2003 m. lapkričio 7 d. UNESCO paskelbė Estijos, Latvijos ir Lietuvos Dainų švenčių tradiciją žmonijos žodinio ir nematerialaus kultūros paveldo šedevru.

 

Žmonijos nematerealus paveldas

Lietuvos medžiaga bendrai Estijos, Latvijos ir Lietuvos bylai, parengtai UNESCO, siekiant visų trijų šalių dainų   švenčių  tradicijų pripažinimo Pasaulio žodinio ir nematerialaus kultūros paveldo šedevru.

 

  Tradition and Symbolism of the Song and Dance Celebration Process in Lithuanian

The national song and dance celebration tradition has lasted for a hundred years and grew up into the most significant and largest cultural event in Lithuania. It exalts man's creative self-expression, vitality of the national culture, and promotes artistic activity by periodically gathering amateur artistic groups of different genres and culture professionals to enormous festivals that evoke enthusiastic society’s response.

  From the cultural point of view the national song and dance celebration tradition is an expression of cultural-national identity based on a mass art lover movement of choir singers, dancers, and musicians. The artistic product they create as well as their existence per se (with all of its additional aspects, i.e. the profundity and scope of the communication of the participants of the festival, educational and artistic activity) performs the function of an intermediary between archaic cultural layers and modern professional creation. From the cultural historical point of view, the national song and dance celebration tradition largely contributed to the cultural development of Lithuania at the end of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th. It proved to be the most important manifestation of Lithuanian national-cultural identity and a form of its preservation. It continuously emphasised the most significant part of traditional cultural heritage (especially singing that has been universally acknowledged to be the most valuable aspect of the song and dance celebration) as well as the most noteworthy treasures of professional contemporary and historical art. At present, the song and dance celebration tradition is well balanced. On the one hand, it provides the environment for professional artists to develop; on the other hand, it is a professional art user in its own right.

From the civic and political points of view, the song and dance celebration tradition has always been, especially during occupation periods, a means to maintain the national identity and a secret weapon to protect aspirations for independence. The fact that the independence in all the three Baltic countries was restored with the help of a ‘singing revolution’ in 1990 is largely a result of the mentality nurtured by the song and dance celebration tradition.

  Socially, the participants of the song and dance festival events are people of all the social strata. In terms of age, the participants are classified into children, youth, adult, and senior age groups. Gender-wise, they are men and women. From the point of view of nationality, the participants include the representatives of all the ethnic groups residing in Lithuania. After the restoration of independence, the events of the Song and Dance Festival attract Lithuanians from 15 countries all over the world. This is why the festival has acquired the status and name of the World Lithuanian Song and Dance Festival. In between the national song and dance festivals, local song and dance festival events are held in different regions, districts and towns.

In the newly liberated, independent Baltic States the song and dance celebration has acquired a form of a grand national events held in the capitals of the three States and is becoming a way of spreading the cultural tradition that reinforces patriotic feelings of the three nations and their people.

The Lithuanian song and dance celebration tradition came to be later than the Latvian and Estonian ones, due to particularly cruel repression initiated by Czarist Russia in 1863, after the rebellion, which strove to liberate Lithuanian and Polish nations from the oppression was quelled. From then on, the national printed matter in Latin script was forbidden in Lithuania, all the Catholic parish schools, cultural societies, and even Vilnius University were closed, members of the national elite who participated in the rebellion were deported to Siberia or killed.

The song and dance celebration tradition has been alive in Lithuania for 79 years, starting with 1924, when the first Song Day took place. Since the first Song Day to this moment, 15 Song and Dance Festivals have been held. As time went by, the song and dance celebration tradition took deep root and developed from a one-day event, where only choirs performed, to a six-day celebration consisting of more than 10 different concerts and other events. When Lithuania re-established its independence in 1990 facilitating natural and spontaneous cultural development, the song and dance celebration expanded to penetrate into other areas of art.

The procedure of the present song and dance celebration is as follows. As soon as the main event, which is the culmination of the Festival in Vilnius is over, all the cultural and educational institutions and a number of non-governmental organisations all over Lithuania start their preparation for the following event. Choirs, dance companies, and music bands start working on a new repertoire.  They are given methodological support, i.e. new works of art are commissioned, created and published for each Festival; directors of the amateur artistic groups are offered training seminars. Usually, almost all the amateur artistic groups prepare for the Festival. Before the national celebration events all the candidate amateur artistic groups are assessed and the more advanced ones are selected (it is impossible to invite all of the candidates who wish to sing and dance at the Festival to Vilnius, as the number of participants would exceed the capacities of the venue.) At present, approximately 30 thousand lovers of art gather in Vilnius to celebrate song and dance.

Song and dance celebration events last for 6 days. After the restoration of the independence in Lithuania they run-up every four years at the beginning of July. The commemoration of the State Day on the 6th of July is included into the structure of the festive song and dance celebration events.

