Take our fearless leader, Marisa Gudrā (whose name fittingly translates to “Marisa the Wise”), the Professor X who oversees our shenanigans with stern, quiet patience. The Boston native pretty much majored in Running a Dziesmu Svētki, racking up degrees in Music, Economics, and Arts Management. She has served on the boards of the American Latvian Association and the American Latvian Youth Association, and has coordinated numerous events for the latter. Gudrā is a meticulous and precise workhorse, one of the best task jugglers I’ve ever encountered, and if it were in any way possible for a single person to organize and run an entire Latvian song festival singlehandedly, she’d be my pick. Alas, some jobs are just too big, and for those you need a ragtag team. You need…

The Rīc Kom! Separate from the festival’s talented program directors and their teams, the nine-member Rīc Kom handles overarching festival logistics and makes sure all the fragmented pieces come together. While program directors hail from all along the East Coast and beyond, Gudrā stuck with her fellow D.C. locals for Rīc Kom.

Four of us, Gudrā included, recently worked together on the Rīc Kom for 2015’s ALA Meistarsacīkstes, an annual sports tournament. Nik Timrots, in addition to working with the American Latvian Youth Association and the Joint Baltic American National Committee, was the head of this Meistarsacīkstes Rīc Kom and, having concocted the original Dziesmu Svētki plan with Gudrā, naturally took his place as her right-hand man. Working as a transportation manager for the University of Maryland Department of Transportation Services with 3 million annual passengers and 200 bus drivers under his watchful eye, Timrots is no stranger to large-scale logistics. He took a strong lead in early planning and research, contacting venues and hotels, and keeping initial efforts focused and broken down into smaller tasks.

Also sliding over from the Meistarsacīkstes Rīc Kom were Inga Bebre and myself. My Latvian society credits include work with children’s summer camp Katskiļi, the Latvian School of Washington, the Latvian Lutheran Church of Washington, and D.C. folk-dancing troupe Namejs.  Having been the webmaster for both Namejs and Meistarsacīkstes, I happily took on the Dziesmu Svētki roles of webmaster, secretary, and marketing-team member. I can think of nobody with whom I would rather work on any Latvian project than my longtime close friend Inga Bebre, one of the most organized and dependable people I have ever met. From our time together in Namejs and Meistarsacīkstes, I know that if you want something done and done well, with a solid system in place, it should be delegated to her. Bebre most notably demonstrated her abilities while serving as the head of the Rīc Kom for the American Latvian Youth Association Congress in D.C., a complicated assignment with countless moving parts. Dependability, a mastery of spreadsheets, organizational skills, and attention to detail make Bebre the perfect candidate for one of Dziesmu Svētki’s most complicated and detail-driven tasks: ticket sales.

Gudrā wasn’t done recruiting fellow Namejs dancers.  She broached the subject of a Baltimore Dziesmu Svētki with former dancer Juris Mohseni, a Sudrabavots folk group singer and accordion player, while watching a football game. His first reaction? “Excited! Thought it would be cool!” he later told me with a huge grin. But then, “Didn’t think I would have ANY part of it!” Attending?  Sure!  Actually leading the thing? Not so much. His mind was changed by the enthusiasm of his brother, Imants, another Namejs member being recruited by Gudrā. “I wanted to do something our grandmother would be proud of, even though she’s not with us anymore,” Imants explained somberly. That sentiment got to Juris, and he committed 100%, taking on the high-pressure job of treasurer for Latvian-American society’s most expensive event. Not that Juris is at all daunted by the task; as a professional budget analyst, he’s used to dealing with billion-dollar-plus budgets (as well as his homeowners association’s $13,000 budget) on a daily basis. While Juris took on one of the most traditional Rīc Kom roles, Imants took on something newer: project technology.

“We didn’t even know that we needed all this technology, but I think it revolutionized the way that we work,” Gudrā said about Imants’s contribution. “He’s the wizard.” While Dziesmu Svētki as an event hasn’t changed much over the generations, the way in which it is organized certainly has thanks to the role of technology (imagine how much our grandparents would have appreciated MP3s while learning songs and YouTube while learning dances). Imants is responsible for researching, implementing, and patiently helping the rest of us understand the best use of technology, from online registration forms and payment options, to team workflow programs that keep Rīc Kom working efficiently -- all achievements his grandmother never would have imagined in her day, but of which I am sure she is proud nonetheless.

A song and dance festival cannot survive with dancers alone, and neither can its Rīc Kom.   An enthusiastic music lover who sings in the choir at every Dziesmu Svētki, Aivars Osvalds has been active in Latvian-American society for as long as I can remember, holding positions with the American Latvian Association, the World Federation of Free Latvians, the Latvian Lutheran Church of Washington, the Lettonia fraternal organizations, and the Baltic countries exhibition at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. A lot of us knew him as the primary mover and shaker behind the re-emergence of youth seminar 2x2, where passion and drive for the project really made it take off (having attended the first of these seminars in West Virginia, I can personally attest to the success of this effort, as it proved to be one of the most inspirational weeks of my life). It was this exact drive and passion that we needed, especially to pull off a project of this size in such a short timespan, and Osvalds has definitely not been a disappointment in this regard. Brought on board to handle evening events, a colossal project on its own, he was immediately enthusiastic to help wherever needed, volunteering to work on fundraising, hotel contacts, and many other loose ends that have crept up throughout the planning process.

Osvalds immediately suggested bringing in his friend Iveta Grava, the only Rīc Kom member with prior experience in organizing a Dziesmu Svētki. Born and raised in Latvia, Grava’s extensive experience in the Latvian arts scene include not just leadership roles with two Dziesmu Svētki in Latvia, but also work at the Latvian National Opera and the World Federation of Free Latvians, membership in the prestigious Ave Sol choir, and a lifetime of music education (including a degree in harp performance). Originally slated to be our main point of contact with Latvian performers and organizations, Grava soon also took on fundraising and theatre duties, and provides beautiful Latvian-language prose for the festival’s promotional material. She describes her involvement with the Latvian saying “Iedod velnam mazo pirkstiņu un viņš paņem visu roku” (“Give the devil your pinkie and he takes your entire arm”). In other words, she was hooked like the rest of us.

Gudrā’s recruitment tale might have ended here, until fate twisted its chilly way into Gudrā’s commute one winter morning. She sat on the metro train reading some bad news on her phone: an email from a potential team member turning down one of our largest remaining positions: volunteer coordinator. Gudrā didn’t have too much time to dwell in her disappointment, however, because just then a stranger sitting nearby introduced herself. Aija Moeller, who usually rides her bike to work but was driven onto the metro due to the bitter cold, noticed Latvian symbols on Gudrā’s winter scarf. They got to talking, and soon discovered two amazing things about one another. Moeller, who had moved to D.C. from Latvia years earlier, had just read in the local church bulletin about potential Dziesmu Svētki plans and had made up her mind to offer her services. And here before her sat the very woman she had intended to contact. And Gudrā, freshly mourning her lack of a volunteer coordinator, was amazed to hear what her new acquaintance did for a living: Moeller was a volunteer coordinator for a non-profit. Newly minted as the Dziesmu Svētki volunteer coordinator, but acknowledging that she had little to do in that regard for months to come, Moeller threw herself into other essential projects, organizing the film festival, joining the marketing team, and patiently proofreading various materials.

So that’s us.  I’ll be honest: I’d never really given much thought to the Rīc Kom during previous festivals. After all, the buzz surrounding a Dziesmu Svētki is, rightly, about the excitement of seeing friends, sharing culture, dancing all day and all night; it’s not about the person filling out 501c3 paperwork.  I’ve listed here some of the relevant experience of our members, but the truth is that there’s only one thing that anyone actually needs to know about us. It’s a response that I received independently from two separate Rīc Kom teammates when I interviewed them for this article. “We are all volunteers and I think that is the answer to ‘what qualifies you to work on this,’” wrote one.

Or, as another member laughed when asked what qualifies him, “I’m willing to show up, right?”

“The Making of a Dziesmu Svētki” is an ongoing series documenting the behind-the-scenes process of organizing a Latvian song and dance festival.

The XIV Latvian-American Song and Dance Festival will take place in Baltimore, Maryland, from June 29 to July 3, 2017. For more information, please visit the Festival website or write to info@latviansongfest2017.com.

The post The Making of a Dziesmu Svētki, Part 3: Rīc Kom appeared first on Latvians Online.

Nākošgad no Latvijas 3x3 Falls Creek, Austrālijā viesosies daudzpusīgie Janta un Ilmārs Meži. Iepazīsimies mazliet ar viņiem. Lai gan Mežiem ir kupla ģimene, uz 3x3 viņi tomēr dosies vieni paši.

Kāda jūsu pamatnodarbošanās, kādi vaļasprieki?

Janta ir botāniķe Latvijas Dabas muzejā, kur strādā ar izstāžu ierīkošanu, gan arī Latvijas augu kolekcijas papildināšanu. Savukārt Ilmārs strādā Starptautiskajā Migrācijas organizācijā, palīdzot imigrantiem brīvprātīgi atgriezties atpakaļ dzimtenē, ja tiem nav tiesību dzīvot Latvijā. Vaļasprieku mums ir daudz, no kuriem kopīgie ir saistīti ar latviešu tradicionālo kultūru un dabu. Mums ļoti patīk visiem izbraukt dabā - vai nu sēņot un ogot, vai ar laivām pa kādu nelielu upi, vai apceļot skaistas vietas.

Mums visiem liels pārsteigums bija uzzināt, ka jums ir viena no Latvijas “dižģimenēm” - ģimenē aug seši bērni! Kādos vecumos viņi ir?

Mums ir seši bērni: vecākā meita Ingrīda (24) jau strādā par zobārsta palīdzi, Silvija (21) mācās pēdējo gadu Latvijas Universitātes Bioloģijas fakultātē. Nākamā ir Lauma (16), kura mācās Rīgas Āgenskalna ģimnāzijā un interesējas par "mangām" un mitoloģiju, bet Jānis Viesturs (13) mācās Rīgas Doma kora skolā, ir īsts kora puika, kaut, protams, labprātāk spēlētu futbolu vai kādu datorspēli. Bet abi maziņie - Kalvis Ievalts (4) un Marta Austra (1) vēl dzīvojas pa māju un izstaro prieku un enerģiju.

Lūdzu pastāstiet par savu folkloras dzīvi. Janta – tu dziedi grupā “Saucējas”, un Ilmār, tu esi dziedātājs, kā arī mūzikas instrumentu kolekcionārs. Cik katrs dziedat, cik mūzicējat?

Esam dziedājuši jau no skolas gadiem - Janta ilgu laiku dziedāja "Saviešos", bet tagad jau 5 gadus dzied Latvijas Kultūras akadēmijas grupā "Saucējas", kas vāc un restaurē senākās tradicionālās dziesmas bez apdares, tieši tā, kā tās ir skanējušas agrāk, un kā tās vēl vecākie ļaudis atceras. Ilmārs agrāk ir dziedājis folkloras draugu kopā "Skandinieki", bet tagad labprāt dzied un muzicē draugu un ģimenes pasākumos. Mums abiem ir īpaša interese vākt un atdzīvināt sen aizmirstās latviešu dziesmas - kopā esam izbraukājuši daudzus Latvijas lauku nostūrus meklējot cilvēkus, kuri vēl atceras seno laiku dziedāšanu. Dziesmu meklēšanā esam bijuši arī vairākos Sibīrijas latviešu ciemos, kur pierakstītās dziesmas dziedam un dodam tām jaunu dzīvi mūsdienās. Ilmārs pēdējā laikā ir aizrāvies arī ar mūzikas instrumentiem - īpaši ermoņiku kolekcionēšanu un spēlēšanu, bet spēlē arī cītaru, kas ir sens latviešu stīgu instruments, līdzīgs koklei.

