[Tango-L] Finnish Tango

[Rcgimmi@aol.com]

By default, I seem to be the local authority on Finnish tango.  I was at the 
Tangomarkkinat in Seinajoki, Finland, for it's 20th anniversary in 2004.  I 
went again last year and I am planning on being at the festival again, this 
year.   (Please email me if you are going to be there, too!)

My apologies for coming to this discussion a bit late.  (I had trouble 
getting on the distribution list.)  The following text is a reprint of a message I 
posted on the Portland, Oregon, tango discussion list in February 2005.  It 
contains a lot of information that you might find useful if you are going or 
thinking about going.  (Info is at the bottom of fhis letter.)

In addition to dancing in Finland, I've also danced in Buenos Aires for three 
months.  Although tango is the official dance of both Argentina and Finland, 
their tangos are very different.

Kiitos,

Richard Gimmi (Bridal Veil, Oregon)

__________________

Which country has a population of only 5,000,000 but has over 10,000 tango 
halls?
Tango is the official national dance of which European country?
Which country holds the world's biggest annual tango festival?  (Hint:  
Attendance in 2004 was 110,000.)

The answer to all of the above questions is, "Finland."

If you have any interest in the annual tango festival, the Tangomarkkinat, 
please read on.


TANGOMARKKINAT HOUSING, 6-10 July 2005   (THIS YEAR I THINK IT RUNS FROM 5-9 
JULY)

The annual tango festival is called the "Tangomarkkinat" and it will be held 
in the town of Seinajoki from 6-10 July 2005.  The town has only 30,000 
permanent residents.  There are not enough hotel rooms to accomodate everyone at the 
festival; so, people usually rent a room or an apartment from someone who 
owns a house there.  The deadline for making Tangomarkkinat housing arrangements 
is late March.  In April, the organizers start making housing assignments.  

If you are interested in attending the festival, I suggest contacting Elina 
Jarvinen in Seinajoki.  Her email address is:  elina.jarvinen at epmatkailu.fi.  
(IMPORTANT:  Email that originates from America Online cannot be received at 
that address.  If AoL is your ISP, create a Yahoo account and write to her using 
a Yahoo address.  I know the Yahoo mail is functional.)

The maximum charge for a room during the festival is 46e/day.  It is possible 
to stay for a few days preceding and following Tangomarkkinat.  I found the 
Finns to be friendly; and, staying with a family enabled me to experience a bit 
of Finnish life firsthand.  


TANGOMARKKINAT GENERAL INFO

The Tangomarkkinat is a huge affair for the Finns.  It hosts both a dance and 
a singing competition.  The winning man and woman are crowned the "Tango 
King" and "Tango Queen."   These are paid positions and they will spend the next 
year performing across the country.

Based on my observations, the majority of the 100,000+ people who attend the 
festival are there to watch or listen to performances, not dance.  Almost all 
of them are Finns.  Dances where the public may participate generally run from 
10:00AM until 4:00AM.  (Yes, that's 18hrs at a pop.)  Music is usually live.  


There is always more than enough room to dance on Tangokatu, "Tango Street."  
The indoor dances at Atriahali on Friday and Saturday nights are -- by far -- 
the most crowded dance floors I have seen in my life.  Dress is casual but 
neat and clean.  Cigarette smoke is not a problem at any of the venues.  Finnish 
honesty is legendary and crime is rare.

It is possible to buy a dance pass for 73e that will get you free access to 
all the festival dances plus transit through Tangokatu.  Get one of these 
passes, if you go.  I believe the pass will also get you free passage on the Tango 
Bus, which shuttles between the venues.

The official website of the Tangomarkkinat is:  
http://www.tangomarkkinat.fi/english/tm/programme.htm  


DANCES AT TANGOMARKKINAT

The dances are about 60% tangos, 20% foxtrot, 10% swing, 10% waltz and 5% 
yenka.  If you don't already know how to foxtrot, I highly recommend learning the 
dance before you go to the Markkinat.

Finnish tango is **VERY** different than Argentine tango.  For starters, the 
embrace is different than the Argentine.  It can be closer than the milonguero 
embrace but it is offset to one side by about four inches so you can get your 
leg between your partner's legs.  Ochos and the cross do not exist in Finnish 
tango.  Tight, fast spins, on the other hand, do exist.  Getting anything 
more than 20 minutes of instruction from a teacher at the festival can also be 
difficult.  Most Finns don't need lessons to tango.  Learning tango is part of 
their normal upbringing.

I found that most of the Finns can follow simple Argentine steps.  Little 
things like check steps, corridas and walking outside the frame are about all you 
are going to be able to do, anyhow, during peak hours in Atriahali.  Down by 
the band end of the floor, the dancers can be packed in like sardines.

In spite of the fact that I had only 9 months of Argentine tango -- plus a 
little bit of swing dance experience -- before attending the Tangomarkkinat, I 
still had a VERY good time.  I learned, for example, that I could smooch and 
tango at the same time!  (Your festival results may vary.  :-)

Some background information on Finnish tango may be found at:  
http://pythia.uoregon.edu/~llynch/Tango-L/2001/msg01740.html

I would not make this trip if I was planning on learning lots of tango.  On 
the other hand, if you want to dance the night away in the land of the midnight 
sun, this might be just the thing for you.  Social dance, in general, seems 
to be the national sport.  I didn't see another American for almost two weeks, 
either.  I was surprised at how many Finns couldn't speak English.  But, if 
you speak tango, you should be fine.  :-)


TANGO IN FINLAND

It is impossible to understand the emotional attachment the Finns have to 
tango without understanding the catastrophic effect that World War 2 had on the 
lives, minds and -- most important -- hearts of every Finn who lived through 
that period.  Although the Argentine tango is easily superior to the Finnish 
tango, the Finnish claim on the dance, from an emotional standpoint, is second to 
none.

Some historical background can be found at:  
http://pythia.uoregon.edu/~llynch/Tango-L/2001/msg01740.html

I am TENTATIVELY planning on going again this year and taking a video camera 
with me.  I'm not ready to play the major leagues down in BsAs.  Yet.  :-)  
That will probably have to wait until '06.  Please feel free to contact me at 
Rcgimmi at aol.com if you have any questions.

PS.  Ooops.  Forgot to mention one item.  There were a few Finns at the 
Tangomarkkinat who were *excellent* ARGENTINE tango dancers.  Many of these dancers 
were associated with an Argentine tango club that covers north and central 
Finland.  The club is called "Tango Invernal."  The club website, email and 
newsletter information can be found at:  http://www.tangoinvernal.fi/indexeng.html