The present pattern of the song and dance celebration events is as follows:

Main events:

1. The Folklore Day opens the Festival. Up to 4 thousand performers of authentic folklore traditionally gather to a special venue, the original area of the Lithuanian Royal Palace dating back to the 13-16th centuries, which encompasses the old and beautiful Sereikiškių Park. The idea of the Folklore Day is to demonstrate the peculiarity of the living folk song and dance tradition of the four Lithuanian ethnic regions (Aukštaitija, Žemaitija, Suvalkija, and Dzūkija). Every ethnic region is appointed a separate space, where the participants try to reveal and demonstrate the particular character of a certain folklore tradition representing different towns and villages of their ethnic region. While performers are engaged in concerts, craftsmen demonstrate their products of folk art offering spectators traditional food and drinks. This Day has gained its popularity for its natural, spontaneous interaction between performers and the audience, for its relaxed atmosphere and its inclusive spirit that attracts the audience. In the evening, when the concerts are about to finish, the Folklore Day spills out into a mass singing of folk songs.

  2. The song and dance celebration has become an important occasion to exhibit folk art. A folk art exhibition is opened on the Folklore Day and continuous until after the celebration events are over. Works of the best contemporary folk artists from all over Lithuania are selected; historically and artistically important works from the museum funds are also exhibited. Every year the exhibitions vary in genre, for instance, painting, sculpture, applied arts, and etc.

  On average 500 folk artists take part in the art exhibitions exhibiting about 1 500 works.

  3. The third event is the Folk Song and Dance Ensemble Night. Its traditional venue is the outdoor stage in Kalnų Park, which is not far away from the original Royal Palace area, the historic centre of Vilnius. The venue is famous for its beautiful scenery and provides a natural amphitheatre for staged events.

A folk song and dance ensemble combines representatives of three genres: a choir that performs harmonised Lithuanian folk or songs composed by professional composers; a band of modified Lithuanian national instruments that does not only accompany the choir and dancers but makes music in its own right; and a dance company that performs folk dances designed for stage. Composers, choreographers, the authors of the lyrics (just as the directors of the main event) derive their inspiration and draw from the heritage of folk art. The repertoire of such ensembles is based on stylised, harmonised, and modified folk, professional pieces imitating folklore, and professional works.

  Their performances are usually centred round certain motives, for example, the customs and traditions related to work, family or something else.

  About 3 thousand performers take part in the Folk Song and Dance Ensemble Night. One ensemble may consist of 10 to 70 members.

People love Folk Song and Dance Ensemble Night for the special, thespian way of expression it offers. Because the Folk Song and Dance Ensemble Night attracts big audiences and the number of seats in Kalnų Park outdoor stage is limited, the performance is sometimes given twice.

  4. The fourth event is the concert of the Dance Day that takes place in the stadium “Žalgiris”. It is a mass performance of one dance composition performed by dancers of different ages. The composition is created following one common motive that is usually selected from the heritage of folk art; with the emphasis on the customs observed during work and family related festivals. The compositions are created by professional staged folk dance choreographers. 
  Folk dance companies of different age groups from children to senior citizens, up to 9 thousand dancers all in all, take part in the Dance Day.
  In the same way as other Days, the Dance Day is loved for its colourfulness, beautiful national dress and the variety of patterns produced on the stadium floor.

  5. The final touch in the series of the song and dance celebration events is the Song Day taking place in Vingis Park, on an outdoor stage designed especially for the Song Day. Approximately 400 choirs, 15 000 singers of children, youth, female, male, and mixed choirs take part in the Song Day concert. Traditionally, harmonised or specially tuned folk songs, works composed by classic or contemporary composers are performed on the Song Day. Most songs are sung a cappella, others are performed to the accompaniment of a brass or symphony orchestra. Different songs are conducted by different conductors. The success of the singing and the whole event depends on the stage director, designer, and the ingenuity of the conductor. They are the ones who generate the emotional and artistic state of the event.

  The choir concert takes about 4 hours. It is succeeded by spontaneous singing of all the people who have gathered in Vingis Park, which generally lasts for another couple of hours. Folk songs, romances and the favourite popular Lithuanian songs are sung.

  Song and Dance Festival is surrounded by additional but no less valuable events.

  On the first day, when all the participants come to Vilnius, a ceremony is held in a very old Rasų cemetery and at the Antakalnis Memorial (where numerous celebrated Lithuanian statesmen are buried) in the honour of statesmen, culture workers, and fighters for freedom. The tradition to commemorate the patriarchs of the nation, famous people, and fighters for freedom dates back to the ancient folk culture. Honouring the dead is an archaic custom of the Lithuanian nation that is commonly followed until this very day.

