Vanhojen tanssit

The second tradition this week for Finnish high schoolers is a celebration by the 2nd year students in honor of the fact that they are now the oldest in the school. The festvities are called Vanhojen tanssit and they were held all over Finland today. Unlike yesterday's trashed Abit, this is a very formal and special ceremony. When I was here before I was lucky enough to take part in the dancing. A course was organized in January, and ended when the performance happened. In this course we are taught various traditional dances from all over the world. Then, on this special day, guys get dressed in their tuxedos and girls put on their best dress (many girls make a dress just for the occasion, as was the case with one of my partners). Multiple performances are held, showing for parents, the school, and anyone who cares to watch. Today I went to the Helsinki regional show with my awesome Belgian friend Anise (who was also an exchange student during high school and has now come back!). There were about 8 high schools combined I'd say, which means a lot of people were dancing in a tight space. I thought it might just be a little bit easier to show you what these dances are all about, so please enjoy these videos I took today!

The dance in this video is one that I also performed all those years ago. The first time i heard the music we were dancing to I couldn't stop laughing. The people around me had no idea why, until I explained to them that it was the same music that the ice cream truck plays in the US.