Finnish Dancing
Via Jill (who got it from Anders) a funny "how to dance disco in the senior version" - in Finnish. It is quite hilarious.

However, did you know that Finns have a very widespread dance culture as such and that next to Argentine, it is the country where Tango is danced the most - in the local Finnish variant of course? They now have an annual Tango Festival and they have even made a tango stamp to commemorate the movement. There is some explanations of the tango culture here and Jutta Jaakkola at the Finnish Music Information Centre has written a fine history of the tango movement in Finland. In the Finnish version of the text, you also find the top 10 of Finnish Tango songs. Number one dates back to 1948: Kotkan Ruusu by Helvi Mäkinen–Leo Anttila. I've heard some of the songs - they are really quite beautiful, reflecting the typical theme of the Finnish tango (cf. Jaakola):
The lyrical "I", almost invariably a man, has lost his beloved (woman), is suffering from loneliness and is overcome by melancholy. He is desolate and longs to be back in the time when all was well. Herein lies the key word of the Finnish tango: nostalgia.

The longing for love and the beloved is, however, expressed without any trace of the sentimentality or escapism typical of other European tangos. Whereas the Argentinean tango is clearly an element of urban culture and the setting for the events is a shady waterside drinking house, the Finnish tango is often set in the countryside, in the bosom of nature.

This year there is even a championship event - The World Championships in the Social Tango* (Nordic Tango). You can read the rules of the dance here, the simple ground rule of movement is:
Nordic Tango is a social dance in which steps, movements and style are based on what is possible to dance at a social event where the lady is simply following the man's lead...

Never think you know all there is to Finnish culture ;).
# posted by Lisbeth at: 11:16