Ilmār, Tavs darbs ir saistīts ar demogrāfijas un migrācijas pētniecību. Lūdzu pastāsti, kā radās interese darboties šinī laukā..
Jau skolas gados sāku interesēties par iedzīvotāju ģeogrāfiju - atceros sevi kā puiku, aptuveni 12-14 gadu vecumā, izrakstot no grāmatām Latvijas pilsētas un pagastus ar to iedzīvotāju skaitu un arī vācot pamatinformāciju par visām pasaules valstīm. Interese padziļinājās studējot Latvijas universitātes Ģeogrāfijas fakultātē, un vēlāk Rietumu Mičigānas universtitātē (ASV). Jau 18 gadus vadu Starptautiskās Migrācijas organizācijas nelielo biroju Rīgā, bet sabiedriskā kārtā esmu uzņēmies demogrāfijas politikas uzlabošanas mudinātāja pienākumus. Neatlaidīgi runājot ar žurnālistiem un politiķiem ir izdevies mazliet mainīt sabiedrisko domu, ka arī Latvijā ir nepieciešams lielāks atbalsts tām ģimenēm, kuras audzina vairākus bērnus, un svarīgi ir novērst nabadzību, kas daudzām ģimenēm rodās tāpēc, ka viņi vēlās vairākus bērnus. Vairākos gados ir izdevies rast dzirdīgas ausis arī politiķu un ierēdņu starpā, un pakāpeniski arī Latvijā tiek uzlabota demogrāfijas politika.

Vai esat piedalījušies 3x3 arī Latvijā? Un citur pasaulē?

Esam piedalījušies vairākos Latvijas 3x3 pasākumos kā lektori un praktisko nodarbību vadītāji, visspilgtākā atmiņā bija Alsungas nometne, kur varēja iedraudzēties ar dzīvespriecīgajām Suitu sievām. Esam arī bijuši 3x3 Garezerā vairākas reizes un senāk arī Katskiļos.

Janta, vai tev rokdarbi ir visu mūžu bijuši mīļi - vai no mātes, vecās mātes mācījies šīs mākas?

Protams, ka ar rokdarbiem nodarbojās gan mammiņa, gan vecmammiņa, toreiz jau tā bija ikdienas nepieciešamība - jo rocība daudziem neļāva neko daudz nopirkt, tāpēc rokdarbi bija labs risinājums. Jau 15 gadu vecumā sāku mācīties Rīgas Lietišķās mākslas vidusskolā, kur mācījos tekstila nodaļā. Mans diplomdarbs bija pašas gatavots tautastērps, un arī joprojām turpinu tos darināt - visai ģimenei un ārpus tās. Nesen pie manis sāka pulcēties sievietes, kam interesē savs tautas tērps un es varu palīdzēt - kam piegriezni izgriezt, kam uzsākt adījumu, kam iemācīt aust ar celiem, kam brunčus sašūt.

Kur dzīvojat Latvijā - vai pilsētas centrā, vai laukos?
Dzīvojam Rīgas laukos - jeb vienā no zaļākajām Rīgas nomalēm - Mārupē, ko precīzāk būtu saukt par Bieriņiem, bet šo veco nosaukumu daudzi neatpazīst. Tas ir plašākais Rīgas privātmāju apūves rajons, kur pie katras mājas ir lielāks vai mazāks dārzs. Mums ir liela māja, kura būvēta 1898.gadā, ko pamazām cenšamies atjaunot. Arī mums ir liels dārzs ar daudzām ābelēm, ķiršiem, plūmēm, ir arī izdevies ieaudzēt Latvijas vīnogas, persikus un aprikozes, kas visi nes saldus augļus. Blakus tek Mārupīte, no kuras mūsu dīķī iepeld līdakas, un pēdējā gadā pie mums ir apmeties dzīvot arī bebrs. Līdz Vecrīgai mums ir 50 minūšu gājiens, ko reizēm arī cenšamies veikt kājām vai riteņiem. Agrāk dzīvojām vienkāršos pilsētas centra dzīvokļos, tad ik katru brīvu dienu rāvāmies ārā uz laukiem, bet kopš pašiem ir māja ar dārzu, tad laprāt laiku pavadam tur.

Vai bērni jums arī interesējas par folkloru - rokdarbiem, dziedāšanu, latvisko dzīves ziņu?

Ar bērniem nav tik viegli - jo viņiem jāļauj iziet arī caur vecāku noliegšanas stadijai - nevaram lielīties, ka visi bērni ir aktīvi dziedātāji, muzicētāji vai tautas tērpu darinātāji. Bet lietas notiekas pamazām - vecākā meita pamazām ir sajutusi vajadzību gatavot linu kreklus, arī jostiņas. Savukārt Silvija ir aktīva dejotāja tautiskajos dančos - būtu tikai puišu tur vairāk:-) Domājam, ka ar laiku visi bērni sajutīs nepieciešamību darboties arī kādā latviešu tradīciju jomā.

Vai būsit Austrālijā pirmo reizi? Kas jums Austrālijā visvairāk interesē?

Austrālijā abi būsim pirmo reizi. Vistuvāk Austrālijai līdz šim esam ceļojuši uz Sibīrijas latviešu ciemiem un arī Indijā. Austrālijā ceram iepazīt gan dabu, gan cilvēkus un viņu kultūru - gan eiropejiešu, gan vietējo aborigēnu. Priecāsimies, ja izdosies uz kādu brīdi ienirt siltā jūras līcī pavērot krāsainās zivtiņas, kā arī ceram ieraudzīt kādu ķenguru bariņu. Visbeidzot ir arī maza cerība no Austrālijas vecākās paaudzes latviešiem dzirdēt kādu mums nepazīstamu dziesmu. Mūsu labākās teicējas Ķērstas Albužes (dz.Bubēris) brālis dzīvojot kaut kur Austrālijā - varbūt izdotos satikt arī viņu un parunāt par "veciem laikiem".

Kas jums mīļākā nodarbe karstā vasaras dienā? Garajos ziemas vakaros?
Kā jau ziemeļniekiem mūsu ideālais vasaras siltuma komforts ir no 20-25 C, bet ja karstums pārsniedz 30 grādus, tad meklējam ēnu un ūdeni. Ziemā, kad ir tumšs un auksts - tad Ilmārs strādā ar arhīva datiem vācot latviešu uzvārdu sarakstu un to izplatību, bet Janta veic rokdarbus. Labā ziemas dienā, gan mēģinam ar bērniem slidot un slēpot, veidot sniegavīru.

Paldies par interviju! Tiksimies 3x3 janvārī!

The post 3×3 Falls Creek viesosies Janta un Ilmārs Meži – iepazīsimies! appeared first on Latvians Online.

I have a confession: when song-festival chair Marisa Gudrā first mentioned hosting dziesmu svētki, I had zero interest. Then she told me that Krisīte Skare was already on board as music director. Suddenly, I was interested.

I knew Skare from our time together at Gaŗezers Latvian summer high school, where she was not only my class’s valedictorian, but also a musical prodigy who I made a point of standing next to during choir rehearsals so I could try (unsuccessfully) to copy her perfect pitch.

It didn’t surprise me that Skare went on to earn three degrees in music, including a master’s degree in jazz performance from the prestigious New England Conservatory of Music and a master’s in education with a focus on the arts from Harvard University, and to establish a musical professional career as an educator, performer, music director, and choir leader. For the past ten years, Skare has also applied these skills to teaching Latvians, from the children of Katskiļi summer camp and Boston’s Latvian school to the adults of Boston’s choirs. And Skare brings more than music education to the Latvian community: she was the principal of Boston’s Latvian school for six years and is the current church treasurer. In recognition of all these contributions to the Latvian music and education scenes, Skare has earned commendations from the Latvian Heritage Foundation, the American Latvian Association, and Latvia’s Ministry of Education.

So I was comforted knowing that the core of our festival’s program was already in good hands. Skare herself had given the intimidating job offer maybe thirty seconds of thought before agreeing. “Dziesmu svētki is an extension of my passion and my work,” she explains. When someone offers you that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, “that’s not an offer that you pass up.”

Once it became clear that the festival would indeed be going ahead, and after Skare had a chance to meet with other festival leaders, she got to work assembling a crack team. She turned to Latvian friends with impressive musical pedigrees and was happy when every one responded positively. Laura Padega Zamura, the head of New York’s Latvian choir, had collaborated with Skare at Katskiļi summer camp and would play a major role in preparations for the Festival Choir Concert. Dace Aperāne, a composer and recent recipient of Latvia’s prestigious Grand Music Award for popularizing Latvian music abroad, is, in Skare’s words, “a treasure trove of knowledge for basically any musical subject matter.” Agita Arista is a professional flautist from Latvia now living in Boston who has become invaluable in working with the festival’s instrumentalists. And Iveta Grava, a former member of famed Latvian choir Ave Sol as well as a member of the festival organizing committee in D.C., pulls double duty, helping with administrative tasks on the music committee. With two organizers in Boston, two in New York, and one in D.C., the music committee exemplifies the collaborative nature of this East Coast project. It’s further supported by superstar shadow helpers like Juris Ķeniņš, a repeat organizer of Canada’s Latvian song festivals who is always ready to lend expertise and input, and Skare’s mother, Ilze, who has taken on some of the committee’s more thankless tasks -- such as hand-numbering hundreds of songbooks after they arrived with a printer error.

With the team assembled, the most pressing matter for Skare was selecting the repertoire and preparing materials for the festival’s main event, the Kopkora koncerts (Festival Choir Concert). Skare started by entering every song from every previous festival into a spreadsheet and conducting a detailed analysis, from which she learned that, with a few exceptions, there is surprisingly little repetition or tradition where song selection is concerned. From there, the team’s members each compiled a dream list and started whittling. They began by keeping some lyrical folk favorites and newer, upbeat rhythmic pieces that complemented Skare’s effervescent musical personality, then decided to highlight a selection of East Coast composers. Each composer was asked to decide which of their songs they would like to see performed.

By the summer of 2016 the repertoire had been selected. Now came the hard part: finding and arranging all of the sheet music for each piece (while not infringing on copyrights). Thankfully, the music program has a guardian angel: Musica Baltica, a publishing house in Latvia whose leader just happens to be a friend of Aperāne. For a truly nominal licensing fee, Musica Baltica sent Skare the majority of the necessary sheet music, leaving her to write the remaining music out by hand. In September, the sheet-music songbook went to the printer, and soon thereafter distribution to choirs began, providing Skare her first solid look at the number and size of choirs participating. It turns out that this process is still continuing; several groups have signed up as recently as a couple weeks ago. Skare explains that it is often difficult to pin down exact participant numbers, since choirs can afford to be more flexible than dance troupes can. Still, the current estimate, based largely on the number of songbooks sent out, rests at roughly 500 singers from across the U.S., Canada, Latvia, and Ireland.

Conductor selection happened around this time as well. Part of the search focused on traditionally underrepresented demographics: East Coast icons (this will be the first Latvian American song festival on the East Coast in over three decades), experienced conductors who have never graced the kopkoris conductor’s podium, and female talent. Including women is particularly important to Skare, who remembers thinking, “I want to be her when I grow up!” when Toronto’s Vizma Maksiņa conducted at the Cleveland song festival twenty years ago. Skare went on to discover that women are tremendously underrepresented in the conducting world; Baltimore's own symphony orchestra is the only major city orchestra in the country with a female music director -- Marin Alsop.

Instrumentalist selection worked very differently, with the music team listing and contacting all professional Latvian instrumentalists they could think of who are skilled enough to play together after just one rehearsal. Invitations went out to everyone, and of the lengthy list, twenty-seven people accepted and will be performing in Baltimore. This means that all of the festival’s instrumentalists will be Latvians or have Latvian connections, whereas other festivals on occasion have had to hire local non-Latvians to fill the gaps. This musical bunch is a perfect example of how far-reaching song festivals can be, drawing participants from Minnesota, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Florida, Canada, and Latvia.

The majority of these instrumentalists will be pulling double or triple duty. Almost all will be accompanying the choir during the Festival Choir Concert, most will perform at the Latvian Chamber Music Concert, and some will participate in the Sacred Music Concert. While the Festival Choir Concert is the grand cornerstone of every dziesmu svētki, attracting not only the largest audience but also the largest chunk of Skare’s time, the two smaller concerts are also definitely not to be missed, as the committee has dedicated itself to make them spectacular for all festival attendees.

