Saare Vikat, meie New Yorgi rahvatantsurühm, on viimastel aastatel puudutanud palju inimesi meie kogukonnast. Soovin oma vaatenurgast Teile meie lugu esitada. Kuigi olen proovinud parimas kirjakeeles seda esile tuua, eks leidub mõni viga. Palun andestust nende eksimuste ja eelarvamuste eest, mida oleks võinud paremini esitada. Siin on neljas ja viimane etapp. Nautigem!
Onward….April 2019 –
Only a couple of weeks after our film marathon, Saare Vikat was welcomed to perform at the opening ceremony of New Yorgi Eesti Kultuuripäevad.
Being that we only had to perform “Kalamees” and “Tuljak”, two dances we’d grown fairly familiar with over the course of the last year, our rehearsal didn’t take long.
We gathered in the performance area, talked through the dances, pairings, and orientation, and then fired up the tunes and went through each song 2-3 times.
Per usual, the first 15 minutes or so were clunky and it wasn’t until our final run-through of each dance that we felt “good enough”.
We bow tied our rehearsal, meandered to the downstairs bar area, and had time for one drink before returning to the suur saal as a steady trickle of people signaled “it’s time”.
Our dancers took seats on either end of the stage, and the ceremony began. The opening video and speeches warmed and welcomed. The musical act soothed and mellowed. And then it was our turn.
We performed a high energy, four couple rendition of “Kalamees” and “Tuljak”. And although space was limited, we tried to maximize our use of it and draw from the energy of the crowd. The finishing sequence of “Tuljak” was met with a thunderous applause, and with a closing word, the opening ceremony was complete.
We capped off the weekend by reconvening for nublu’s (sold out) Saturday performance. He and DJ QrX brought such incredible energy that the New Yorgi Eesti Maja was (literally) bouncing like it had never done before.
A few weeks later, we reconvened at the New Yorgi Eesti Maja to practice and discuss our recent news from Eesti:
• the naiste grupp had been rejected and
• sega was “wait-listed” (and later rejected)
Liisi thanked everyone for the work they’d put in thus far and said that although we may not be hearing the news we wanted to hear, she and Lili were proud of us.
We then discussed some of the different possibilities for our future and got moving. We recapped the dances learned over the course of the past 2 years, took a brief pause, and then gathered in the bar for …
A group dinner. The New Yorgi Eesti Maja prepared and served up a delicious spread of schnitzel, pork, potatoes, and salad as the members of Saare Vikat sat around one long candlelit table in recognition of the nearly 2 years we’d spent together.
Our members had been spread across Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York.
Due to distance between members and the logistical difficulties this presented, our practices were less frequent in number yet longer in duration. They ranged from 3-4 hour review sessions to 14 hour film sessions.
Our practices extended from those at the New Yorgi Eesti Maja, to a wintry practice at the Põldmäe residence in Maryland, a balmy summer practice at Suvekodu in Middle Island NY, a weekend tutorial with Rauno at Seedrioru in Centre Wellington, Ontario, Canada, a weekend practice with Märt at the Lakewoodi Eesti Maja, a film marathon at Suvekodu, and a film marathon at the Lakewoodi Eesti Maja.
Our performances ranged from EV100 in New York and Connecticut, to jaanipäev in Long Island and New Jersey, to Lakewoodi Eesti Mängud and New Year’s at the Lakewoodi Eesti Maja, to suusapäevad in Mont Tremblant, Quebec, Canada, and Eesti kultuuripäevad at the New Yorgi Eesti Maja.
And while there were certainly disagreements and lessons learned along the way, our members stayed committed to one another through the ups and downs.
It was the little shared moments, conversations, and time spent getting to know one another better that kept us coming back, and it was the support of this little community and the idea of representing it that kept us chugging along.
We do not know what the future holds for Saare Vikat, but the journey of these past couple years has been truly once in a lifetime.
Tänan, et lugesite ja elasite meie reisile kaasa.
Me armastame Teid ja loodame Teid varsti näha!
Skål!
Magnus