  Several smaller events take place on the first day of the gathering. They are Kanklės (traditional Lithuanian string instrument) music concert in Skarga courtyard of Vilnius University and a festive music concert in the Youth Theatre, to mention but a few. 

  During the celebration events, the final round of mixed, female and male choir competition is held in the National Philharmonics. This concert attracts a large number of professionals and educated lovers of choral music.

  On the last day of the celebration, a mass procession goes from the Cathedral Square to the Vingis Park, where the Song Day takes place all day. The procession takes about 3 hours. Singers, dancers, and other performers march in separate clusters or delegations formed on the basis of different regions of Lithuania, ensembles, choirs or bands they represent, countries they come from. The delegations carry their flags or other identification marks. Large crowds of city inhabitants and guests greet members of the procession in a sincere and emotional way.

  Song and dance celebration events and all the smaller preparatory regional festivals, i.e. competitions and assessments have always been the most important events where the national dress is worn. 
  A book and a newspaper are published to review the festive and preparatory events.
  The events are broadcasted by the National Radio and Television; they are widely featured in the press. 

The song and dance celebration tradition has always been a process and phenomenon of great prominence, which is due to its multifunctional significance:

First of all, song and dance celebration tradition has always declared not only a distinct cultural character but also embodied a subtle, culturally implicit aspiration to the statehood.

Second, the song and dance celebration tradition has become a major factor integrating the Lithuanian society.

Third, the song and dance celebration tradition has become the most universal manifestation of cultural, artistic, civic, and political identity nation wide.

Fourth, the song and dance celebration tradition has become the link between the archaic folk culture heritage, i.e. collective creation, and contemporary national culture, professional art, i.e. individual artistic creation.

The song and dance celebration tradition incites and develops artistic abilities of the nation. It is an especially effective means of developing young people in music and culture.

This tradition contributes considerably to the formation of the world outlook of the public by proclaiming common traditional, humanist values as well as the contemporary ones, applicable in the modern society.

The historical fate, i.e. the loss of the statehood and restrictions on spontaneous cultural self-expression, turned this tradition into an active form of struggle for cultural identity, the development of the modern national culture, and political independence in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, like in no other European country.

History

The roots of the song and dance celebration tradition lie in the 19th century Central Europe, where spontaneous folk festivals and carnivals, performances and poetry tournaments evolved into organised festivals. Usually they were centred round a choir singing to the playing of a brass orchestra. Singer festivals, where highly qualified singers performed, started in Switzerland and Germany.

  However, as years went by, the song celebration died out in those countries. The song movement that was brought to the Baltic countries by the Baltic Germans rooted and settled in for as long as today. The fact that song and dance celebration in the Baltics proved to be a long term tradition of exceptional importance to the local nations, rather than a temporary fashion, was determined by several favourable circumstances characteristic of this region.

First, the popularity of the ideas propagated by the national Romanticism that resulted in attributing exceptional significance to ethnic culture in the Baltics.

Second, the fragility of political independence of the Baltic nations.

Third, the discovery of a clear cut method of structuring festive (and inter-festive) periods related to the original singing tradition of the rural communities.

The three Baltic nations – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania - were united by their historical fate at the end of the 18th century. All the three of nations were occupied by the Russian Empire. The idea of freedom, unity, and raising of the self-awareness of the people in those countries flourished in the 19th century, at the time when smaller nations all over Europe were liberating themselves from the oppression of the bigger ones seeking independence and statehood. The mass movement that stretched over numerous countries is commonly known as the National Romanticism, National Liberation, or the National Revival.

  The acknowledgement of the importance of ethnic cultures in the Baltic countries came from the ideas and views shaped by German writers and philosophers, for example, the ethno-psychologist Vilhelm Vundt. At the end of the 19th century, the Baltic Germans largely disseminated those ideas in the Baltics (especially in Estonia and Latvia). Having become interested in the local ethnic cultures, Germans stimulated the development of their national self-awareness and modern national cultures.

The national cultures of the three Baltic nations were created on the basis of the folk cultural heritage, primarily songs. Intellectuals and artists of the three countries played a critical role shaping the national cultures. They did a huge job raising people’s national awareness by pointed out the significance of every individual’s conscious opinion on national matters and contributed to the founding of national cultures by introducing the concept of professional art. The mass song and dance celebration movement became one of the means to achieve their goal. The initial song and dance festivals were first held in Estonia in 1869, Latvia in 1873, and in Lithuania in 1924.

The mass national gatherings for song and dance celebration events stirred up the feelings of national integrity and unity as well as paved the way for the Baltic States’ liberation from Russia and establishing three sovereign states (in the case of Lithuania, for re-establishing it).

Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia became independent at the beginning of the 20th century, after the Russian revolution. The song and dance celebration tradition continued to signify the same idea of commemorating and strengthening the feeling of unity of the three nations, their national identities, and the importance of their independence.

