize our idea, which is the synergy of song and dance accompanied by live music. It will not be just individual numbers – the song and dance will be together throughout the performance, and it will be about two hours without a break.
What is the dramaturgical guideline of a concert performance?
It is a swing that swings a Latvian between past and present, earth and sky, meadows and forest tops, this and that sun, winter and summer, childhood and old age, between Latvia and foreignness – between dance and song. A swing that always brings you back to the starting point, no matter how high you swing. No matter how far away from Latvia life has taken you. About a Latvian who sings and dances – in honor, in sadness, doing work, in love and walking in nature. About opposite poles that have their own points of contact. We emphasize them especially in the interludes, introduction and finale created by Uģ Prauliņas, where I had the opportunity to express myself creatively. Five new works have also been created, specially created for the Mežaparka Big Stage, because nowhere else has a square the size of two and a half stadiums been allocated for dancing. Of course, there will also be the classical repertoire, which you can’t do without either in song or dance – “Light Castle”, “Sun, Thunder, Daugava”, “Midsummer Eve”, “Weavers’ Dance” and so on. The only thing important to us is that it doesn’t rain and a strong wind doesn’t start blowing, because we use large pieces of fabric in the interludes. In case of rain and strong wind, dancing would be very difficult, but – it shouldn’t be, because we have invested so much work and so much positive energy in this concert performance that it should end with the grace of God and the support of all our departed friends who “live along the edge of the cloud». I am talking about Mārtiņš Braun, about Ugis Brikmani, whom we miss very much this time, but – we feel his presence and help. Let’s memorize the truths of life he said and follow his “commandments”, which are already “carved in stone”.
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What is the biggest challenge of working on this concert performance?
Scale. Because, like I said, it’s two and a half stadiums, and nothing has ever been done on that scale. This is where I can fly creatively. The process of creation is magical and somewhat supernatural. Of course, the idea of filling this area is a real challenge, but it not only imposes a double responsibility, but also gives a great thrill. And I draw inspiration from this environment – Mežaparka’s Great Stage. I would like to publicly take my hat off to my dancers and their teachers, because learning to feel the square on such a scale is an extraordinary art. The breath of such a scale that the “millers” have found themselves in at the moment teaches you to see the other side of Mežaparks, almost like a general manager who has to see the whole field.
Of course, there are also certain difficulties, and they are mainly related to the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Today, helping Ukrainians is more important than supporting concerts, and we really, really, really understand that. And we will also show our support for Ukraine at the beginning of the concert, sending them our positive energy. It is, of course, terrible what is happening in Ukraine, but at the same time we must try not to lose what is ours. What we are rich with, what makes us different from other nations of the world around the globe.
What we Latvians are strong with.
Yes. Because Ukrainians do not need Latvians. We must be strong and confident in our land, our language and our culture. Only then can we help others. Yes, we have to help Ukrainians, but we must not forget where we come from and who we are. And we will be very happy if the Ukrainians living in Latvia also find an opportunity to come to this event – we will gladly show them our holiday and demonstrate our attitude towards what is happening in their country.
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Where will you be during the grand concert performance? Where will you watch it from?
I don’t know, I’ll be there somewhere. I haven’t thought about it yet. I just know that the chief choreographer is completely powerless during the performance. He doesn’t need a microphone or communications – he just needs to watch from the sidelines. The only active pulse-keepers will be Mārtiņš Klišāns, Romāns Vanags and Ints Teterovskis, who will be conducting, all musical responsibility will be on the shoulders of these men and Uģs Prauliņš. Of course, also on the tuners, because it is extremely difficult to give a good sound at the distances of the Mežaparka Grand Stage, and Edmunds Zazerskis and his team will help us there. The task of the dancers, on the other hand, is to learn to sing “Gaismas pili”, “Sun, Thunder, Daugava”, if someone does not know yet. The task is given and I hope it will be done.
Can you discover what unusual the audience will expect in this concert performance?
I can reveal one secret. When the elders of the men’s choir will dance together with the dancers’ husbands and there will be that beautiful song “There will be a song forever,/And forever and ever we will smoke beer,/But after the song festival/A girl in white stockings will come…”, those girls in white stockings will really come… If , singing this song, the men have always only dreamed about it, then this time the dream will become more tangible – the choir men will have their laps full of young dancers. I offered this dud and it went to hooray! The elders were happy. I didn’t tell them at first, I only talked to the girls, and during the rehearsal they didn’t understand what was happening… It was so beautiful!
What else beautiful happens in your summer?
They are inevitably Burtnieki, where we will be dancing for the seventh year on August 12. We (the dancers of the dance school “Dzirnas”) have covered almost all the big programs and performances that I created in the past, and we have also produced this new one. In the first year, together with the children and young people of Burtnieki district, we prepared a dance and music performance “They danced one summer”, the next – “Maugli” by Mārtiņš Braun, then we sang and danced “Spēlēju, dancoju” together with “Iļģie”, together with “Latvian Blues” Band” we had a big performance “Evening Blues”, while together with the horses of Valmiermuiža and Burtnieki stables, there was a representation of Midsummer night “From light to light” on the shore of the lake. Last year, together with the group “Bus in the sky”, we repeated the dance performance “They danced one summer”, which we had staged with phonograms in the first year. And this year we will dance and try to sing in English, because the theme of this summer is rock and roll, which is and will always be alive. On August 12, everyone is invited to Burtnieki to watch how we will “dig and roll”, because the name of the program is in Latvian – “Rok n Rullė”. In fact, it was the last three years in Burtniekis – cooperation with «Latvian Blues Band» and «Bus in the sky», where singing and dancing were combined – created an impulse for the concert performance «Dziesma dejo. The dance sounds». This year we will dance and sing again. After that, I will have two weeks freer, and then the next season will be here. We will have built a bridge to the upcoming song and dance festival next summer and will start preparing for it. I will also have the opportunity to participate in them as a dancer.
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What is your best summer holiday?
I am lucky that my work is my joy and happiness. I’m not saying it’s my hobby, but it’s the joy of work. And if the result of my work brings true joy and excitement to someone, gives a positive charge, I am very satisfied. I don’t want to say that it doesn’t make any impression on me. If something really cool happens on stage, I am quickly overwhelmed by it, I sympathize a lot – my eyes are in a very wet place.
But when it comes to rest in the summer, these are my «Birds», my home. I have chickens, geese and carp to feed, I have three cats and a dog, we have planted a huge variety of trees and shrubs, my wife has flowers, a greenhouse and a garden. It all takes time. Going into the lake, catching some fish to fry for lunch, going into the greenhouse, picking my lettuce, onions, cucumbers and tomatoes… This is what completely fills my free time. And to be honest, there are a lot of creative ideas that I have come up with while mowing the grass or doing anything else in “Birds”. Yes, many of the ideas that I have later implemented on the stage have arisen directly at home. Because things you do at home are already done automatically – when you feed your pets hundreds of times, you get so used to it that it is possible to think about something else at that moment. And if you’re in the mood for inventing new things, home is the place to do it.
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