The task of assembling the program for the Chamber Music Concert falls mostly to Arista. She, Skare, and the rest of the committee are acutely aware that chamber music has a reputation as being stuffy and stodgy. “People our age either are or are not in that world, and have their biases,” explains Skare. But the goal of Baltimore’s chamber music concert, she says, is to “be interesting for people who don’t think they like classical music.” Helping this effort is the concert’s unique venue: the American Visionary Art Museum, a whiskey warehouse turned hip alternative-art gallery that exudes fun and vibrance. An emcee will be on hand to explain what is happening in each piece. “Learning about the music gets you more invested in it,” explains Skare. And the concert’s programmers are striving to choose an engaging repertoire that will make a connection with the audience.

This connection will also be on hand at the Sacred Music Concert, where audience members sitting in the astoundingly beautiful sanctuary of Christ Lutheran Church will literally be surrounded by the show. Musicians will place themselves in different locations around the chamber, depending on acoustics and the needs of each particular piece. Skare envisions the experience as a soothing meditation, enveloping listeners in ethereal melodies. Adding its talents will be the festival’s award-winning guest choir, Sōla, which is collaborating with Skare's team on the project.

What remains to be done over the remaining few months? Skare is currently working on the Opening Ceremony with Anita Juberts, the Very Rev. Anita Vārsberga-Pāža, and festival folk-dancing director Astrīda Liziņš. The ceremony will welcome festivalgoers back to the East Coast with a mini-concert from various East Coast choirs and dance troupes. Also in the works or coming up soon: sheet music needs to be assembled and delivered to the instrumentalists for all shows, and the program for the Sacred Music Concert must be fully worked out with Sōla. Once those tasks are completed over the coming weeks, Skare’s focus will return to the Festival Choir Concert, for which the largest remaining task is figuring out gametime logistics: how to best divide up rehearsal times, how to maneuver several hundred people onstage and backstage, etc.

If Skare or her team of pros are at all daunted by the colossal task of leading several hundred musicians through four different performances for thousands of audience members, they’re not showing it. They didn’t even flinch last June when the original venue for one show went MIA (Skare shrugs this obstacle off -- she’s used to venue staff being flighty). Skare partially credits her jazz training, which teaches her to roll with the unexpected. She is also bolstered by the encouragement and excitement she encounters from folks at every turn, despite (or perhaps because of) her relative youth. Skare is pleased that so many of this year’s organizers are, like her, taking on this massive project in their busy mid-thirties. “It’s nice to get the sense that people want to continue this tradition,” she says. “I hope it inspires a sense of hope for the future.”

Any advice for future festival leaders? “If you have a vision for the kind of experience that you want the Dziesmu Svētki public to have,” says Skare, “really stick with it and don’t waver. I think that’s what’s made a lot of my decision-making easy: I return to the big picture. That way you can remove yourself from nitty-gritty questions and then those become easier to answer.” Skare’s vision for Dziesmu Svētki is clear. “I as a musician have been to really boring concerts. How do we make this engaging and a little bit fresh and different?” Audiences will discover the answer this summer in Baltimore.

“The Making of a Dziesmu Svētki” is an ongoing series documenting the behind-the-scenes process of organizing a Latvian song and dance festival.

The XIV Latvian-American Song and Dance Festival will take place in Baltimore, Maryland, from June 29 to July 3, 2017. For more information, please visit www.latviansongfest2017.com or write to info@latviansongfest2017.com.

The post The Making of a Dziesmu Svētki, Part 6: The Music appeared first on Latvians Online.

The local government election that will be held in Latvia on Saturday may lead to a few surprises, the main issue having to do with the capital city of Rīga, which has been governed or misgoverned, according to one’s views, for the past eight years by the Harmony Party in tandem with the rather clumsily named Honor to Serve Riga. Polls show that fewer than one-half of voters are prepared to vote for the tandem again, and that leads to the question whether the dozen other parties can accumulate sufficient votes to deny it the majority. Not all of them, of course, will surpass the 5% vote barrier that is needed to win any seats at all, but if the three or four parties that have a chance to do so end up winning 31 or more of the seats on the City Council, then they will have to put together a coalition. They do not see eye to eye on all matters, and there is also the possibility that Harmony/HSR will try to peel off some members to form its own majority. I personally hope that the other parties will take the majority and will be able to form a stable coalition, because Harmony in my eyes is unacceptable for its excessive and entirely incomprehensible friendship with Russia and specifically with the pocket party of the Russian tsar, United Russia. The issue of whether that will happen depends in part on the fact that right now one-quarter of voters say that they have not yet decided for whom to vote. If they break in the direction of Harmony, it will probably continue to run the city for another four years with all that that implies.

Populism has been rife in this campaign. Parties are promising free health care for seniors, free public transportation rides, free health insurance for the elderly, etc., nowhere explaining where exactly the money for such largesse would come from. There have also been entirely peculiar promises. Aknīste is a small town in southeastern Latvia, and one party there is promising that if elected, it will withdraw the Aknīste Administrative District from NATO. Needless to say, that is not a local government issue, though it would certainly be interesting to see a little island of non-NATO territory amidst a sea of alliance territory. Elsewhere a party is promising to organize free tractor driving courses for young people. I truly don’t know for how many people the ability to drive a tractor is important in this day and age.

There are also some interesting candidates in Riga. The Harmony/GKR coalition is led by the incumbent mayor, Nils Ušakovs, who has attracted much opprobrium for his habit of communicating on Internet Websites both in Latvian and in Russian. The New Conservative Party (which is no longer particularly new) is fielding two former employees of Latvia’s anti-corruption agency, Juta Strīķe and Juris Jurašs, who have long claimed, not without reason, that the Rīga City Council is a den of corruption. An alliance between the Latvian Alliance of Regions and the For Latvia’s Development party is fielding Mārtiņš Bondars, a former chief of staff to Latvia’s former president Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga. In other towns, there are council chairs who have been in office since God was a teenager. The people of Ventspils will probably reelect the venal Aivars Lembergs even though he is on trial for serious financial and other crimes. Uldis Sesks will probably win another term in Liepāja after 16 years at the helm, ditto Mayor Andris Rāviņš in Jelgava. All in all, there are 8,945 candidates from 599 different parties, alliances of parties or alliances of voters (this is permitted in local government elections, but not national ones). A bit more than 60% of them are men, and more than 70% are registered as Latvians; 3.7% are Russians, and if one wants to go afield in this regard, there is one Ossetian, one Finn and one Swede on the list somewhere.

One way or another, Latvians will be electing members of councils in 119 administrative districts and nine cities. There is one administrative district where there is only one slate of candidates, while in other places people are spoilt for choice, with ten or more slates. Latvian citizens living abroad, of course, cannot vote in the election, because for the local government vote, you must be a resident of the relevant district. In Latvia, in turn, there is also the issue of voter turnout. If the weather is nice on Saturday, that will probably depress turnout, although precincts have already been open today, Wednesday, and will be open tomorrow and Friday, as well. No excuse not to vote, in other words. It is the duty of every citizen to vote, and I will certainly go to the polls on Saturday. Though I must say that this is the first election in my whole life where I am not yet certain for whom I will vote.

The post Surprises Possible in Local Council Elections in Latvia appeared first on Latvians Online.

Burvīgs pavasara vakars 25.maijā sagaidīja apmeklētājus grupas ImantaDimanta diska atklāšanā Trīs Māsās, vecpilsētā. Jāatzīst, ka man šī vieta bija sveša (padomju laikos Mākslas darbinieku nams), bet ieejot mīlīgajās un drusku ezotēriskajās telpās, uzreiz likās, ka šī ir ļoti piemērota vieta šim pasākumam.

Grupas sastāvs liecina par latviešu tautas mīlestību pret mūziku, kā arī tās spēju apvienot latviešus no visas pasaules – Imanta Nīgale dzimusi ASV, Katrīna Dimanta un Kristaps Strods ir Latvijas bērni, Krišjānis Sils dzimis Vācijā un Ingus Purēns mūžu sācis Austrālijā. Taču visi atraduši savas vietas Rīgā, kur dzīvo un muzicē, citu nodarbību starpā.

Slavenākie pop muzikanti bieži veido diskus ar noteiktu tēmu. ImantaDimanta neatpaliek. Disks Izauga matei brīnuma meita liecina, ka grupas dalībnieki cītīgi piestrādājuši pie satura – visas dziesmas veido stāstu par meitas iziešanu tautās, izmantojot tikai tautas dziesmu tekstus. Taču izpildījums neatgādina ‘tipiskas’ tautas dziesmas, vairākām dziesmām oriģināla mūzika un tautas meldiju apdares savijās ar tekstiem, izveidojot kaut ko jaunu, aizraujošu.

Atklāšanā arī piedalījās viesmākslinieki Baiba Indrēvica ar kokli un Kaspars Indrēvics ar perkusijām. Tas, ka grupas dalībnieki ilgi piestrādājuši pie diska parādījās uzstāšanās laikā, visi bija cieši saliedēti un enerģijas pilni.

Ir skaidrs, ka grupa pati iedziļinājusies tekstos un izjutusi to dziļāko būtību, ne tikai atsevišķu dziesmu izvēlē, bet arī komponētās meldijās un apdarēs, kas vai nu liek kājām kustēties, jeb pavēl arī klausītājiem pārdomāt tekstā teikto.

Imantas un Katrīnas spēcīgās balsis labi sader un spēj pielāgoties dažādiem mūzikas žanriem – “Pavasara vakarā” mūzikālai apdarei ir ‘kantrī’ piegarša, kas noteikti varētu būt ‘hīts’ Bauskas kantrī festivālā. Rotaļīgas tautas dziesmas pāriet domīgās, un tā aizkustina, ka var pat nobirt pa asarai (“Viena saule, viena zeme”; “Vecu ļaužu valodiņ’”).

Pats disks gaumīgi izveidots un ir prieks redzēt, ka tautas dziesmu teksti atstāti tikai latviski! Neparādās neveikli tulkojumi, bet gan tikai aprakstošs teksts par dziesmas saturu un būtību, lai angļu valodas pratēji varētu saprast dziesmas jēgu. Paldies par to!

Apmeklētāji no dažādām pasaules malām bija tik daudz, ka trūka sēdvietu. Diska prezentācija saveda kopā sen neredzētus draugus un radus, kas kavējās pie alus glāzes, gaidot kārtu dabūt ImantaDimanta un draugu parakstus. Ar pacilātu garu un disku somā, devos mājās, gaišajā, pavasarīgajā vakarā.

The post ImantaDimanta un draugi mirdz! appeared first on Latvians Online.

Latvians Online asked two Latvian-American song festival attendees – one a participant, the other an active community member – to share their thoughts on the Latvian Dziesmu svētki that took place in Baltimore from 29th June to 3rd July, 2017.

Kristīna Putene: Vai Baltimoras Dziesmu Svētki izdevās? Atbildēšu ar vārdiem no dziesmas “Lec, saulīte”, kas tika iekļauta Dziesmu Svētku kopkoŗa repertuārā: “Māci man dvēs’les mieru...”

Šie vārdi labi izsaka to, ko izjutu un ieguvu nule beigušos XIV Vispārējos Latviešu Dziesmu un Deju Svētkos Baltimorā ASV. Esmu pārbraukusi ne tikai ar dvēseles mieru, bet arī ar lepnumu, pacilātību un pateicību, ka piederu latviešu tautai. Šajos Dziesmu Svētkos likās, ka bijām, vairāk kā jebkad, latvieši savos svētkos. Ne trimdas vai diasporas latvieši, ne jaunatbraucēji, ne viesi no Latvijas – bet latvieši.

