National Holiday Dance Concert “Give Me Strength, Give Me Time” at Kipsala Hall, May 4

"Gatves deja", "Stūru stūriem tēvu zeme" ... more than 1200 dancers from Riga’s best folk dance ensembles are to perform these and other dances at the National Holiday Dance Concert “Give Me Strength, Give Me Time” to be held at 18.00, May 4 at Kipsala Hall. Everyone is invited to feel the festive spirit, enjoy the cultural heritage of Latvians and feel proud of this country.

"Love for dance and excitement of performers, impressive patterns will astonish and delight every spectator. Dances that have passed the test of time can bring back old memories to ones, while the others simply enjoy the beauty of dance and admire the skill of the dancers," told Jānis Ērglis, an artistic director of the concert.

“As Aspazija wrote in her patriotic prologue in honour of the 25th anniversary of Riga Latvian Society in 1893: ‘Latvia, build up your spiritual wealth / Work diligently to get / The luxurious wreath / That immortality offers you,’ the best folk dance ensembles of Riga will offer to spectators a beautiful wreath of Latvian stage dance unveiling diversity of rhythms and variegated characters,” the stage director Jānis Siliņš explained.

Alongside the dance pieces included in the golden archives of Latvian folk dance, like “Pie Daugavas” and “Audēju deja” by Harijs Sūna, “Spēlē, spēlmani” by Imants Magone, “Gatves deja” and “Rucavietis” by Helena Tangijeva-Birzniece, the dancers will also show newly created ones by Jānis Purviņš, Jānis Ērglis and Agris Daņiļevičs. The concert will start with Jānis Ērglis’ “Krustami dejami, krustami lecami” dating back to the 1991 Barricades and end with the most recent contribution to this genre – “Līgo danči” by Jānis Purviņš.

Participating in the concert are the folk dance ensembles “Ačkups”, “Austris”, “Bramaņi”, “Bitīte”, “Daiļrade”, “Dancis”, “Dardedze”, “Gatve”, “Liesma”, “Līgo”, “Pērle”, “Rotaļa”, “Teiksma”, “Uguntiņa”, “Vektors” and “Zalktis”, and the children folk dance ensembles “Dzintariņš”, “Zelta sietiņš” and “Teiksmiņa”.

Creative team – Ingrīda Edīte Saulīte, Rolands Juraševskis and Jānis Ērglis. Stage director ? Jānis Siliņš, set designer – Reinis Suhanovs, artistic director – Jānis Ērglis. Event will be hosted by Dita Lūriņa and Egils Melbārdis.

Tickets are available at the “Biļešu paradise” ticket offices or online: www.bilesuparadize.lv and at Kipsala Hall. Ticket prices: EUR 5–12.50. Doors open one hour before the concert.