Remember I wrote about some
Folk Dancing With Babies yesterday?
Well, we went. I took my youngest (5-months old) and my friends Teija and Kaisa brought their baby boys too (all under 6 months).
I didn't get many photos outside and the exercises were very hands-on with our children, so not many indoor shots either.
I would have liked to take more photos outside but to be honest - it was quite difficult to!
Lutakko Dance Hall is located across the lake and train tracks and is very near Paviljonki (the Pavillion). When getting there, one thing you'll notice right off the bat is that it's super muddy (currently), icy still and the puddles are long and deep enough that you should probably bring your own boat...or scuba gear as Kaisa put it!
I know it's a result of the melting snow, the slightly warming temperatures and the construction site nearby - making it quite difficult to get there by vehicle, find nearby parking spots or by foot!
But I continue...
The outside of the building looks run-down and is made of bricks.
The inside had some stairs, so we parked our strollers in there and plucked our babies out and headed up.
When you finally get inside, it's full of Sharpie-designed graffiti...as in tips and advice such as: "Don't stop giving a F**K!" (A lot of it in English and thanks to the person who taught me my daily little life lesson!)
Anyways, I was getting nervous because we were so sure of the time (Teija and I arrived first) and nobody was there, nor did anyone understand what we were talking about.
Finally, a lady came and it turns out that the
4:30pm session for 0-1 year babies no longer exists because there were not enough babies so it was held at
5:00pm with the 1-3 year olds.Okay! Fine with me!
We enter a tiny kitchenette of a room and begin to remove our shoes and coats and undress our sleepy babies and head through a door way where there is a large-enough dance hall with lots of mirrors.
I must not forget the pink and grey yoga mats!
Everyone got a yoga mat to sit on and we (K, T and I) introduced our babies and how old they were and that was that. We don't know any of the other parents/grandparents names there - as it was just the children's names that were called our during our first song.
The first song was very cute and each child was given the chance to really "shine"! We were sitting in a circle and the child beside you and we sang a "boy song" or a "girl song", depending on who was next in the circle.
When it got to the next child, that child was able to pick an action movement, like: clapping your hands, tapping your toes etc. and they'd all sing a little Finnish song using that child's name and doing their chosen action-movement.
When it came to me and my 5-month old, I decided tapping his head was best with his hands...
After that came the scarf-song. Oh this was a doozy.
Each child got a little light green handkerchief and was allowed to run around this hall like mad when the music played.
BUT! When the music stopped, they had to stop running and shake their hanky. Very cute and incredibly impressive that not a single tear was shed because nobody bumped into anyone!
Some light tunes involved us carrying our children and zooming around or putting our kids on our shoulders and running around....
Then came the
"Sacrifice The Children To The Hedgehog Puppet" dance.
Oh yes....this was the most confusing for me as I had no idea what was going on. (Not the real title!)
We're all in a circle, walking lightly - going around and around - while the teacher had a hedgehog puppet on her hand and was singing the song.
Then when this tune is over - everyone - I mean EVERYONE, picked up their kids as high as they could and ran into a tight circle to the hedgehog puppet. (
See what I mean about sacrificing to the hedgehog bit?)I was freaked out because we stopped going in nice, lazy light-footed circles and suddenly we were being rushed to the center and we could go back to the lazy circle business until some child said the magic word. (I really have no idea what was being said.) I finally got it after awhile and it was very fun.
After that we did some "Bear" movements...and I mean it when I say "Bear Movements."
Folk music was played and everyone - oh yes, parents/grandparents (which I think there were 1 or 2 grandmas in attendance) included - crawled and growled like a bear.
Ahti and Akseli just stared at each other on their bellies.
There was some cuddling and cooing for a couple of minute to some soft, sleepy folk tunes....
Then CLAP-CLAP, see you next week!
We rolled up our yoga mats and tried to head out as quickly as possible....it was only 30 minutes of exercising but felt longer due to our adventure just to get IN to Lutakko's Dance Hall....
And that tiny kitchenette was PACKED with older children coming to do their exercise club!
Overall, it was a very fun experience and something I would consider doing regularly if it were not so difficult to get to.
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| PS - We just wore comfortable clothes to exercise...we left these types of outfits to the pros. |