Piedalījos Dziesmu Svētkos kā koriste un no tāda redzes punkta uzskatu, ka Dziesmu Svētki izdevās pirmklasīgi. Viss, kas saistīts ar gatavošanos kopkoŗa koncertam, bija apdomāts un izdomāts. Sākot ar visādā ziņā rūpīgi izmeklēto dziesmu repertuāru, kas bija gana skaists un piemērots diasporas koru spējām, līdz mēģinājumiem pašos Dziesmu Svētkos, varu teikt tikai labus vārdus par mūzikas nozares vadītājas, Krisītes Skares, darbu. Ļoti drīz pēc ziņojuma, ka Dziesmu Svētki notiks Baltimorā un, ka rīcības komiteja izveidota, svētku mājas lapā bija pieejami viesu koŗa, Sōla, audio ieraksti katrai balsij, katrai dziesmai. Tie palīdzēja visiem koristiem, it sevišķi, atsevišķi dzīvojošiem koristiem, iepazīties ar dziesmām un sagatavoties. Arī svētkiem tuvojoties, saņēmām ziņas par to, kas sagaidāms mēģinājumos, kāda būs norise koncerta dienā. Pēc svētku atklāšanas katru rītu notika koŗa mēģinājumi. Tajos valdīja minētais dvēseles miers – diriģenti skaidri zināja cik laika katram paredzēts izmēģināt “savas” dziesmas un tā mēģinājumi ritēja gludi, bez saspīlējuma un, vismaz kā koriste, jutos gatava koncertam. Arī pašā koncerta dienas ģenērālmēģinājumā, atklājās, ka lielā pieprasījuma dēļ, koristu mantām un pusdienu paēšanai paredzētās vietas visaugstākajos balkonos nolēma pārdot. Rīcības komitejai apbrīnojami veikli izdevās atrast piemērotas telpas ēkā pāri ielai no zāles. Bez satraukuma, vienkārši un skaidri, Krisīte šo maiņu paziņoja un atkal – dvēseles miers. Par koncertu pašu labāk meklēt atsauksmes no kāda klausītāja, toties Meyerhoff zāles akustika man padarīja dziedāšanu vieglāku kā parasti, jo jutos, ka visu labi dzirdu. Koncerts bija laiks, kad manī dvēseles miers mijās ar lepnumu, pacilātību un pateicību.

Bez dziedāšanas kopkorī, Dziesmu Svētkos arī izjutu prieku un laimi satikt radus un draugus, ko ALA priekšsēdis, Pēteris Blumbergs, pieminēja savā apsveikumā svētku atklāšanā. Dziesmu svētku koncerti, sarīkojumi un balles bija kā krāšņs, prātam un sirdij bagāts fons uz kuŗa pulsē visi atbraukušie cilvēki– ģimenes un vieninieki, radi un draugi – bet visi kaut kādā veidā saistīti ar Latviju un latviešiem. Svētku dienu laikā katrs satiktais cilvēks, katrs izmainītais vārds, pat saskatīšanās un sasmaidīšanās, veido milzīgu latvisko dvēseļu tīklu. Jutos, ka ar katru šo saskarsmi ar pazīstamu, mīļu cilvēku manī ieplūst jauns spēks un nostiprinās saite ar to, kas es esmu – latviete.

Anita Bataraga: 14. Vispārējie Dziesmu un Deju Svētki ASV – The 14^th Latvian Song and Dance Festival in the US – four sultry July days in the Baltimore Inner Harbor area immersed in a wave of upwards of thirty two hundred Latvians from the US, Canada, Latvia, Ireland, Venezuela, France, and most likely other nations as well. These days on the eve of Latvia’s Centennial, were defined by goodwill, enthusiasm and a collective happiness that seemed to transcend borders and generations, and unified singers, dancers and spectators from all age groups and nations.

I came as a spectator, yet felt deeply vested in the players: the “Rīcības komiteja” (RK) – the Organizers – that made this show possible. The initiators and organizers were a group of Latvians from the Washington, DC area, average age in the low 30’os, who belonged to both the post-war and late 1990’s immigration periods. Many of them first came on the Latvian East Coast scene as “Īkšķīši” and campers at the Latvian camp in the Catskills, where I first knew them and saw them grow up. Most of them inexperienced in this depth of organizational work and financial risk, they bonded together under Marisa Gudrā, and gathered the foremost talents from the music, dance and culture genres to establish a rich, professional and varied program. Included in the program were all of the vital signature events of Dziesmu Svētki, but also many new and interesting nuances such as the open-mike soundstage in the central hotel featuring musical performances ranging from the folklore ensemble “Sudrabavots” to the tween rock band “Nemiers”. Also unique to this Song Festival: the gala banquet featuring a spread of Latvian cuisine including Riga sprat hors d’oeuvres and a Latvian rye bread trifle for dessert brought to us by a master chef from Riga working from the hotel kitchen.

With a well-devised communications system that included information in “Laiks” and online/social media, as well as the Festival information booth, and with volunteers that came on board beckoned by Sign-up genius, the RK worked tirelessly, presenting us with a dynamic, well-structured and – for the spectator, at least – glitchless program.

I met Marisa on the last morning, while she was attempting to put her thoughts to words to sign the Centennial guest book brought by the Culture Ministry of Latvia before they returned to Rīga. Marisa, ever-humble, asked whether I thought Dziesmu Svētki “izdevās”– whether the Song Festival was a success. It was that moment that brought a new rush of exuberance – yes! Dziesmu Svētki “izdevās”, and not only did their endeavor work, it worked on a grand scale, because the four days carried a jubilant ambience that can not be created, only felt when, magically, it is present. One can only guess at the concoction of vital ingredients needed to create that ambience, but for my part I think I recognize two or three that were present here: one is the conviction and energy exhibited by the RK, as they dared to assume an endeavor on this scale, and made their mark on the future of Latvian Song Festivals in the USA.

The other ingredients stem from where we as Latvians in the US stand socially and culturally. One social-demographic element we witnessed here has at long last become wonderfully natural: the intermingling of the two immigration waves as they cooperatively planned, worked, sang, danced and celebrated together with a unified purpose.

Culturally, the landmark role of Dziesmu Svetki in the US was reconfirmed, when dancing with 776 other folk dancers predominantly from the US, we also saw the Latvian Ambassador to the UN and spouse, as well as dance troupes from Latvia, and a group of little Latvian dancers from Ireland. The landmark role of Dziesmu Svētki was reconfirmed when the “Kopkoru” gala concert, that by the way, the non-Latvian spouse of a singer afterwards termed as “magnificent”, featured not only choirs from all of North America, but also among the singers: the premiere Latvian choir Sōla”, the Latvian Ambassador to the US, and spouse, and the Minister of Culture from Latvia.

Certainly, a nostalgia could be sensed for one missing element – the traditional “Čikāgas piecīši” concert. But what was also evident was the sheer enjoyment with which the audiences accepted the mix of today’s artists, as seen at the Chamber Music Concert, with musicians from Latvia performing with the semi-professional musicians of the diaspora; with “Iļģi” as the energizing component of two evening programs – concert and harbor cruise. Added to these were the very diverse musical offerings of “Sōla”, and the Daumants Kalniņš Quintet – also from Latvia – and we had a fresh breadth of musical genres and quality performances that we here in North America could not achieve without the heightened cultural exchange between Latvia and the diaspora.

Not to be overlooked were the Literary gathering, a fine combination of humor and appreciation for our literary figures and heritage in the diaspora, and the two theater productions, one staged by the National Theater of Latvia, the other by the San Francisco Latvian theater group.

Add to this the ironic advantage brought on by working with audiences smaller than those of the Song Festivals of thirty years ago: we have been able to move our major venues to acoustically superior settings; the gala choir concert no longer took place in a sports arena, but at the Baltimore Symphony Hall. Indeed, the assembled program and performances spanned a broad cultural spectrum that addressed the interests and resonated with the soul of every participant.

Having this all occur on the eve of Latvia’s Centennial and the 2018 Dziesmu Svētki in Latvia made this Song Festival all the more heady. Having the financial support of ALA and the Latvian government ensured a degree of stability. But having a RK that could recognize, distil, engage and assemble a program of this quality is a basic reason for why yes – these Dziesmu Svētki truly “izdevās”!

The post Baltimore Latvian Song Festival – a resounding success appeared first on Latvians Online.

Latvians Online asked a few Baltimore Latvian Song Festival goers to share their thoughts on the festival. Canadian Latvians regularly attend US-Latvian song festivals. Here is one active younger-generation Canadian-Latvian's take on the week of festivities in Baltimore.

To someone who has never been, you can’t really describe the feeling of being at a Song Festival: the feeling of being amongst thousands of other Latvians, all wanting to celebrate our beautiful culture together. It doesn’t matter if they were born here, or in Latvia; if they’ve married into the community or were born into it; if they’ve lost the language or still hold onto it. It doesn’t matter if you’ve known them for years or if you’re just meeting them for the first time. What matters in that one magical weekend is that you are all together; that we as Latvians can take over a city and call it our own.

As cheesy and trite as this may sound, that doesn’t make it any less true. Even for those coming from cities with active Latvian communities, like me, hearing Latvian all around you on the streets lifts your spirits like nothing else can. There is no greater sense of pride than walking down the streets of Baltimore (or any Festival city) in your folk costume and answering locals who ask “what’s the big event that’s happening this weekend?”. The sense of community that is felt at a Festival cannot be replicated or replaced by anything. Though the weekend may pass by in a blur you always wish there was just one more day, to go to another show, to visit the market again, or to grab lunch with friends from out of town that you haven’t seen in a long time.

I have friends who, for various reasons, come to Festivals not as participants but merely as attendees. While I am always jealous that they get to sleep in and can attend any show or concert they would like, I somehow cannot imagine being at a Festival and not participating in some way. I have been folk dancing my whole life and because of that Festivals have always included at least one day (if not three or four!) of early morning rehearsals and long days spent dancing on tired feet. One day I might decide to retire my dancing shoes, but for now I live for the rush of being onstage with hundreds of other dancers; with beaming, cheering crowds cramming every possible seat.

My favourite moment at any Festival comes just before the end of the Folk Dance Show. With all of the dancers on stage, everyone, performers and dancers, join hands and sing “Daugav’ abas malas”, an anthem of sorts for Latvians, especially in the diaspora. Since I was a child, I have not been able to get through this moment without tearing up and in some cases, full-out weeping. After this deeply emotional moment, upbeat dance music is put on and the dancers onstage take their time polka-ing off in pairs, lines, groups, or however else they’d like. This brief but wonderful moment is a chance to celebrate the culmination of all our hard work together and to relax and look forward to enjoying the remainder of the Festival.

As much fun as dancing in the New Choreography Competition and the Folk Dance Show was, I also enjoyed being able to spend my last day in Baltimore simply as a spectator. The final day of the Festival was a beatiful one – the Joint Choir Festival was magnificent, with wonderful acoustics at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, a talented accompanying orchestra, and a great selection of choral favourites and unknowns, including a celebration of East Coast composers. And the final Festival Ball was a great culmination to such a joyful, vibrant weekend. The room was packed full of festival goers of all ages, dancing to Toronto’s own Penzionāri. I even spotted Ilga Reizniece of Iļģi dancing too. During a break in between sets, Dace Melbārde, Latvia’s Minister for Culture (and a Festival participant as well!) gave Certificates of Recognition (atzinības raksti) to the Festival Organizers. These were extremely well deserved and showed the new, stronger bonds being forged between Latvians abroad and those in Latvia. Working together and supporting one another can only strengthen us as a people and a culture.

It’s been said before, but I must repeat how amazing it is that the Festival came together like it did, considering the fact that the organizers are all from different East Coast cities and that the Latvian community in Baltimore is so minimal. Never once did it feel like they did not know the city or that they hadn’t prepared everything and planned it all to the T. My hats off to all of the Organizing Committee and volunteers. As a first-time member of a Festival Organizing Committee (for the 2019 Festival in Toronto) I am beginning to see just how much blood, sweat, and tears goes into planning an event of this scale, something I think many Festival goers, through no fault of their own, simply do not realize and take for granted. It takes a lot of work to make sure things run as smoothly as they did and to ensure that all Festival participants and attendees are able to enjoy everything to the fullest.

Given how wonderful my experience in Baltimore was it’s such a shame that Festivals don’t happen more often. But, while the next East Coast Festival might be far away, and going to the Festival in Latvia next summer might not be possible for everyone, there is another North American Festival just around the corner. Yes, as a member of the Organizing Committee for the 2019 Festival of Song and Dance in Toronto, this is my shameless plug for everyone to join us there. It’s a chance to once again experience the friendship, community, and cultural beauty of the Latvian community here in North America and around the world.