The late coming of the song and dance celebration tradition to Lithuania in comparison to Estonia and Latvia was preconditioned by particularly tragic unfolding of historical events. In Lithuania, serfdom was abolished in 1861 only, 50 years later than in Estonia and Latvia. Lithuania was surged by the wave of national and social liberation movement in 1861. Lithuanian nobility and peasantry united with the Polish liberation movement and rose in rebellion. The uprising was suppressed after a bloody fighting, and a significant number of rebels and their families were either killed or deported to Siberia. The period of the official ban on Lithuanian printed matter that lasted until 1904 was announced. Vilnius University, seminaries for educating Catholic priests, all the Catholic parish schools, where the language of instruction was Lithuanian, and all the Lithuanian cultural societies were closed. Lithuanian printed matter in Latin script was forbidden. Every rudiment of the Lithuanian national culture was suppressed. Under these circumstances the Lithuanian culture was preserved by the peasantry who produced extremely rich folklore - a folk singing tradition, the craft of making crosses, textile, etc. In this way, the Russian Empire failed to de-nationalise Lithuania.

  After the fall of the common Lithuanian and Polish State in 1795, part of Lithuania, the so-called South West Lithuania, was given to Prussia. Whereas the so-called Lithuania Minor (it is a historic area, originating from the Baltic lands (occupied by the Order of the Knits of Cross in 13th century) on both banks of the river Prieglius and the Lower Nemunas in the 16th century) was annexed to Prussia much earlier. At the time when Lithuanian culture was being repressed it was there that Lithuanian books were published. Book carriers would smuggle them into Lithuania and take them to villages.

  Quite a few members of Lithuanian intelligentsia originate from this socially more independent and economically better well off region. They started spreading national liberation ideas in Lithuania and expressed them not only in print but by actually organising cultural events.

  A famous Lithuanian humanist and cultural worker Vydūnas (1868–1953) started organising events in Tilsit, where a choir would sing. In 1900 and 1902 Lithuanian concerts were already called song festivals. Mount Rambynas in Lithuania Minor was a favourite venue for mass singing and people gatherings. For the first time a Lithuanian choir sang there on 17 February 1895, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the society Birutė. Meetings of different societies where people would sing and act were held on Rambynas Mount, too. The celebration of the Midsummer’s night would also be organised there. The Singers’ society would organise festivals and concerts in Tilsit, Gumbinė, Ragainė, Rūkai, Rusnė, Juodkrantė, Lauksargiai, Smalininkai, and Klaipėda.

  However, the Prussian government was not concerned with the development of Lithuanian national culture. Political (as well as cultural) relationships Estonians and Latvians enjoyed with the local Germans, differed from those Lithuanians from Lithuania Minor had to face. Latvian and Estonian Germans were under the oppression of the Russian Empire themselves (sometimes rather loyal to Estonians and Latvians). They supported Estonians and Latvians in a number of their national aspirations, whereas Lithuanians fought for their distinct ethnic character with the German administration. The situation in Lithuanian Minor was rather controversial. On the one hand, Germans were the first to start collecting Lithuanian folklore, national dress and other works of art, invited people to make and wear the national dress. (This sort of activity was supported not only by famous German culture workers, but by highly ranking officials, too). On the other hand, cultural activity was effectively prevented from growing into political aspirations. For a very long time (until the turn of the century), Lithuanians themselves did not show any interest in folklore and folk art, as they did not consider it to be important or have a long-term value. This might explain why song and dance festivals in Lithuania Minor were initiated later than in Estonia and Latvia; only after analogous cultural movements appeared in Lithuanian Major. The conditions for cultural activity grew more and more difficult and the enthusiasm of the bright people of this region faded away.

Nevertheless, Lithuania Major started showing signs of awakening national awareness. Secret events, where people sang, danced and acted were held. Book carriers (people who volunteered to risk their lives smuggling Lithuanian books printed in Prussia) were particularly active. Secret schools (illegal schools that were opened at the period of the official ban on Lithuanian printed matter 1864–1904), where children were taught to read and write in Latin script, were set up.

The lifting of the abolition on the Lithuanian print in 1904 marked the recovery of national Lithuanian culture at the beginning of the 20th century. Choirs were being formed at churches and different societies. Favourable circumstances for a song and dance tradition to originate from were being created.

However, the first Song and Dance Festival was held in 1924 only, that is in six years after the first restoration of the statehood. The Song Day took place in Kaunas (as the capital of Lithuania and Vilnius region were occupied by Poland). It was initiated by the musician Juozas Žilevičius. Having studied and described the Estonian and Latvian song and dance celebration tradition he designed special courses for teachers of music in Lithuania, registered choirs and their repertoires. It turned out that many choirs performed the same songs. Therefore, a commission of musicians was appointed to make sure that choirs prepared their repertoires according to certain standards.

