Photo: Sarmite Feldman
In three concerts in Priekuli, Vecpiebalga and Līgatne, all regional dance collectives danced the repertoire of the upcoming Dance Festival.
Iveta Pētersone-Lazdāne, head of the regional dance collectives, head of the XVII Dance Festival, believes that the collectives have mastered the repertoire.
“We have fulfilled the minimum of the program, there is still much work to be done. Each team still needs to work on the nuances of the dances, each dancer must understand that each dance has a story, each dance has a partner next to it, other dancers around who must be seen. Two years of the pandemic have had an impact on the technical quality of the dances. The most important thing is the joy of dancing, so that we are confident in what we are doing, so that we are happy in the dance. Then there will be everything else too,” says the head of the regional dance groups. It must be completed by May 1, when there will be a show.
I. Pētersone – Lazdāne says that the collectives have stable dancers, but not only one dancer is missing. “I admit, in autumn, not everyone believed that there would be a holiday, and that also had an impact. You have to take into account that people’s plans change, someone’s health fails, but leaders are optimistic, they say – three leave, five come in place. But they have to learn the dance, it’s not an easy task. The repertoire chosen by the collective is wide: six to eight dances, two more dances from the “White” program. I am positively surprised by how much the dancers try to do the best they can. If there is motivation, everything will succeed,” says the head manager.
Evaluating the artistic ability of the dance collectives at the shows, I. Pētersone – Lazdāne, as the head of the festival, emphasizes that the performance of the collectives is very good. “It seems that there was no time limit. Dancers beautifully disheveled, sparkling eyes, polished artistic performance. The audience can enjoy Latvian stage dances,” says I. Pētersone – Lazdāne.
But everyone who likes concerts of dance groups should definitely take the opportunity to see the entire performance at the show on May 1st and at the concert on June 3rd.
Uldis Blīgzna, the leader of the youth dance groups “Virpulis”, “Zelta virpulis”, the middle generation group “Jumis” and the senior dance group “Juveris”, admits that after the concerts there is a feeling of work, but you have to work hard before the show. “There is no lack of dancers in any of them, rehearsals are twice a week. Every team goes to concerts in different regions on Saturdays, where they dance the holiday repertoire. It’s also an opportunity to see the performance of other collectives, to polish the dances,” says U. Blīgzna and assesses that every dancer wants to be at the festival and is ready to invest work and time to get there. “There are collectives in the neighborhood where youth and middle-generation collectives have united and are learning the middle-generation repertoire, and middle-generation dancers have also joined the senior collective. The collective is successfully recovering,” says U. Blīgzna and emphasizes that all the dancers are in a good mood and thoughts already at the “Daugavas” stadium.