The post How Baltimore Became a ‘Little Latvia’ for the Weekend appeared first on Latvians Online.

Overview

2017 was the 61st year of operation for the iconic Latvian Lutheran Church camp managed by the New York and vicinity Latvian Lutheran Church. Started in 1956, the summer camp was a complement to the Sunday schools that sprang up in the Latvian communities for children of recently immigrated Displaced Persons (DPs). Around 80,000 Latvians had fled from the return of communism and immigrated to America from 1948 to 1951. The summer camp offered their children the opportunity to come together, remember their homeland, make friends, and learn Latvian language, culture, traditions, songs, and dances.

As the years rolled into the 1960s and beyond, more and more Latvians intermarried and/or graduated from college and moved to places farther and farther away from Latvian communities. None of this was surprising or unexpected in the vast landscape of America. But it presented a challenge to those trying to keep an avenue open for future generations of Latvian-Americans. They wanted to give the future generations the opportunity to learn and understand their family’s heritage and use the camp as a stepping stone to more things Latvian. The erosion of the Latvian language, a pillar of heritage, is sad, but the declining numbers of those involved in Latvian activities, generation by generation, seriously erodes what could be in the future.

To address these issues, in 1983, the New York church added two weeks to the summer camp, opened the camp gate, and started “Valodas (language) periods”. These two weeks are for youth from six to fifteen who don’t speak Latvian (although some campers do speak Latvian) and want to learn Latvian culture, traditions, song, language, and folk dance and as in any summer camp, swim, play sports and games, and make new friends.

The community focus more on heritage

Believing that they can do more, the camp committee, chaired by Anita Batarags, changed the essence and mission of the camp program last year. Their focus is on instilling even more of a Latvian heritage element in the two-week camp so the campers and counselors have a greater understanding and a stronger link to Latvian culture and country. This change is reflected in the camp title which changed from "Valodas” periods to "Heritage" periods.

To help this important effort grow, the camp committee has applied for grant assistance to Latvian government agencies the last two years. Last year, they obtained funding specifically for supporting the Latvian diaspora.  The "Heritage" campers as well as the 2nd period Latvian-speaking campers were introduced to the "folkloras" repertoire of singing and dancing by folk group Imanta-Dimanta. This year, the camp committee applied for funding from Ārlietu Ministrija, (Latvian Government Foreign Affairs Department), which as part of their foreign affairs program, has focused on maintaining contact with and supporting the extensive Latvian diaspora.

The financial assistance the camp received paid for the travel expenses of two young women from the folk scene in Latvia: Laima Dimanta and Rasa Roze. They come from musically-talented families and both know, sing, and teach from their vast repertoire of Latvian folk songs. Both play multiple instruments such as the kokle and violin. Rasa also plays dūdas (bagpipes) and an instrument made from a metal rod where one blows in air and it vibrates in-tune. Through their music and interaction with the campers, Laima and Rasa were valuable members of the camp staff in furthering the cultural goals of the Heritage camp.

The Heritage camp starts early with "Īkšķīši"

To put the Heritage camp efforts in better focus, let’s start with the youngest campers, the Īkšķīši– Little Thumbs. This camp program started in 1989. For those who want to give their younger children– six years and younger– a camp experience, the first week has a week-long session for Īkšķīši. Led by Laila Gansert, each young camper must be accompanied by an adult, mother, father, grandparent (age and safety reasons). With the Īkšķīši group, the child and adult go through a parallel set of activities as the older campers. But the activities are tailored to their age, and there is more free time to explore the forest, play with polliwogs, and teeter-totter on the playground. This year, sixteen young ones with parents in tow came to experience camp life and participate in Latvian song, dance, hiking, games, and language and religion classes tailored to the young ones by Pastor Laris Saliņš.

Moving on to the main camp and campers

This year, camp director Elissa Millers – a teacher in her other life – celebrated her tenth anniversary as camp director. The camp staff includes pastor Laris Saliņš, office manager Gunta Ģiga, director of camp activities Austra Zubkovs, and language and music teacher Irēne Jasuta.

The eighty-eight campers came from New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Georgia, South Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, and Florida. The campers were divided into four groups each of boys and girls. The oldest group had 13 boys and 12 girls. 17 boys and 11 girls made up the second oldest group. The second youngest group consisted of 13 boys and nine girls. Last, but not least, the youngest group had seven boys and seven girls. To focus on learning about Latvian historical and current personalities, the eight groups were asked to choose a cabin name from a list of Latvians, including Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga (a wise choice by the older girls), Kristaps Porziņģis (strangely, but maybe not, chosen by a girls group), Krišjānis Valdemārs, Rainis, Jeļena Ostapenko, Andrejs Pumpurs, Aspazija, and Jānis Čakste. Along with that came a history lesson about this group of Latvian leaders, athletes, writers, and poets.

In their daily activities, the campers are well-supervised by twenty-two counselors. Senior counselors are usually high school seniors or college students. In addition, eight teachers (a few of them overlap as counselors), interact with the campers in art, culture, language, song, and dance. Three nurses split time at camp. There were five lifeguards.

To look after the hearty appetites of the campers, invigorated by the mountain fresh air, swimming, and sports activities were run by seven workers, led by Sarma Clouser. They were helped by five kitchen aides, former campers who enjoyed the experience so much they come back to help in the kitchen. They set tables, wash dishes, and join in camp activities such as folk dancing and rotaļas as they gain experience to transition to counseling.

Finding this slice of Latvian heritage in the Catskill Mountains 

As you drive up Interstate 87 from New York and New Jersey, the Catskill mountains start popping up about eighty miles north of the city. If you go too far, another hundred miles through the more intimidating Adirondack Mountains, you end up on the US-Canadian border and might need a passport to get home.

The Catskills, compared to the Rocky Mountains or even the Adirondacks Mountains, are kind of like an īkšķītis looking up at an older camper. Nevertheless, the Catskills are more than bumps on the horizon and sneak up on you as you leave the turnpike and the rolling countryside behind. Once you start up the winding roads – surprise – the hills quickly turn into mountains! Closer to camp, you start up the road at what feels like a 45-degree angle past Rota and the Latvian cemetery and think that you are on your way to the mountaintop. But, not more than a minute later, you come to a plateau and see the first sign of the church property. The church property covers 80 acres and, along with Rota and surrounding properties, was once part of an estate owned by New Yorkers. There are a few reminders of that past.

We pass by Atpūtas Nams, Rest Home. The three-story family home with a small pond nearby, where Īkšķīši can be found looking for frogs and bugs, stands by the gravel road that leads to ēdamzāle, the dining hall. Atpūtas Nams has been divided into twenty sleeping rooms, with a kitchen, basement play room, and common area, that are used by the Īkšķīši and other groups throughout the summer.

Driving past Atpūtas Nams, we turn in at the main gate on the narrow-paved road that leads to the lake. But, we don’t go that far and park near the other two houses that the Īkšķīši use. Dārza Māja, Garden House, was once the home for servants. Across the road is a long, narrow rectangular, low-slung building that once was a horse barn but you wouldn’t know it unless someone told you. Now called Viesu Māja, Guest House, it was remodeled long ago and has a kitchen, living area, washrooms and showers, and private sleeping rooms on each side of the long hallway.

This is our favorite place to stay – as it is for many Īkšķīši parents. Here, they can sit on the porch and watch their children play on the nearby playground, swing and teeter-totter.

Today, the second week of camp there are no Īkšķīši and it is quiet here, away from freeway traffic, the hubbub of city streets and the lure of candy stores. It also is quiet because the campers are busy with their activities.

On to the main camp 

With a well-manicured field on the side, we start down a tree-lined path toward the ēdamzāle. The shaded path is reminiscent of a country lane in England that leads to a manor house. Camp activity picks up here. Beyond the row of trees, a group of campers are on the soccer field playing dodge ball. Ah…it must be sports time! Group activities are sprinkled with activities for all campers, some on the soccer field that help the group of 88 bond and make new friends – regardless of age. It is heartening to hear returning campers, a 14-year-old heartily greet a nine year-old.

We pass a tennis court and basketball court. Two young campers are playing their counselor in a two-on-one pick-up game. The young campers play like they have been to basketball camp. Their counselor…not so much. A group of older boy and girl campers are playing what looks to be a serious game of volleyball, until one player dives for a spiked ball and lands in the mud. There was a bit of rain this year. The laughter breaks out and rolls across the field as the player picks gobs of mud off her face.

Next, we come to the ēdamzāle. It sits as a counter-balance, albeit a much smaller one, to the mountain rising high at the far end of the field from where we came. While not as impressive as a manor house, the brightly-painted white ēdamzāle building, nevertheless, is a stately presence in a sea of green, trees, mountains, shrubbery and grassy field, and seems to hint at a personality that is much more than an offer of a few meals a day.

The front porch of the ēdamzāle covers the front of the building and wraps around one side. It offers a postcard view of the grassy field and mountain in the distance, framed by two flag poles and flags waving in the breeze. I take another picture.

From the ēdamzāle, we head toward the nine roomy cabins. No cars are admitted in this camp area. Here we might hear happy voices of campers after lunch. Amid the cabins we pass is the activity hall from which comes the sound of folk dance music. The older group of boys and girls are gathering inside to learn Latvian folk dances.

Camp of rotations and activity

Camp leaders have scheduled 14 days of activity but it does include free time to make friends and rest time to recharge the batteries. The camp day, without rain (there are contingency plans for rainy days) starts with waking up, stretching or a jog, raising the flags and breakfast. Then it’s off to make your bed and prepare for the day’s activities. Mornings are for rotation. Each day, every group cycles through four sessions lasting around forty minutes each. These sessions are language, culture and music with Laima and Rasa, art, and folk dancing.

A group of young girl campers and counselors rush out of their cabin on their way to the next rotation activity. Today, they are off to Ezermāja (Lake House) for their art period. Leaving their cabin and the activity hall behind, they follow a tree-lined path to the lake and Ezermāja that overlooks the small man-made lake.

At Ezermāja, they might finish painting the rock they started yesterday, under the watchful eye of their art teachers, or work on their Latvian story quilt. Story Quilt is a Latvians Aboard Museum and Research Centre initiated project to celebrate the 100th birthday of Latvia (1918 to 2018).

As shown in the picture of quilts, each camper created their own quilt. The campers were asked to think about what Latvia means to them, what images and thoughts come to mind, and what their connection is to Latvia. Some referenced family trees, trips to Latvia, love for architecture in Latvia, love for Latvia in general, and their mixed background with Latvia and different countries, and used flag designs (America and Latvia, Brazil and Latvia, Italy and Latvia). Others did their favorite Latvian symbols such as the Saule and Auseklis.

Not only the quilt but the name of the quilter, his/her tie to Latvia (parents/grandparents) and a description of why the camper chose the design will be included in the one large quilt that will travel around Latvia in 2018 to commemorate the one-hundred-year anniversary. (This project is under the auspices of the Latvian Centenary Project and is supported by the State Cultural Capital Foundation and the US Embassy in Riga).

Maija Hinkle, the President of the Board of the Latvians Abroad Museum and Research Center/Latvieši Pasaulē Muzejs un Pētniecības Centrs, congratulated the campers for their wonderful quilts and caring words and thanked Elissa Millers and the two art instructors: Venta Cantwell and Larisa Kirgan for a job well done.

Leading away from the Ezermāja, lake, cabins, and sports fields, paths start into the forest that surrounds the camp. One path winds around the lake to the campfire site. Here, on the middle Saturday, is the much planned for and highly awaited skit night. Once everyone, campers and visitors, are settled in around a blazing campfire, the evening of camper skits and laughter follows. Intermingled with skits are Latvian folk songs that fill the forest with a hundred voices.