77 choirs, approximately 3000 singers, participated in the first Song Day. 34 songs were performed, 21 harmonised folk song and 13 original. The choirs sang to the playing of a united brass orchestra.

The first Song Day was accompanies by different ceremonies, while the logo of the festival symbolised the 6th anniversary of the independence.

The second Song Festival was held in Kaunas again, in 1928, and was dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the independence of Lithuania. About 6000 singers took part in it, and 21 song was performed, out of which 13 folk songs, 1 choral and 7 original pieces. 250 school children participated in the second day of the festival and performed gymnastic stunts.

The third Song Festival, held in the honour of Vytautas the Great, took place in 1930 in June. 6000 singers took part in it. 24 pieces were performed: one psalm, 6 original works and harmonised folk songs.

The overview of the three festivals gives a clear idea of the way the repertoire was compiled. Harmonised folk songs were the priority. Professional pieces were a second choice as they require a certain level of competence both on the part of the singers and directors.

The festival held by the Organisation The Young Lithuania in June of 1937 in Kaunas is considered to be the first Dance Festival, where 448 dancers selected from all over Lithuania performed several folk dances following a common pattern drawn on the floor of the square.

This is how the song and dance celebration tradition developed in Lithuania. Although song festivals were not held after the third Song Festival in 1930, the choir movement persisted. Cities, regions, different societies organised song festivals, staged choir competitions, organised concerts, and processions. United men and children choirs, skudučiai (skudučiai is an archaic Lithuanian folk instrument, similar to the Pan’s flute) and brass bands, dancers (with compositions created for about 500 dancers) performed in those events. In 1939, the Riflemen’s Union held a song festival that took place in Kaunas, in the Song Valley.

In 1939, the Department of Culture of the Ministry of Education of Lithuania decided that the song and dance movement had to be transformed into an organised, state event. Even a project of the Song Festival Law was prepared, stipulating the timing and scope of the festival. Regional song festivals were supposed to be held every year, the universal ones – once every 5 years. The coming up festival was to be held in 1943 (a repertoire book comprising 38 pieces of music with the national Lithuanian, Estonian, and Latvian hymns was published in 1938). However, Lithuania was trapped in the vortex of World War II and the country was occupied again, this time by Germany.

After World War II Lithuania, together with Latvia and Estonia were annexed to the Soviet Russia. Repressions got under way, thousands of statesmen, cultural and artistic workers, members of intelligentsia, and well off farmers were deported to Siberia, where many of them died in concentration camps of unbearable climate and work conditions. The occupation and deportations triggered an armed resistance – thousands of youngsters went off to the forests to fight against Soviet occupation.

Despite all the political and social disasters Lithuania was suffering at the time, the song and dance celebration tradition resumed in 1946. About 12 thousand singers took part in the event. Since 1950, song and dance celebration events have been held on a regular basis every five years. The number of participants has grown up to 30 – 35 thousand. Soviet aesthetical and political dogma applied to the song and dance celebration in the same way as to other arts. That meant that the Lithuanian art was supposed to be national in terms of form but social in terms of content. The song and dance celebration tradition became heavily ideologically impregnated– the repertoire, the logo and other symbols of the festival had to be loaded with the signs glorifying the Soviet Union and the Communist Party. However, the festival served as a framework for an inborn, well-mastered, secret cultural resistance, characteristic of this tradition. In any case, most pieces performed during the festivals were Lithuanian, Lithuanians would gather to the events, mass singing would be going on in the streets after the concerts. This way, song and dance festivals were seen as a confirmation of the national identity. In fact, song and dance celebration events have always aspired to present the nation as a mature and focused community that could boast of a rich past and was worth to have a future.

Cultural and artistic workers have put a lot of effort into improving the artistic competence of the performers. They have also tried to raise money. As soon as a new genre would reach a required level of sophistication, it would be immediately included into the programme of the events.

In 1950, the song celebration tradition was extended by the Dance Day. It was a huge independent event, a mass performance of unified dances in „Žalgiris” Stadium.

In the same year, during the song and dance celebration events in Vilnius, the biggest folk art exhibitions in the country representing artists from all over Lithuania were started to be held. The tradition of the national art exhibitions has been around since 1907 (the First Exhibition of Lithuanian Art). Combining the folk art exhibition with the national song and dance celebration was a very logical decision. Smaller, preparatory regional festivals are often accompanied by folk arts and crafts exhibitions, competitions, and fairs. Bringing all types of folk art together to the biggest festival reflects the persisting Lithuanian village mentality and the totality of the traditional ethnic culture.

In 1955, the newspaper „Skambėk, daina” („Sing the Song”) that comes out at the time of the song and dance events in Vilnius was launched. The newspaper is dedicated to the events of the celebration and the activities of the amateur companies. 53 issues have been released so far.

