Young Finns embrace traditional dance at country’s largest dance camp

Traditional Finnish social dancing is attracting growing numbers of young people, with teenagers as young as 14 attending the Valasranta dance camp in Yläne, southwestern Finland, Yle reports.

The camp has seen increasing interest in dances such as bugg and fusku. Organiser Niina Tammelin describes the trend as a cultural change, saying social dancing reflects each generation and is not unchanging folk culture.

According to Tammelin, the youngest participants are about 14 or 15, while the oldest are well over 80. She says noticeably younger age groups have taken up social dancing since the exceptional years caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Tammelin also points to the Komiat phenomenon and social media, which have brought dance pavilion culture to the attention of younger audiences. She says the long-established camp plays an important role in Finnish social dancing and in passing the tradition on to future generations.

Milla Ylä-Tuomola, 21, began dancing at the age of 13 and says she fell in love with it immediately. After eight years, she describes dancing less as a hobby than as a way of life.

Ylä-Tuomola believes social media has helped young people see dancing from the perspective of their own generation. She also says the sense of community and genuine presence appeal to young people.

“There is no better way to spend a summer evening with friends or family than to go dancing,” she says.

Bugg is particularly popular among young dancers, according to Ylä-Tuomola. She describes it as a lively dance that involves the whole body. Fusku is also popular, while 16-year-old Ville Aaltonen says he enjoys those dances as well as humppa and tango.

Aaltonen says older dancers have also had to learn new styles as the range of dances has expanded. In his view, this has made them more open towards beginners who are learning at the same time.

Ylä-Tuomola says age differences are less noticeable on the dance floor. Participants talk and meet people of different ages, and can find like-minded friends.

She says many young people still assume that dance pavilions are places where only older people dance the waltz. One evening is enough to challenge those ideas, she says, because young people, good music and a lively atmosphere are all common at the dances.

The 23rd Valasranta dance camp also had to change venues at short notice after a storm partially tore the roof from the dance hall. A large tent measuring 1,000 square metres was erected beside Lake Pyhäjärvi to replace the damaged hall.

Sami and Jutta Helenius, who have taught at the camp for more than a decade, say visitor numbers appear to have increased. Sami Helenius says the change is especially visible in the evenings, when the dance floor becomes pleasantly crowded.

Tags: Finland, social dancing, youth culture