The Muhu islanders in the Kihnu festival 1994

Folk dance group “Ätses” and folk music band “Laulusõbrad”

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Film “The Muhu islanders in the Kihnu festival” introduces the performance of the Muhu islanders during the Kihnu festival in 1994. The recordings have been made together with the Estonan TV film crew. The director was Ruti Murusalu and the cameraman was Rein Lillmaa. These recordings offer viewers the traditional culture in the present-day context, for here we can see an organized performance during a present-day festival. The event is an authentic Kihnu celebration with nothing staged especially for the filming. We can see traditional Muhu dances performed by the group “Ätses” who is accompanied by a singing and instrumental group “Laulusõbrad” that also performs some songs on their own. /---/

In addition to the folk songs well-known in Muhu the group performs the song “Kodusaar Muhu” (“Home island Muhu”). The author of this song is Arno Kask, who played in the national orchestra of conductors together with Vello Tikerpalu, the leader of the group “Laulusõbrad”. Having heard that Vello comes from Muhu, Arno Kask decided to present him with a song that “Laulusõbrad” included in their repertoire. The song “Muhu kalurivalss” (“The Muhu fisherman’s waltz”) is composed by a Muhu islander Vassili Kask who took part in the Liberation War and who has also been considered the author of songs “Kupu Kaarel” and “Muhulase noomitus” (“An admonition of a Muhu islander”). These songs tell of changes in the life of Muhu at the end of World War I and in the early years of independent Estonia. The author of the song “Two famous mills in the south of Muhu” (“The man of Vesiaa”) is a Muhu islander Mihkel Toom. The text of “Muhumaa” is by a Saaremaa islander Antonina Klaas with the tune composed by her husband Andres (Andrei) Klaas, a Russian Orthodox priest and choir conductor.

“Laulusõbrad” at a Dance Festival in 1990. L. Peegel’s private collection.

The dance group “Ätses” performs social dances which were popular in Muhu at the beginning of the 20^th century. Apart from Muhu islanders the dance group of Viinistu civic centre was also invited to the Kihnu festival. The dancers came from the former Kuusalu parish. During the performance of the Muhu group they performed their versions of the same dances on the grass in front of the bandstand. This gives us an opportunity to compare different variants of the same dances. The Kihnu islanders also joined the waltz performed at the end of the event. It is noteworthy that differences of dancing style can be detected during spontaneous dancing (in the video “Song games in Suuremõisa village”) and in the performances.

Songs and dances:

• Home island Muhu
• An admonition of a Muhu islander (a dance with a song accompaniment)
• Swings dance
• Girlie girl (a dance with a song accompaniment)
• Two famous mills in the south of Muhu
• Two-step
• The seamen's waltz (a dance with a song accompaniment)
• Kupu Kaarel (a dance with a song accompaniment)
• The Muhu fisherman's waltz
• Oirah
• Kikkapuu
• Muhumaa (a dance with a song accompaniment)

Recorded by I. Rüütel, R. Murusalu, R. Lillma, E. Potter in 1994. Film FAV 256.