The granddaughter made a touching comment about Aira Samulin’s last Lehtkuva –

– Filling these boots was quite a task and I thought about how I could do it, says Kiti Samulin.

Today is one year since the death of dance legend Aira Samulin. Aira was 96 years old when he died.

Kitti became the continuation of Aira’s life’s work, the mistress of Hyrsylä Mutka.

– The year has shown that Aira unknowingly trained me well. I got to be here in the best teaching. You couldn’t have gotten a better successor either. This must be done for the love of the sport, Aira’s granddaughter Kiti says.

Built in the Lohja area, Hyrsylä Mutka is a museum complex where more than 30 exhibitions and museums are divided into five different buildings. Hyrsylä Mutka has received a lot of visitors during its more than 40-year history.

Kiti describes that after Aira’s death, everything was a time of chaos and emotional turmoil. Kiti noticed again that she was similar to her grandmother in one respect. Like Airak in his time, Kitikin took action and work helped in grief.

– I have a very special situation: I get to tell about him and continue my life’s work. It has helped with the grief to the point where I am happier and more grateful than ever.

Kiti Samulin continues as leader of Hyrsylä Mutka. Kiti Samulin’s home album

Aira’s great way

It’s been going well. Kiti can say that directly from Hyrsylä Mutka. He describes the encounters as touching: many of the customers have been moved, many have fallen on their necks.

– I have heard Aira’s stories and I think they should be preserved. It’s great to be able to continue on behalf of Aira, but also for the history of Finland, those who fell in the war and those who served. With a real feeling here, I press to go, says Kiti.

– Many times I feel a pat on the shoulder that it went well, Kiti paints a metaphor.

Kiti has worked at Hyrsylä Mutka for 14 years. Kiti took over Hyrsylä Mutka’s driving responsibility before Aira’s death.

At the time, Aira would have hired Kit as an employee right away, but Kit proposed an apprenticeship solution himself. It seemed like a risk-free option. So Kiti has a completely different life in Kallio, Helsinki.

– I realized after one summer that this is definitely where I should be. Here in the countryside, you could wake up to the song of a bird. The customers are here with twinkling eyes. People bring strength. In the hustle and bustle of the city, there may be all kinds of shopping sprees.

Kiti describes that the responsibility came in suitable doses – thanks to Aira’s excellent situational awareness and knowledge of people.

– Aira never forced this on me, and never wished out loud that I would become a successor. It could have done really badly – to offer me such a package too soon. Everything went fine under its own weight. He saw that I want this, not out of obligation or to please, says Kiti.

– Aira had a great way of sensing situations and people and understanding their potential before they even understand it themselves.

A picture that speaks volumes

One project has been waiting for Kit for a year. He believes that today is a good day to take action.

– Aira saved all the newspaper clippings that have ever been written about him – that is, since the 50s. They are all in the scrapbooks. There are close to a hundred of them.

Aira was also busy lately, and didn’t have time to put all the newspaper clippings in place. Then came the sad news that touched the whole of Finland.

– During the year, I haven’t been able to put that first death note in the scrapbook. Since then, there has been a huge pile of newspaper stories. I have collected all the things that have been done during this year. I’m going to symbolically continue it now, says Kiti.

In the last story published during Aira’s lifetime, Kiti has noticed a moving detail.

– Aira’s last story is absolutely wonderful. He was wearing a pink hat in the TV magazine. In that last picture, he’s waving, like “Bye!”. The next page of the scrapbook then says “Aira Samulin is dead”.

A new page is turned today, when Kiti sits down with the project in the big hut of Hyrsylä Mutka. That’s where Airakin always spread the leaf clippings and started gluing.