Since 1924, commemorative brochures have been published. They give a lot of facts, present the senior conductors, directors, etc.

After the festivals of 1955 and 1985 albums were published.

In 1960, an outdoor stage designed especially for the Song Day by Estonian architects was constructed in Vingis Park.

In 1970, the outdoor stage in Kalnų Park was reconstructed. In the same year, a new genre, i.e. the performance of folk song and dance ensembles was introduced as an independent event and called the Ensemble Night. A song and dance ensemble combines three genres: a choir that performs harmonised Lithuanian folk songs or original folk songs; a band of Lithuanian national instruments that does not only accompany but makes music in its own right; and a dance company that performs national dance designed for stage. The united performance is always centred round a motive reflecting customs followed during calendar, work, or family festivals.

In 1980, a united brass orchestra, almost 3 thousand musicians played on the Vingis Park stage.

The song and dance celebration tradition gave rise to a school children song festival, that has been held on a regular basis as an independent event since 1964.

The members of intelligentsia that emigrated to the West after World War II ‘took’ the song and dance celebration tradition with them as a part of their national cultural heritage. Lithuanian communities set up in the USA, Canada, Australia, and other countries have organised song and dance Days abroad since 1956.

The atmosphere of the song and dance celebration in 1990 differed radically from the one that dominated in the Soviet times. The presence of the police was no longer felt. The atmosphere of freedom and open joy flooded Vilnius, although the political situation was still quite tense. Due to the Russian blockade the representatives of the people in exile were not able to join that celebration. However, a National Evening was held in Sereikiškių Park, where abundant folk bands performed. The movement of authentic folklore ensembles started in the 1980s and 90s in Lithuania. Their activity played a crucial role in the last national liberation movement. The rise of the ethnographic folklore ensembles was a form of protest against the tight regulations the song and dance ensemble repertoires had to follow and against the overdose of Soviet ideology. The year 1985 was probably the time when song and dance celebration events saw the largest number of participants (38.856 art lovers). However, it had never been so politicised and supervised before. The folklore movement offered an alternative to the restricted the folk song. It should be highlighted that as early as 1990, when Lithuania became an independent state, the folklore movement naturally joined the pattern of the song and dance celebration events and was granted the privilege of opening the celebration. In this way, the spectator is taken all the way from the archaic Lithuanian folk song and dance to the performance of harmonised and professional pieces that are sung on the last day of the celebration in Vingis Park.

Lithuanians from exile, i.e. the USA, Canada, Australia, Germany, Russia (deportee choirs), Latvia, Poland, the Ukraine, etc. joined the song and dance celebration events in 1994.

As it has already been pointed out, the song and dance celebrations consist of the main and additional events. From the artistic-cultural point of view, this tradition shows a high degree of vitality and has a lot of potential to integrate other mature amateur artistic forms of expression into the pattern of the celebration events as well as improve the quality of the currently represented genres.

Song and dance celebration events and all the preceding smaller scale regional festivals, competitions and assessments have always been and still are the most important events, where the national dress is warn. Female members of Vydūnas Tilsit Lithuanian Singer Society, who had gathered to one of the first regional Song festivals in 1900, were the first ones to have worn self made national dress. All the female participants of the first Song Day in 1924 also wore the national dress. (The national dress was the organisers’ preference only, not an obligation). 

In 1930s, when folk dance and folk dance festivals started developing in a very fast pace, men felt the need to have costumes as well (up to that point men’s national costume was hardly used). Thus, dance festivals proved to be the crucial factor creating the design of the male national dress for stage.

The significance of the song and dance festivals for the development of the design of national dress became even bigger after World War II. All the important institutions, members of which were the main propagators and users of the national dress, such as patriotic societies, the Catholic church and monastery communities with their solemn processions were restricted or closed under the Soviet occupation. Fashion and stage designers started creating costumes for the National Song and Dance Festival performances in line with the interpretations of folk music and dance.

Song and dance festival movement remains one of the crucial contributors to the development of the design of the national dress. For instance, as the popularity of the authentic folklore has significantly increased over the last decade, a lot of effort has been put into reconstructing the authentic folk dress.

Organisation

 National song and dance celebration events are held every 4 years in Lithuania. Their precondition from the cultural point of view is the active society, a wide and a vital network of art lovers all over the country.

For each festival the organising committee compiles a new repertoire for all the events. It usually includes traditionally performed pieces from the so-called ‘all time classics’ list (these are the most popular harmonised folk songs, old patriotic songs, favourite professional pieces, traditional staged folk dances, etc.), and works by contemporary composers (competitions for new pieces are constantly being held).

Competitions for the scenarios of separate Days are also set up.

When the repertoire is ready, it is compiled and published as a separate publication.

