Veteran dancers to brave any weather

Photo: Jaanus Lensment

It was in 1985 that Ain and Merike first showed up, as folk dancers, at the Celebrations. In the good old days, the party spread wider than festival grounds and silent hours weren’t all that strict, they recall.

At our initial meeting with Ain and Merike, at the schoolhouse they’re staying at, me and photographer were taken by surprise, all «geared up» for an ancient-looking South-Estonian couple. Turns out, we were met with two youthful members of the dance group «Lasva» – yet veterans of a whopping eleven dance celebrations.    

Timid as Estonians come, Ain and Merike were not too sure their memoirs were worth writing down. According to Ain, his very first celebrations were the 1976 ones, for youth. Hearing we were not born yet, at the time, they felt more entitled to tell their story.

The next time, I’m meeting Ain and Merike at the Kalev central sports arena, where it all begun – fort them. I’m told that it was thru dancing that they were drawn together. Since 1985, they haven’t missed a dance celebration. 

So: what has changed, since then? «More red tape, now! In the old days, we never had to sign our names. We just showed up and danced,» noted Ain. «But that’s the demand of the times,» adds Merike, knowingly.

In her opinion, it is easier on the field this time around, as all is organised better. Ain thinks catering was more fun before. «Jellied meat [the sült – edit ],» they exclaim, as a duo.

In the beginning, the couple continues, things were more loose somehow. Today, silent hours are the order of the night. Back then, people used to party at the schoolhouses. «That’s what we were coming for, not to eat one’s sandwich in the corner and hit the hay at 11 pm,» says Ain.

The younger generation is the same – noisy, up and running. Ever on the lookout for the puddle to jump into. «I remember while in the fifth grade, at school. At the dance celebrations, it was raining so hard that as we danced the Kaerajaan, we did so in muddy waters,» recalls Ain.

It was raining cats and dogs in 1994 as well, when everything got soaked and even the procession was cancelled. Merike and Ain claim it is just the same to dance in a free Estonia as in the Soviet Union. They are convinced that dancing is unaffected by politics: «Dancing is dancing, Tuljak is just the same. The same soul feeling,» says Ain.

There was a year when Ain was between dance groups and had to miss a festival in Võru. «Feels different to watch others dance. One does feel the envy,» he confesses.

According to Merike, dancing is the lifestyle for them: «We ain’t got no kids, no cattle or sheep!» With a note of sadness, Ain adds that this year will be his last – in five years’ time he will be 70 and above the age ceiling. «But we’ll show up anyway,» vows the man.

So that was the story. Hand in hand, Ain and Merike head for the dinner. After dinner come more rehearsals.