XII Visparejo Latviesu Dziesmu Svetku ASV

I See Latvian People!
We attended the 12th Latvian Song Festival in Indianapolis with Tom and Ingrid last weekend. And a festival it was. Singing, dancing, jewelry shopping, and Latvians everywhere; Indianapolites didn’t know what hit them. Though they did ask. Heard on the street:
“Hey, are you guys Amish?”
“NO, we are NOT Amish! We are LATVIAN!” (the “Duh” was very implied).



By the end of the weekend, the bellmen at the hotel were speaking Latvian, so as to be able to flirt with the Latvian lasses. It was kind of cute.

Latvju Deja ~ Tautas Seja

(I almost deleted this picture from my camera, but it turned out to be my favorite one!)
As expected, we enjoyed the dancing very much, the singing…not *as* much. All told, there were more than 700 dancers who participated.





Here’s a rather poorly compiled little collection of video clips for your viewing pleasure. It’s not an OCD production by any stretch, but you get the idea anyway. This was in the Conseco Fieldhouse, in case you care.



Here's a video of that same group from a different angle. I don't think it was recoreded at the same performance. It's better than mine, so hopefully nobody will get upset that I posted it here!



For those who don’t know, there are hundreds of Latvian dance groups all over the country, as well as in Latvia of course. The closest comparison I can come up with is square dancing, but it seems more complex than that. And there’s no caller or straw involved.



The choir was very impressive, but after about a half hour of songs I didn’t understand the words to, I was pretty much ready to move on. The concert, however, went on…and on… for another 2+ hours. Which, in bored tourist time, feels like about 3 days. And, let’s be honest, a cantata entitled “Cemetery of the Brethren” does not a festive atmosphere make! This was a never-ending tribute those who fell defending Latvia’s freedom throughout history. All of history. Since the beginning of time. Well-deserved I’m sure, but…jeeze.* We get it already! It was supposed to end with everyone joining in the Latvian national anthem, but I was afraid nobody would be able to sing because they would have all slit their wrists by then.



*No offense to Latvians – I’d feel the same way if the Star Spangled Banner went on for 87 minutes, honest.

Neba maize pate naca
To be fair, there were other songs I did enjoy. “On the Banks of the Daugava” comes to mind. Tom liked “Bread Did Not Come By Itself” for obvious reasons. I think he should get that on a t-shirt. In Latvian even. Neba maize pate naca! Also, how can you not appreciate the sentiment, “Bear white blossoms, apple tree, so the young plowboys can decorate their hats!” Bet the Amish never sing about THAT!

Anyway… I had a hard time sitting still, and much as I wanted to lie down in the aisle and pretend to conduct with my feet, there were some children nearby, so I had to be at least as well behaved as they were. I was entertained by a little boy a couple of rows up who was quietly laying with his chest across his chair and his head and arms poking out the back, amusing himself by making shadow puppets and also doing a little conducting himself.

Check it out, though, one of the conductors was from East Dundee!



We had a really nice dinner after the dance performance – I had almond and parmesan encrusted sea scallops, Lenore had pasta, Tom had a fancy chicken dish (seen here being sampled by Ingrid’s wandering fork) and Ingrid had calamari. It was most excellent, and our waitress was a Genie! Seriously. She didn’t walk away, she just DISAPPEARED. Like, one minute she was there, the next…gone. How did she do it?? Or maybe it was the wine.



Here are a few remaining images from Indianapolis: the view out our hotel room window of the capital, me in front of the monument fountain thingee, and more food!