The candidate companies for the national song and dance celebration start working on the repertoire. Every season directors of the companies are offered training seminars. Assessments are organised before every festival and the companies that have mastered the repertoire best are selected (around 30.000 participants).

During the days of the Festival different organisations and service providing companies catering for about 30 thousand participants (providing the accommodation, food, etc.) become very active. The capital of Lithuania, Vilnius, is usually ready to put up the guests.

To ensure the good quality of mass performances, common rehearsals are held several days before the Festival.

The festive events start. As it was stated in the description, there are 5 main ones:

Folklore Day;
The opening of the national folk art exhibition;
Ensemble Night;
Dance Day;
Song Day.

Additional events:
Procession;

Kanklės music concert, pop or symphony music concert, brass band orchestra concerts in city squares, etc.;
Ceremonies in Rasų Cemetery and the Antakalnis Memorial to commemorate celebrated statesmen, culture and art workers;
Final round of the choir competition;
Solemn reception for the organising committee and the directors of the companies at the President’s Office; award of the regalia.

A commemoration book with the descriptions of the amateur artistic groups and the facts on the song and dance celebration is published before the festival.

During the festive event period a couple of ‘Skambėk, daina’ (“Sing the Song”) newspaper issues are published. They review the activity of the amateur artistic groups over the preceding 4 years, feature the programmes of the festive events and introduce guest companies.

Participants

In total about 30 thousand people take part in the song and dance celebration events. In terms of age, they are children, young people, adults and senior citizens. Gender wise they are men and women. In terms of social disposition they come from all the social layers. Nationality-wise, not only Lithuanian but the companies of the national minorities in Lithuania, i.e. Russian, Polish, Belarus, as well as guests from Latvia, Estonia and other neighbouring countries take part.

Approximately 200 companies, i.e. 4000 participants take part in the Folklore Day.

Approximately 500 artists with up to 1500 works participate in the national folk art exhibition.

Approximately 3000 participants take part in the Ensembles Night.

Approximately 250 companies, round 9000 dancers, take part in the Dance Day.

Approximately 400 choirs, 149 mixed choirs, 99 female, 40 male, 91 children, 70 youth choirs, 84 brass bands, in total 15 thousand participants, take part in the Song Day.

Continuity

The main precondition of the continuity of the song and dance celebration tradition is the continuous activity of different amateur artistic groups. The latter have been set up at the will and wish of their participants, i.e. spontaneously. In many cases, one or several active people who were capable of directing artistic groups initiated them. At the beginning, they learnt the basics of music and choreography at Russian and Polish schools, while in the inter-war period those people were educated at Lithuanian schools. In response to the needs of amateurs in the Soviet period, since 1971, Klaipėda University (Klaipėda Faculty of the Lithuanian Conservatoire, as it was called then) has been offering a course for future specialists and directors of amateur artistic groups. Hence, involvement in amateur artistic activities is voluntary, but the state and municipalities make this activity possible by providing facilities for schools, culture palaces, or other institutions to employ respective staffs.

  The very idea of song and dance celebration has survived through generations, moreover, it has been ‘exported’ from Lithuania by Lithuanian emigrants to different countries and taken over by young generations.

  People are born and grow in and with the tradition of song and dance celebration by being members of amateur artistic groups, by participating in local festive events, assessments, and competitions, and finally, in national song and dance celebration events. This tradition is cherished by families (family members that are or used to be involved in amateur artistic groups), by schools, cultural institutions, NGOs, and autonomous companies.

  It is not only the performers who ensure the continuity of the tradition, but the users, consumers, i.e. the Lithuanian public that has preserved a living need for this phenomenon, as well.

  Mass media also contributes to the continuity of the tradition and to the shaping of its prestige.

  An institutional structure facilitating the organisation of local and national song and dance events was born in 1945. City and district culture and education authorities have since been responsible for the events, the Song and Dance Festival Fund and the Song and Dance Festival headquarters, as well as its organisational committee headed by high rank state officials are responsible for it on the national scale.

  Having acquired their independence, the three Baltic States Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are currently experiencing great economic and social changes. With the transition to the market economy, culture and arts are also involved in commercial relations. On the one hand, this gives birth to new private amateur art studios and clubs. Sadly, people who want to take part in them have to pay their membership fees, which is true even about state funded companies. The membership fee is used for the acquisition of national costumes, music instruments, concert tours, etc. This should, however, be taken as a natural development since the economy of the Baltic States has not yet been fully restored. It is characterised by a relatively high unemployment rate (20 per cent), by illegal emigration to well-to-do Western European countries and the USA, and by low standards of living that in many cases is not higher than minimum. Economic and social hardships of the three countries’ are increasingly becoming a barrier for amateur cultural and artistic activities.

The unstable economic situation results in a shortage of funds needed for national song and dance celebration events in Vilnius, despite the state support and the money raised from private patrons and supporters.  Some expenses are covered by the participants of the Festival, and far from everybody can afford to contribute with his or her financial resources, and this is a limitation the final Vilnius Song and Dance Festival is suffering from.

