MARQUETTE, Mich. (WZMQ) – The Sister Cities Committee invited the Kivijat Children’s Finnish American Folk Dance Group to participate for the first time in Marquette’s Art Week.
The dance group held a workshop Friday in the Marquette Commons where they taught guests traditional folk dances and explained the history behind the traditional Finnish garments.
The Kivijat Finnish Dance group is in its 20th year of celebrating the Finnish culture by continuing and spreading the traditional Finnish dances. They started in Copper Country and performed for the first time in 2005 at the Marquette Finn Fest.
Organizers say sharing the traditions with children and watching them continue passing traditions to the next generation is why the group was started.
“We celebrate Finnish folk dancing by preserving it, interpreting it, and sharing it,” said Kay Seppala, the Kivijat Children’s Finnish American Folk Dance Group director.
The dance group’s next performance will be in Houghton in July. For more details go to the Finnish American Heritage Center home page.