Nearby is a different path that winds up the hillside to an outdoor church. This church of nature has a seating area carved out of the hillside, a natural stone altar, and a quiet beauty of trees and shrubs that quietly stand watch over the worshipers. Services are held there on Sundays and Wednesday evenings. Pastor Laris Saliņš leads the procession of campers– past the cabins and lake – up the hill to the outdoor church. A candlelight service follows. On the days when there is no church service, Pastor Saliņš meets with the campers before dinner.

The camp staff has worked hard to create evening activities for the campers. Iepazīšanās vakars (introductory evening) brings together all campers from seven to 15 and emphasizes team-building games. There are two evenings of balles, dances, where campers build on the rotaļas and folk dances they learn during the two-weeks and try out new steps to more current music. With the recent song festival in Baltimore, the camp put on a song festival evening of their own. Lija Lūsis showed pictures and videos from the song festival. That was followed by songs, in a concert mode, that each group had worked on earlier that week with Laima and Rasa. The best group would perform in the final camp concert.

The camping day includes three meals plus a snack; a rest period; swim time; and sports such as dodgeball, ultimate frisbee, soccer, volleyball or kickball. Dinner is followed by an evening activity. The youngest campers, six to eight years old, are off to bed by 9PM.

The final Saturday morning is both a highlight and a lowlight for the campers and counselors. The highlight is the well put together folk song and dance concert by the campers and counselors. Their audience runs around one-hundred strong, including parents and the group of seniors, “Senči,” who have had their own week-long cultural camp in the Atpūtas Nams.

The campers, led by Irēne Jasuta, have worked hard on songs and singing the second week of camp, and that shows as they shake the activity hall with a potpourri of Latvian songs. Next the campers show off their folk dancing skills. Each group, choreographed by counselors Natalie Autenzio and Emily Rose Cumings, proudly takes center stage and wow the audience and look good enough to take the dance floor at the recent song festival in Baltimore. And everyone sings, Dažu skaistu, ziedu Gaujā kaisīju, A few beautiful flowers I spread across the river Gauja – a traditional Latvian folk song.

The emotional lowlight of the day of parting comes at the flag lowering ceremony when it becomes clear that the two weeks are over. No one wants to leave. But many new friends have been made. A little bit of Latvian spirit and heritage has been sprinkled about. And those young enough, vow to come back next year!

What did we learn about the Heritage Camp?

The two-week Heritage periods introduces, strengthens, and expands knowledge of Latvian culture, customs, folk dance, language, and song for those young people who don’t have the opportunity to participate in Latvian activities in their daily lives, at home or come from places where there is little or no Latvian activity. This camp is that catalyst that brings Latvian-American children together where they can learn about Latvian culture, heritage, history and traditions of their Senči (ancestors) – be it parent, grandparent or great-grandparent, and make friends among those who share their heritage– for life.

If you have a young one or know of someone who would be interested in the Latvian heritage camp please contact Elissa Millers, camp director, Anita Batarags, camp committee chairperson or Laila Gansert on the Īkšķīši email or via the New York Draudze website.

We welcome suggestions on how to expand the program– including if parents or grandparents would be interested in participating by adding something of their heritage story.

As fitting, the final ceremony on Saturday ended with the song the displaced Latvian people, our Senči, who fled the return of Communism to Latvia in 1944, sang in Germany and still sing in America– Pūt Vējiņi, dzen laiviņu, aizdzen mani Kurzemē. Blew ye winds, push my boat to Kurzeme.

The post Another Successful Latvian Heritage Camp In the Catskills appeared first on Latvians Online.

Latviešu centrs Garezers sāka savu darbību 1965. gadā. Garezers ir pastāvējis, lai pulcinātu latviešu sabiedrību, audzinātu un mācītu latviešu jaunatni, lai stiprinātu latviešu valodu, kultūru un garīgās vērtības, lai veicinātu latvietību un saites ar Latviju. Garezera vasaras vidusskola (GVV) ir darbojusies kopš 1966. gada vasaras. GVV ir intensīva latviešu valodas vasaras programma jauniešiem no 14 līdz 17 g. vecumam. 2017. gada vasarā mācījās 119 jaunieši. Kādēļ vēl šodien jaunieši ziedo savu brīvo vasaras laiku, lai dzīvotu sešas nedēļas mežā? Skolēni aptaujās paši raksta:

“Es esmu piedalījusies Garezera nometnēs kopš man ir bijuši 6 gadi. Man ļoti patīk būt Garezerā; un es vienmēr priecājos kad es varu redzēt manus latviešu draugus.” “ Es braucu uz GVV, lai turpinātu attīstīt savas latviskās zināšanas un latviešu valodu, un protams, lai būtu ar draugiem.”

Tā paaudze latviešu, kas iebrauca ASV pēc 2. pasaules kara, grūti strādāja un centīgi izglītoja savus bērnus. Viņi izaudzināja divas paaudzes, kas sevi uzskata par latviešiem, un lika stiprus pamatus latviešu sabiedrībai. Šobrīd sabiedrisko darbinieku darbība strauji samazinās un atsevišķas organizācijas spriež par savu pašlikvidāciju. Kā saglabāt latviskumu, kā to saglabāt un noturēt nacionālo identitāti? Skolas ir svarīgas diasporas latviešu sabiedrības eksistencei.

Latviešu valoda ir dzimtā valoda aptuveni 1,5 miljoniem cilvēku. No tiem 1,38 miljoni dzīvo Latvijā. ASV tautas skaitīšanas dati 2005. gadā rādīja, ka aptuveni 85,300 latviešu atrodas ASV.

Kādas ir viņu latviešu valodas spējas? Latviešu valoda aizvien vairāk zaudē savas dzimtās valodas pozīciju.

Sākuma gados GVV, gan arī citās diasporas latviešu skolās, mācījās bērni un jaunieši, kam mājās dzīvoja dzimtās valodas runātāji. Skolotāji arī bija dzimtās valodas runātāji. Skolēniem tikai bija jānoslīpē latviešu valoda, mācīja pēc Endzelīna valodas likumiem un lietoja filoloģes Baltiņas-Bērziņas grāmatu kā mācību grāmatu. Gadiem ejot uz priekšu, skolēnu mājās mazumā gāja dzimtās valodas runātāji. Vairāk ģimenēs viens vai otrs vecāks nebija latvietis. Skolēniem vairs nebija tikai jānoslīpē valoda, bet gan jāmāca latviešu valoda. Bija jāmāca latviešu valodas gramatika, radās daudz dažādas vingrinājumu lapas. Skolēni iemanījās tās labi izpildīt. Bet, rakstu valoda un runas valoda kļuva arvien liesāka. Vēl cita grūtība radās, proti, atšķirība bērnu valodas līmeņos kļuva arvien lielāka. Kā mācīt vienā klasē ar vienu skolotāju, vienlīdzīgi labi skolēnam ar labāku valodas līmeni un skolēnam ar vājāku valodas līmeni? Kad gāja runa par sadalīšanu skolēnus grupās pa valodas spējām, no vecākiem un skolotājiem izskanēja bažas. Svarīga ir skolēna pašapziņa, draudzības, prieks mācīties. Kā lai apvieno vēlmi skolēnos attīstīt valodu un arī mīlestību pret Latviju un latviešiem.

Kā zināms, vārdu krājums ir cieši saistīts ar cilvēka mājas un sabiedrisko dzīvi. Neskatoties uz to, ka latviešu skolas pievērsās vārdu krājumam, skolēnu vārdu krājums arvien samazinājās. Grūtākais bija atrast piemērotu lasāmvielu. Ja valodas līmenis bija piemērots, tad saturs bija bērnišķīgs. Ja saturs atbilda skolēna vecumam, valodas līmenis bija grūts. ALA centās līdzēt, izdodot grāmatas, piem. Lidijas Ziemeles Valodas mācība un Maijas Laiviņas Vēstures grāmatas pamatskolai. Latviešu valodas aģentūras (LVA), kas ir Latvijas Izglītības un zinātnes ministrijas pārraudzībā, mērķis ir veicināt latviešu valodas nostiprināšanu un attīstību. LVA ir sniegusi palīdzību, bet arvien pietrūkst mūsdienīgu un diasporas vajadzībām atbilstošu literatūras un vēstures materiālu.

LVA novēroja, ka latviešu valoda diasporā aizvien vairāk zaudē savas dzimtās valodas pozīcijas. Bet, saukt to par svešvalodu ir grūti.  Lielākai daļai GVV skolēnu latviešu valoda ir pirmā valoda ko dzirdēja. Viņiem tika dziedātas latviešu šūpuļdziesmas, lasītas latviešu pasakas un kāds ir runājis ar viņiem latviski, vai nu pamata, vidējā vai augstākā līmenī. Kad pienāca skolas gadi, tad 90% laika tika pavadīts vidē, kur runāja angliski. Jaunās zināšanas, ko ieguva bija saistītas ar angļu valodu. Tā latviešu valoda kļuva sekundāra. ALA Izglītības nozares vadītāja, Andra Zommere, izmanto apzīmējumu, mantotā valoda. Latviešu valodu nevaram saukt par dzimto valodu, jo dzīvojam angļu valodas vidē. Reizē, nevaram to par svešvalodu saukt, jo no bērnības to dzirdam un runājam. Kā latviešu skolām strādāt? Kādus materiālus izmantot? Kādas mācību metodes? Galvenais, jāveicina mūsu skolēnos valodas izaugsmi.

Liels solis uz priekšu tika sperts kad izveidoja latviešu valodas līmeņu pārbaudījumus. ALA Izglītības nozare sadarbojās ar PBLA Izglītības padomes locekli, Daci Mažeiku. Par ASV latviešu skolu vajadzībām piemērotāko tika atzīts pastāvošais Eiropas valodas portfelis (EVP). EVP ir standartizēta valodas apguves līmeņa vērtēšanas sistēma Eiropas Savienības valstīs, kas nosaka personas dažādu valodu prasmi, iedalot to sešos līmeņos - Pamata valodas prasmes līmenis (A1, A2), Vidējais līmenis, kur skolēns patstāvīgi spēj lietot valodu (B1, B2), Augstākais līmenis, kur skolēns brīvi pārvalda valodu (C1, C2). Lietojot EVP Eiropas institūcijas un uzņēmēji var noteikt un izvērtēt potenciāla studenta vai darba ņēmēja valodas līmeni. Izmantojot šādus valodas pārbaudījumus ASV latviešu skolās, skolotāji var gūt vajadzīgo informāciju skolēnu mācīšanai un izaugsmes vērtēšanai. Arī paši skolēni spēj apzināties valodas prasmju līmeņus un turpināt sekot to izaugsmei un attīstībai. Valodas pārbaudījums ir lodziņš uz to, kāds ir skolēna valodas līmenis runāšanas, klausīšanās, rakstīšanas un lasīšanas prasmēs. Ja skolotājs zina, kāds ir skolēna līmenis katrā prasmē, tad var labāk piemērot mācību vielu skolniekam. Vairāk par EVP var atrast Latviešu valodas aģentūras mājas lapā Eiropas valodu portfelis sadaļā.

GVV skolēni raksta Valodas līmeņu pārbaudījumus kopš 2014. gada vasaras. Šis ir viens no soļiem virzībā uz katra atsevišķa skolēna prasmju novērtējumu, personiskāku mācību pieeju un individuālāku mācību materiālu attīstību. Katru gadu audzēkņi veic valodas pārbaudījumu vasaras sākumā (formatīvi) un beigās (summatīvi). Pa šiem gadiem novērots, ka skolēnu valodas izaugsme vasarā, sešās nedēļās, pārsniedz ziemas mēnešu izaugsmi. To var izskaidrot ar to, ka GVV laikā skolēni pavada dienas latviešu valodas vidē, pievēršas mācībām latviešu valodā un izmanto valodu runājot gan ar pieaugušajiem, gan ar vienaudžiem. Izņēmumi ir tie jaunieši, kas apmeklē latviešu vidusskolu mājas pilsētās, kam valodas izaugsme parādās arī pēc ziemas mēnešiem. Mums, latviešu sabiedrībai, ir jāpiestrādā atbalstīt ģimenes, kas cenšas uzturēt latviešu valodas līmeni. Valoda ir dzīves veids, ne tikai mājas darbs. Lai valoda izaugtu, attīstītos, tā jālieto mājās un sabiedrībā. Ir jālasa, jārunā, jāraksta un valoda regulāri jāklausās.