It is noteworthy that the Baltic States are affected by the mass commercial culture of Western countries. Globalisation, information technology causes very fast individual development of some young people in Lithuania. This has a negative effect on a certain part of the society in the Baltics, especially the youth. They start loosing the sense of national immunity and appreciation for their national values. Globalisation processes will pose a threat to national cultures as well as the song and dance celebration tradition, which may even lead to the.

The Value of the Song and Dance Celebration Tradition

The tradition of the national song and dance celebration in Lithuania is a unique cultural phenomenon of particular historic, cultural, aesthetic, and social significance.

Historical perspective. The value of the national song and dance celebration tradition lies in its roots. It was born alongside the national liberation movement of small European nations at the second half of the 19th century. For over a century it kept adapting to different historical and political circumstances, to be independence or different occupations. The history of the tradition reflects the historical fate of the Baltic States. From the very beginning it was tightly ideologically related to the three countries’ aspirations for freedom and national unity. The national song and dance celebration tradition is loaded with strong but subtle cultural ideology. At the beginning of the national liberation movement, which took place in late 19th and early 20th centuries, this tradition was one of the most important means of raising national self-consciousness. After the restoration of independence in Lithuania in the inter-war period, the national song and dance celebration tradition played the role of a national integrator promoting the sense of national unity and civic identity. Under the Soviet regime it adjusted to the historical circumstances. The tradition was transformed into type of a resistance movement helping the three Baltic nations to unite. Upon the restoration of the independence of the three Baltic States, this tradition enjoys the sense of freedom again and has all the possibilities to fully grow and develop.

From the historical perspective, the national song and dance celebration tradition is a witness of the liberation of the Baltic nations, worth being a subject of academic research.

Cultural perspective. The value of the national song and dance celebration tradition lies in its ability to reflect the cultural history and being part of contemporary culture.

The source of the tradition is the collective life style and customs of the ancient Baltic agrarian communities. First and foremost it applies to singing folk songs together while working – making hay, reaping rye, pulling flax, and at the most significant personal events (weddings, baptising), at parties and holidays, etc. The tradition of collective singing is supplemented by folk dancing, i.e. dancing at parties and holidays after a day’s work, and making music together.

From the cultural perspective, the national song and dance celebration tradition was the main bridge between the archaic agrarian life style with its forms of cultural and artistic expression and the modern, Western European type of artistic expression. The latter is based on classical harmony in music, and romantic ballet in dancing, which suggest that individual artists play a more prominent role. It is thanks to this tradition that the wealth of the archaic folk culture was used for the development of the national professional art and culture and that conditions for the public to take part in the creation thereof were created. Once the national song and dance celebration tradition was well established, it became a serious encouragement for choirs to be created, for folk songs to be harmonised, for folk dance to be studied and reconstructed in order to be shown on stages and in large squares. That was also an incentive to modify national music instruments, to set up larger folk music bands capable of a more complicated repertoir, and develop new genres of art for stage, for example, folk song and dance ensembles.

This tradition gave rise to new amateur and professional forms of national culture.

This is one of the major universal tools of the cultural development of children and youth.

Aesthetic perspective. The characterisation of the national song and dance celebration tradition calls for the definition of two aspects in which the tradition expresses itself. First, it considers a piece of art as a piece of value per se. Second, it regards each concert, performance, artistic mastery of large joint ensembles, the staging of the concerts, the quality and peculiarity of the stage design as artistically valuable.

The last aspect leads to a universal conclusion that in the course of the historic development of the celebration tradition, a great number of very valuable artistic works: songs, dances, and pieces of instrumental music were created for the song and dance celebration events.

It suggests that concerts given by each joint group (song, dance, folklore, song and dance ensembles) and their joint performances at the national song and dance celebration events acquire their autonomous aesthetic value.

Social perspective. The song and dance celebration tradition is a very important factor unifying the society on the basis of collective co-existence. It re-enforces the national identity and humanist values. The song and dance celebration events reach all the members of the Lithuanian society irrespective of their social position, gender, age, or ethnic identity.

The song and dance celebration tradition unites individual nations as well as different national communities, in this case, it is the whole Baltic region – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Uniqueness. The tradition of the national song and dance celebration of the three Baltic States is unique in its cultural form and is an exceptionally valuable cultural and public phenomenon in the context of global culture.

Besides the traditional song and dance festivals, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania stage joint student song and dance celebration festivals „Gaudeamus” and the international folklore festival „Baltica”. However, these events are relatively new. They are smaller scale and limited in either age or cultural expression, and can in no way be compared to the national song and dance festival.

By Dalia RASTENIENĖ
Translated by Eglė KAČKUTĖ