Latvian Folk Dance Group ‘Jampadracis’

Latvian Folk Dance Group ‘Jampadracis’ (the name means hullabaloo or riot in Latvian), started life in the spring of 2006 after a suggestion by the Latvian Society in Ireland (LBI) to form it’s own folk dance group.  Notices were put in the Latvian newspaper ‘Sveiks’ and experienced teacher and leader Solveiga Slaidina was found.  She in turn advertised in the newspaper and on the internet and organised the first 4 pairs of  dancers for a performance of ‘By the Amber Sea’ (Pie Dzintara Jūras) at the Independence Day celebrations in November 2006 in Dublin’s Teachers Club. Tears of emotion were noted in the audience, and the applause was heartfelt, and enthusiastic.

Since then the group has grown in number to about  20, and although many dancers have  left to go back to Latvia, many new ones have joined, so there is a constantly changing personnel.

In 2007 Jampadracis performed at several Latvian functions, once visiting Bradford in England, but also at the Multicultural Festival in Blanchardstown, the  Garda’s Intercultural Mask and Costume Celebration, at the Switching On of the Christmas Lights in O’Connell St., Dublin and at LBI’s Christmas Ball.

In 2008 Jampadracis had a busy schedule. We had the honour of being able to perform at probably the largest song and dance festival in the world, which happens every four or five years in Riga. The dance part of the festival culminates in a 2 hour performance by more than 13,000 dancers. Every dance group in Latvia competes to get into this performance but only a third  make it.

To that end we had to practice very hard, and only learned the final dance during the week of the festival.

The festival kicks off with a parade by all the participants through the streets of Riga. There are so many choirs, music groups, bands and dancers that it takes more than five hours to get past all the cheering people lining the streets.

The practices every day, watching other performances and concerts when possible, having to meet different groups of friends in different parts of Riga, then the performances themselves, all make for a very intense, emotional and exhausting week, especially for those of us who were there for the first time, although  for some it was the fourth time of participating.

But before that we performed again in England, together with Dublin’s Latvian Choir – Elvē, at the annual meeting of the Anglo Latvian Society.

After the summer we danced at the Street Rythms Festival in Enniscorthy, Wexford, although the street part was rained off, so we danced inside in the art gallery.

Another festival affected by the rain was the Dun Laoghaire Festival of World Cultures, where we performed on the Saturday in the rain, pity we weren’t booked for the Sunday because that was in glorious sunshine.

Currently we meet at the Grifeen Valley Educate Together National School, Lucan,  every 2 weeks, where we are currently practicing new dances for the Independence Day celebrations in Dublin’s City Hall in November, and the Christmas Ball in Dublin in December.