Šovasar pirmo reizi GVV mācīja latviešu valodu sadalot skolēnus pa valodas līmeņu grupām. Vecuma grupas, klases, netika dalītas, kā arī citos priekšmetos skolēni netika sadalīti pa valodas līmeņiem. Jauno pieeju izmantoja tikai Valodas mācībai. Kopā sanāca 12 atsevišķas valodas grupas, kuras mācīja 8 skolotājas. Atsauksmes par šo sadalījumu bija pozitīvas, gan no skolotājiem, gan no skolniekiem. Skolotāja Laura Mestere (no Latvijas) izstrādāja pagaidu programmu šīm klasēm. Pamatā valodas līmenis noteica pārrunājamos tematus, bet klase (I, II, III vai IV) noteic mācāmo gramatiku. Tie audzēkņi kuri mācījās A1 vai A2 līmeņu grupās izmantoja LVA izdotās A1LAIPA un A2LAIPA grāmatas. Citos līmeņos izmantoja agrāk lietotus materiālus vai skolotāju radītus materiālus. LAIPA grāmatas izmanto svešvalodas mācību metodiku. Materiāli neatbilst pilnībā GVV skolēniem, kam latviešu valoda ir otrā valoda vai mantotā valoda. Visbiežāk pietrūka gramatikas vingrinājumi. Dažkārt skolotāji centās integrēt valodas stundu uzdevumus ar citu priekšmetu uzdevumiem (piemēram: publiskas runas sagatavošanas II klases literatūras un valodas grupām, aprakstu veidošanas izmantojot mākslas vēstures vielu, III klases vēstures pētniecības projekts iesaistot rakstu darbu un stāstījumu).

I klasē 20 skolēni mācījās izmantojot integrētu valodas mācības pieeju, valodu un literatūru. Skolēnus sadalīja divās grupās A1 un A2, un vasarai beidzoties 10 skolēni pārliecinoši sasniedza A2 līmeni un 9 sasniedza B1 līmeni. II klasē 43 skolēni mācījās 4 valodas grupās, kā arī III klasē 41 skolēns mācījās 4 valodas grupās. Analizējot Valodas līmeņu pārbaudījumu rezultātus, var secināt, ka skolēnim kas mācījās A līmeņa valodas grupās notika manāma valodas izaugsme. Vidējā līmeņa grupām, B1 un B2, izaugsme ir grūtāka. Tur rezultātus vērtīgi analizēt pa prasmēm, lai saprastu kā skolotāji var efektīvak strādāt par labu skolēnu valodas izaugsmei. IV klases skolēni mācījās 2 valodas grupās. IV klases skolēni kārtoja Latvijas Valsts valodas prasmes pārbaudījumus.  Valsts izglītības satura centra (VISC) Valsts valodas prasmes pārbaudes nodaļas vadītāja Anta Lazareva un vecākā referente Baiba Mūrniece Buļeva ieradās GVV piektajā skolas nedēļā. Speciālistu ceļu un uzturu sedza Sabiedrības integrācijas fonda piešķīrums, ko jau otro gadu saņem ALA Izglītības nozare, sadarbībā ar GVV. Visi 15 IV klases skolēni ieguva Latvijas Valsts valodas prasmes apliecību atbilstoši savam līmenim. Pārbaudījumi apstiprināja, ka skolēnu latviešu valodas prasme ir pietiekama veiksmīgai saziņai valodas prasmes pamata un vidējā līmenī. Šovasar divas skolnieces saņēma arī augstākā, C līmeņa apliecības, norādot uz to, ka abas ir bilingvālas, ka vienlīdzīgi labi pārvalda latviešu un angļu valodas. Šādu valodas līmeni spēj sasniegt tad, kad ģimene mājās konsekventi runā latviski, pievēršoties arī klausīšanās, lasīšanas un rakstīšanas prasmēm.

Nobeigšu šo pārskatu ar ALA izglītības nozares vadītājas Andras Zommeres secinājumiem, kurus viņa rakstīja “Izglītības nozares 2014./2015. gada projekts” aprakstā.

“Mācoties latviešu valodu tikai sestdienas un svētdienas skolas, laika gaitā ir pierādījies, ka nepieciešama no Latvijas skolās izmantotās vai ASV skolās trimdas sākuma gados izveidotās atšķirīga metodika. Jāpiegriež vērība arī piemērotu materiālu izvēlei, kuri situācijas sarežģītības dēļ̧ atšķirtos no līdz šim lietotajiem vai Latvijā izdotajiem līdzekļiem dzimtās valodas apguvei. Pieredze liecina, ka ASV latviešu skolās jāizmanto metodika un materiāli, kas drīzāk atbilst latviešu valodas kā otrās valodas vai mantotās valodas apguvei. Izmantojot otrās/mantotās valodas metodiku un pārbaudījumus, ir iespējams panākt tikpat labus vai pat labākus rezultātus valodas apguvē. Liela nozīme ir arī valodas un satura integrētajai apguvei, kas veicina straujāku valodas attīstību. Vēl jāuzsver vecāku lomas svarīgums bērna valodas pilnvērtīgā kopšanā. Latviešu skolās izmantotajai metodikai un materiāliem ir nenoliedzami liela nozīme, tomēr galvenā loma bērnu valodas apguves motivēšanā un ilgstošā nodrošināšanā ir ģimenei un vecākiem. Vecākiem noteikti jārod skolēniem iespējas izmantot un vingrināt visas valodas prasmes diendienā, lai pilnveidotu valodas izaugsmi. Skolām, savukārt, efektīvi mācot latviešu valodu, jāsekmē, jāatbalsta un jāmotivē vecāku vēlme ar bērniem sazināties latviski.” (A. Zommere)

Anita Briede-Bilsena, Garezera vasaras vidusskolas (GVV) skolotāju pārzine. Vairāk nekā 30 vasaras mācījusi GVV, gan latviešu valodu, tautas dejas, folkloru, Latvijas senvēsturi. Piedalījusies GVV programmu veidošanas projektos.

The post GVV latviešu valodas mācību programma laika tecējumā appeared first on Latvians Online.

Klāt pavasaris! Klāt Lieldienu prieks! Lai gan Baškīrijā pavasaris nāk ilgi un ar lielām pūlēm, tas tomēr nāk, un Lieldienas pa kupenām tek tam līdzi. Šogad Baškīrijas latviešiem Lieldienas ievilkās līdz pat aprīļa vidum. Lai! Svētku nekad nav par daudz.

Šoreiz Lieldienu prieku dalījām ar Baškortostānā dzīvojošajiem baltkrieviem, kuri 19. gadsimta beigās no centrālās un austrumu Baltkrievijas pārcēlās uz Baškīriju zemes dēļ. Baltkrievi apmetās Iglino rajonā, kur savukārt jau mitinājās latvieši. Iglino un Arhangele bija divas lielākās latviešu kolonijas Baškortostānā.

Iglino rajons atrodas netālu no Baškīrijas galvaspilsētas Ufas, agrāk – Ufas apriņķis. Tajā vienkopus atradās Austrumciema (visvecākais latviešu ciems Baškīrijā), Ozolciema, Baltijas (tagad Baltikas) ciema, Rīgas, Simbirskas, Baložciema u.c. viensētu kolonijas.

Baltijas ciema koloniju 1885. gadā nodibināja Smiltenes un Raunas ieceļotāji. Latvieši audzēja rudzus, prosu, auzas, kviešus, galvenais ienākumu avots bija lopkopība. 1890. gadā latvieši atvēra savu skolu, pirmajos gados mācības notika latviešu valodā. 20. gadsimta sākumā mācības notika jaunās skolas telpās, tās pirmais direktors bija Kārlis Sville. Ar lielu bijību vietējie latvieši atceras skolotāju Gustavu Gulbi, kurš skolā nostrādājis visu mūžu. Pratis gatavot vijoles, bijis labs dārznieks. Baltijas un Austrumu ciemā bija lūgšanu nami, kuri 20. gadsimta 30-tajos gados pārtapa par klubiem. Baltijas ciema lūgšanu namā strādāja pērminderis Kārlis Gulbis, kuru 1937. gadā apcietināja, un piesprieda 25 gadu sodu izsūtījumā. Līdzīgi kā Arhangeles kolonijas latvieši, arī Iglino tika dibināti orķestri, kori, pat amatierteātri. Pūtēju orķestri vadīja Pēteris Eidiņš, stīgu instrumentu orķestri – Voldemārs Šmits.

Baltkrievi, līdzīgi kā latvieši, 19. gadsimta beigās uz Baškīriju pārcēlās zemes dēļ. 20 gadsimta sākumā uz Baškīriju atceļoja Pirmā pasaules kara bēgļi. Ar laiku jau atbraukušie baltkrievi uz Baškīriju aicināja savus novadniekus, slavēdami Baškortostānas auglīgo zemi. Baltkrievi galvenokārt nodarbojās ar zemkopību, audzēja linus. Saimniekoja tā, kā bija pieraduši to darīt dzimtenē. 20. gadsimta 50-tajos, 70-tajos gados daudz latviešu atgriezās savā etniskajā dzimtenē. Baltkrievi šo iespēju tik ļoti neizmantoja. Baltikas ciema vidusskolas ģeogrāfijas skolotāja Marina Manturova paskaidroja: “Staļiniskās represijās latvieši cieta krietni vairāk nekā baltkrievi, tas bija viens no iemesliem, kāpēc latvieši izmantoja iespēju atgriezties Latvijā”.

Iglino rajons ir vienīgais Baškortostānas rajons, kur dzīvo daudz baltkrievu, tāpēc tika izveidots Baltkrievu Kultūrvēsturiskais centrs, kura paspārnē darbojas pieaugušo un bērnu baltkrievu folkloras ansambļi, muzejs, kā arī bibliotēka, kurā ir pieejamas grāmatas baltkrievu valodā. Baltikas ciema vidusskolā fakultatīvi var apgūt baltkrievu valodu un folkloru. Līdzīgi kā latviešiem Jāņi, arī baltkrievi ļoti labprāt svin vasaras saulgriežus (jūlijā). Tie ir plaša mēroga svētki, kurus apmeklē baltkrievi no citām Krievijas pilsētām un no Baltkrievijas.

Apmeklējot Baltikas ciemu, mani patīkami pārsteidza iedzīvotāju draudzība un mērķtiecība. Par saviem līdzekļiem ciematā ir uzcelta baznīca, ciemats ir sakopts un tīrs. Kluba zālē nebija nevienas brīvas vietas, pie tam, uz koncertu bija atnākuši ne tikai skolēni, bet arī skolotāji. Taču visbrīnišķīgākais bija tas, ka pēc koncerta es iepazinos ar vienu no Baltikas ciema latvietēm Mildu Gulbi. Viņas senči savulaik atbraukuši no Vidzemes.

Baškīrijas latviešu diasporai ir izveidojusies cieša sadraudzība ar ukraiņu un vāciešu diasporu. Kārtējo reizi pārliecinos, ka nedz ukraiņiem, nedz vāciešiem un arī baltkrieviem nav tik ciešas sadarbības un atbalsta ar etnisko dzimteni kā tas ir latviešiem. Uzturēt un saglabāt saikni ar savu etnisko dzimteni ir svarīgi, taču Baltikas baltkrievi savu kultūru un valodu spēj saglabāt arī bez šīs saiknes ar dzimteni. Pirms pāris gadiem ugunsgrēks iznīcināja Baltkrievu etnogrāfisko muzeju, vietējie to ir atjaunojuši. Baltkrievu folkloras ansamblis “Sjabri” vairākkārt ir ieguvis “Tautas ansambļa” godu.

