There are still different opinions in the society about the XII School Youth Song and Dance Festival. Children’s hospital doctors urge you to give up also from the virtual song festival, also by Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš (“New Unity”) calls for a reflection on the need for a celebration this year, emphasizing that they want to “not deprive children of the song festival” and think about holding it next year. Meanwhile, the program “Global Latvian. 21st Century ”diaspora collectives say with certainty that there will be a holiday. Yes, not in the format that has happened so far, but given that all the time of the pandemic, hard work has been done, mastering all possible online platforms, educating choir and dance group leaders, motivating children, then the festivities must take place. –
IN SHORT:
- Although it is not known exactly how the e-festival will take place, they are preparing for the diaspora.
- During the summer, there will be their own regional song and dance festivals in different parts of the world.
- The collective action of the diaspora during a pandemic is characterized by growth, discovery and adaptation.
Aiga Vasilevska, a representative of the organizers of the Song and Dance Festival, who coordinates the diaspora collectives on the way to the festival, points out that as the situation changes from day to day, the organizers work in a sweat to make the festival happen: ” At the end of May, the organizers are working on an e-song festival model to complete the festival process with dignity and to start a safe heart to prepare for the 2023 Song Festival centenary event and the planned School Youth Song and Dance Festival in 2025.
That is why it is not known exactly how this remote e-festival, whose slogan is “The festival is where we are, will take place. The holidays are what we are ”- they are preparing for the diaspora.
Like dancers in Latvia, diaspora dance groups work hard “Celebrate the sun” – the dance festival final dance, but the singers are working on video greetings and learning songs.
Inguna Grietiņa-Dārziņa, the artistic director of the choir “LABKī” from Ireland, says: “We simply can’t hurt children or parents by leaving everything halfway, so we want to finish by giving us the best possible satisfaction. Of course, both children and parents hoped until the last moment that they would be able to go to Riga.
As soon as the news came that the festival would have an unprecedented format, we addressed the embassy with foresight and started planning our celebration. ”
It is planned that Ireland and Northern Ireland will have their own live song and dance festival on August 29 – with a procession and concert in one of Dublin’s parks.
Norway will also have its own holiday. Anda Ramsoja, the leader of the Norwegian Latvian Boys’ Choir, says: “The pot of Latvianness that can be received at the traditional song festival is very necessary for those living in the diaspora.” She emphasizes that the choir will take part in the festival, even if it is just an e-festival, because the response from parents is huge and the festival is needed by the participants, their parents and the team leaders.
“We are also preparing our own festival, from 13 to 15 August a regional cultural festival is planned in Bergen. We have invited a conductor from Latvia who will work with the boys and the adult choir. We have invited the folklore group “Vīteri”, which will work with the girls’ folklore group, and the theater group will also have master classes. Our idea is to bring together the entire Latvian community in Norway together this holiday, ”says Anda Ramsoja.
Kristīne Kempere, who runs the dance group “Cornflower” in Münster, is happy that they have finally – since October – just met in person to film the dance of the festive final. “No matter where you dance, how you dance, it is happiness to dance. And I see that in the eyes of my dancers, ”Kempere emphasizes. Münster will also have its own holiday, the time and place are not yet known, but Kempere will dedicate the next two weeks to the celebration planning a way for German Latvians to get together.
Song and dance festival organizers have identified diaspora groups and
It seems that throughout the summer in different parts of the world will hold their own regional song and dance festival.
The organizers also promise that all participants of the festival will receive the symbols of the festival.
When it comes to preparing for a pandemic, team leaders emphasize growth, discovery and adaptation. For example, in Ireland I had to live for almost half a year on the condition that you could not leave your home within a radius of 5 kilometers, so you had to forget about joint face-to-face attempts. But as the LABKi choir operates throughout Ireland, the UK and Sweden, rehearsals took place on the Zoom platform.
Therefore, the time spent preparing for this holiday must be considered a real school of life. Anda Ramsoja, the leader of the Norwegian Boys’ Choir, emphasizes: “The position of the leader is very important. My challenge was motivation and the ability to keep the boys motivated and attract their attention to singing. This is a problem that is more relevant to boys. Well, every 10-13 year old boy wants to sing! He wants to play football, hockey or fight with his peers. My task was to show that singing and singing in Latvian is cool, which is not a shame, that you can be proud of singing. As a manager, it was difficult for me to keep this motivation. The second personal challenge during the pandemic was to stay psychologically.
Something was ruined when I learned that the traditional song festival would not happen, my goal was ruined, and bitterness and sadness were in my heart.
But now I realize that it’s a matter of time and have to find that ray. The attraction to children and what has been done cannot be lost, so we have to move on.
Thirdly, the technical equipment was also a challenge, but fortunately the Latvian language agency offered courses to teachers. I also learned the program in the classflow environment, no matter how weird it sounded, what could be used in choir singing. The choir has the specificity that it is necessary to sing synchronously, and harmonious hearing on online platforms is unlikely to be developed in children. On the positive side, children living in Norway must not only learn music, but also text in Latvian. And the song “About Knots” consists of nine, ten verses, and in order to sing this song, they have to work quite a lot. The digital platform provided an opportunity to learn text. ”
Commenting on the transformation of the festival, the Minister of Education and Science Ilga Šuplinska (New Conservative Party) compares this festival with the first song and dance festival in exile, and the leaders of the diaspora collectives agree with what the minister said.
CONTEXT:
A scenario for the student song and dance festival has been developed, in which the basic principle is offered e-song festival concept. It is planned that the total program of the festival consists of 15 different events in choir singing, vocal music, instrumental music, dance, visual and visual plastic art, folklore. Events will be recorded on video. The Festive Steering Committee has supported this model, emphasizing compliance with the voluntary principle and epidemiological safety rules.
On May 19, the festive solution was presented to the Song and Dance Festival Council, which did it supported. The Cabinet of Ministers will still consider the solution proposal.
Meanwhile, several municipalities have already announced that they will not participate in the festival due to the precarious epidemiological situation. Also Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš stated that the holiday in e-format is not a holiday and a decision should be taken to carry them over to the following year.
Initially, the 12th Latvian School Youth Song and Dance Festival was planned for July 6-12, 2020, but due to the spread of Covid-19 at the end of March last year. decided to postpone the holidays for a year.
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