National flavour in the Finnish dance

In the 2008 Eurovision Dance Contest, each couple will perform one dance – a freestyle dance with a national flavour, which may include elements of the traditional Latin and ballroom. In the dance of the Finnish entrants Maria Lund and Mikko Ahti there is plenty of Finnish flavour: the style of the dance, the music as well as the outfits reflect the Finnish personality, identity and culture. 

Finnish Tango

The style of the dance to be performed by Maria and Mikko in the 2008 Eurovision Dance Contest is Finnish tango, which is one of the most enduring and popular music forms in Finland. It is an essential part of the Finnish way of living and culture. One of the highlights of Finnish summers is the Tango Festival, Tangomarkkinat, held annually in the town of Seinäjoki. The festival attracts more than 100,000 visitors every year. Finland is often considered as one of the home countries of tango, together with Argentina.

Finnish tango is an established variation of the Argentine tango. Finnish tangos are almost always in a minor key. For their tunes they draw on Finnish folk songs and waltz romances in Slavonic vein, and they have a descending melodic line. The tempo in the Finnish tango is slower than in its Argentinean relative. The most common rhythmic motif in the Finnish tango is that of a march pure and simple. The most Argentinean aspect of the Finnish tango is the instrumental interlude. The inherent quality and identity of the Finnish tango is in the lyrics. The most common subject of the Finnish tango is love – or rather the lack of it. (Source: Jutta Jaakkola, Finnish Music Information Centre) 

Unto Mononen “Satumaa”

Maria Lund and Mikko Ahti will dance to the legendary tango "Satumaa" (wonderland) composed by Unto Mononen, which is sometimes called “the national tango” of Finland.

Unto Mononen (1930-1968) is one of the greatest tango composers and icons of the genre in Finland. More than half of his recorded compositions are tangos, and "Satumaa" is by far the best known of them all. It was first recorded in 1955, but not until it was recorded by Reijo Taipale in 1962 did it become a national hit. Since then it has been recorded dozens, if not hundreds of times, and invariably ranks among the most frequently performed Finnish pieces each year. (Source: Jutta Jaakkola, Finnish Music Information Centre)

Outfits

Even the colours of the outfits of the Finnish dancers reflect national Finnish elements – blue and white being the colours of the Finnish flag. Blue stands for the colour of the hundreds of thousands of Finnish lakes and white for the snow of our long winter and the light, soft clouds on the blue midsummer sky.

Maria’s dress is snow-white, a stunning outfit with sparkling blue strass stones. The top is of lace, the underdress of satin, the skirt of pleated fabric. Two kinds of blue strass stones will decorate the neckline and a white belt – also decorated with the blue stones – will conform to the diagonal neckline. Maria’s shoes will probably be skin-coloured standard shoes.

Mikko will be wearing a dark blue pinstripe suit including a waistcoat, white shirt and either white or black shoes.