Baltkrievus un latviešus vieno kas kopīgs. Tā ir spēja svešā vietā neaizmirst sevi un spēt par to runāt un stāstīt tik ilgi, kamēr sadzird un apjauš, ka mēs esam tāda saujiņa ne savējo. Šai baltkrievu saujiņai tas ir izdevies lieliski. Saglabāt savu kultūru un valodu laikā, kad līdzekļu trūkumu dēļ daudz kas apstājas, ir liela māka. Mēs varam tikai mācīties, kā to paveikt. Gribas ticēt, ka šī saikne ar uzņēmīgo, viesmīlīgo un draudzīgo tautu nepārtrūks.

The post Lieldienu svinēšana Baltikas ciemā Baškīrijā appeared first on Latvians Online.

1. Get a local SIM card for your mobile telephone. You will need a local number to be able to perform some of the other items mentioned below. Prepaid SIM cards are available from Narvesen, Circle K and larger stores and start from as low as EUR 2. Latvijas Mobilais Telefons has the best mobile coverage in Latvia, but you may want to also consider Bite, Tele2 and others. If you are staying for more than a month several cost-effective plans are also available from as low as EUR 9.99 for unlimited calls, SMS and data.
2. Get your new mobile eID. If you have a Latvian passport and are using either an iOS (iPhone) or Android smartphone register for the new eSignature mobile service. This will enable you to sign documents electronically and correspond with Latvian government agencies, banks and other businesses no matter where you are in the world effectively bypassing notaries and other intermediaries. To register you will need to visit the Business Registrar of Latvia on the 2^nd Floor on 2 Pērses (near the corner of Barona & Blaumaņa Streets). Bring your passport and mobile phone – the whole registration process shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes (ring them on 67108787 to check on the waiting times).
3. Register your own personal domain, for example, abolins.id.lv. Every Latvian citizen is entitled to a free personal domain in the id.lv space subject to availability. If you’re feeling especially patriotic then you can also register āboliņš.id.lv with the complete Latvian letters. Having your own personal domain means that you can set up an email address that won’t change every time you decide to switch your email provider. If you have been feeling uneasy about your current email service because of the way they are using your personal data then this a great alternative. Why not set up an email address for every family member, eg. janis@abolins.id.lv, maija@abolins.id.lv, peters@abolins.id.lv and so on.
4. Download the Latvian folksongs app for iOS (iPhone) and Android smartphones. There will be lots of singing this summer so why not have a few folksongs under your belt in preparation. The Tautasdziesmas app will also work without an Internet connection and the zoom function is particularly useful for campfire and other social gatherings. You can also listen to the melodies in case you need a refresher.
5. Share your travel photos and videos using files.fm. Upload up to 20Gb or more and you can password protect your data as well. Founded by Latvian Jānis Viklis, this free service has been going strong since 2007 and is a super-fast alternative to Dropbox.
6. Transfer your money with TransferWise and avoid unnecessary bank and currency conversion fees. Brought to you by the same people who created Skype, this service will allow you to transfer your money in hours rather than days and save money as well. Set up within minutes and use on your iOS (iPhone) and Android device. The borderless account service is even faster.
7. Get around Riga with public transport using Moovit or Trafi. Enter your destination and you will be guided with step by step directions on your smart device (phone or watch). The mobile friendly website 1188 also provides timetables for services outside of Riga.
8. Get around Riga with Taxify, the Uber taxi service of the Baltics. Estonian-based Taxify now operates in over 25 countries and 40 cities worldwide. Download the app, choose a driver based on distance, prices and car model and watch the driver arrive at your pick-up destination in real time. Expect to pay no more than 10-15 EUR for a taxi from the airport to the centre of Riga.
9. Get around Riga with car-sharing service CarGuru. Download the app and register in minutes (which includes taking a photo of your driver’s license). Select a car from a list of nearby locations – you have up to 20 mins to get to your reserved car. Unlock the car using the app, take the keys out of the glovebox and you’re ready to start driving. The price includes all costs including fuel, parking and insurance.
10. Get around Riga with a Sixt rental bike. Choose from 28 rental stations in Riga as well as Jurmala. Download the Nextbike app and register. The first 30 minutes are free, thereafter EUR 0.99 for each additional 30 minutes or EUR 9.99 for a 24 hour rental.

The post Top 10 digital essentials for travellers to Latvia appeared first on Latvians Online.

Lieliem un satraucošiem soļiem tuvojas beigām jau astotais mācību gads Baškortostānā, Arhlatviešu vidusskolā. Kāpēc lieliem? Tāpēc, ka atlicis mazāk par nedēļu, lai latviešu valodas skolotājs varētu doties mājup. Kāpēc satraucošiem? Tāpēc, ka vēl priekšā ir Jāņi un “Atbalss” brauciens uz Dziesmu un deju svētkiem Rīgā. Satraukumu rada arī tas, ka šoreiz “Atbalsi” līdz Rīgai pavadīs režisors Renārs Vimba, kurš vēlas veidot filmu par to, kā Baškīrijas latvieši gatavojas Dziesmu svētkiem. Pagaidām neesmu sapratusi, vai šis satraukums ir patīkams vai traucējošs, šķiet, par to būs jārunā tad, kad viss būs beidzies.

Pašreiz Arhlatviešu vidusskolā rit skolēnu dienas nometne, kurā notiek arī latviešu valodas, folkloras un rokdarbu nodarbības. Ar LVA (Latviešu valodas aģentūras) un PBLA (Pasaules brīvo latviešu apvienības) atbalstu, nometnē piedalās divi skolotāji no Latvijas. Mūzikas skolotāja Anna Briška un rokdarbu skolotāja Antra Bāliņa-Diega. Skolotājas Baškīrijā viesojas jau otro reizi. Arhlatviešu vidusskolas skolēni ar aizrautību apgūst latviešu rotaļas un dančus, ar lielu uzcītību darbojas skolotājas Antras rokdarbu stundās. Tas viss viņiem ir kas nebijis un jauns, skolēni ar patiesu prieku pieņem visu to, ko abas skolotājas var iemācīt.

Šis mācību gads bija notikumiem piesātināts. Ziemas saulgriežos Arhlatviešu vidusskolā viesojās muzikālās apvienība “Rāmi Riti”, februārī Latviešu kultūras dienās darbojās skolotāji no Latvijas un Maskavas, latviešu folkloras ansamblis “Atbalss” ieguva “Parauga” ansambļa titulu, jūnija beigās skolēni dosies uz Dziesmu svētkiem.

Ar katru mācību gadu skolotāja darbs kļūst dinamiskāks, piesātinātāks, gribas pat teikt sarežģītāks. Šķiet, no latviešu valodas skolotāja kā no brīnumdara tiek gaidīts kaut kas neparasts. Bet vēlme dažādot un uzlabot savu darbu un bērnu ikdienu nav nekas neparasts, tā ir norma. Dažubrīd liekas, ka skolas direktore vairs nepieņems latviešu valodas skolotājas idejas un ieceres, par daudz aktīvas un skaļas tās šķiet. Taču direktore pieņem, direktore atbalsta, tas ir liels atspaids skolotāja darbā. Apziņa, ka neesi ar savu domu viens.

Viens notikums dod aizmetni citam notikumam, neliela idejas dzirkstele izvēršas par notikuma lavīnu. Spēj tikai darīt! Spēj saķert ideju dzirksteles! Dzirksteles rada gaismu un siltumu. Man liekas, ikviens kas bijis Maksima Gorkija ciemā Arhlatviešu vidusskolā, katrs, kas spējis aizraut bērnus kaut uz mirkli ir radījis gaismu un siltumu bērnu sirdīs un prātos.

Arhlatviešu vidusskolas ģeogrāfijas skolotāja Roza Mazitova reiz teica, ka visi tie latviešu skolotāji, kas viesojušies skolā atklāj, cik radoša, draudzīga un talantīga ir latviešu tauta.

Latviešu valodas un kultūras skolotāja darbību Baškortostānas Maksima Gorkija ciemā finansē Latviešu valodas aģentūra no valsts budžeta. 2018. gadā latviešu valodu skolotājas Ilonas Saverasas vadībā apgūst 19 skolēnu, bet folkloras ansamblī “Atbalss” aktīvi darbojas 16 bērnu.

The post Arhlatviešu vidusskolā beidzas 8. mācību gads, “Atbalsis” pošas uz Dziesmu svētkiem appeared first on Latvians Online.

Vai tādēļ nedziedāju,
Kad man grūti jāstrādā?
Rokas, kājas piekusušas,
Mēle mana nepiekusa.

Šķiet, šie vārdi visprecīzāk stāsta par “Atbalss” ceļu uz Latviju un Dziesmu svētkiem. Idejas aizmetnis par to, ka bērniem jāpiedalās simtgades Dziesmu svētkos radās jau pirms gada. Ar sirdi jūti, ka jābrauc, ar prātu saproti, ka viegli nebūs. Bet sirds bieži vien izrādās stiprāka par veselo saprātu. Jābrauc!

“Atbalsij” paveicās ar to, ka Latvijas Republikas Ārlietu ministrija atbalstīja Dziesmu svētku pieteikuma projektu, līdz ar to nebija jādomā par ceļa izdevumiem. Atlika tikai nokārtot dokumentus, t.i., ceļošanas pasi, vīzu un vecāku atļauju par bērna izceļošanu ārpus Krievijas. Latvijas Republikas vēstniecība Krievijā vīzu uz Latviju skolēniem izsniedza bez maksas.

“Atbalss” ceļojums uz Latviju sākās ar Latvijas vēstniecības Krievijā apmeklēšanu un tikšanos ar Latvijas vēstnieku Krievijā Māri Riekstiņu. No Ufas līdz Rīgai skolēnus “pavadīja” režisors Renārs Vimba, kurš vāca materiālu īsfilmai par to, kā “Atbalss” gatavojās Dziesmu svētkiem. Latvijā skolēni lielākoties uzturējās Liepas pagastā. Bērni dzīvoja viesģimēnēs. Nedēļas laikā viņiem bija iespēja ceļot pa Latviju. Par to liels paldies jāsaka Liepas skolas skolotājai Inesei Lācei, kura Baškīrijas bērnu uzņemšanu organizēja jau otro reizi.

“Atbalss” koncerts Liepā pulcēja kopā lielu daļu to latviešu, kas savulaik no Baškortostānas pārcēlās uz Latviju. Pēdējo gadu laikā no Baškīrijas aizbraukušie latvieši ir atbalstījuši skolēnus, kas Baškortostānā apgūst latviešu valodu, gada beigās piešķirot vienreizējo stipendiju uzcītīgākajiem latviešu valodas apguvējiem. Šis brauciens nebūtu iespējams bez skolēnu vecāku atbalsta un vēlēšanās dot saviem bērniem iespēju apmeklēt Latviju. Diemžēl ne visi vecāki uzskatīja par vajadzīgu savu bērnu palaist uz Latviju vai uzskatīja, ka izbraukt ārpus Krievijas, piedalīties Latvijas simtgades svētkos ir pietiekams iemesls, lai papūlētos noformēt ceļošanai nepieciešamos dokumentus.

Dziesmu svētki ir pagājuši, “Atbalss” Latvijā ir pavadījusi piesātinātu, notikumiem un iespaidiem bagātu nedēļu. Šī nedēļa nebūtu iespējama bez Latvijas vēstniecības Krievijā, Liepas pagasta un Priekuļu novada pašvaldības, Liepas pamatskolas atbalsta. Bērni noguruši, bet laimīgi devās mājās, un man gribas ticēt, ka šī nebūs vienīgā reize, kad viņi apciemos Latviju, savu senču zemi.

Latviešu valodas un kultūras skolotāja darbību Baškortostānas Maksima Gorkija ciemā finansē Latviešu valodas aģentūra no valsts budžeta. 2018. gadā latviešu valodu skolotājas Ilonas Saverasas vadībā apgūst 19 skolēnu, bet folkloras ansamblī “Atbalss” aktīvi darbojas 16 bērnu.

The post Koris “Atbalss” no Baškortostānas piedalās Dziesmu svētkos Latvijā appeared first on Latvians Online.

The next Latvian national election will be on October 6th, 2018. Polling stations will be set up in Latvia and also in Latvian centres throughout the world.

Latvia is a democratic country, each citizen has the right to vote in the elections. In contrast to countries with separate parliamentary and presidential elections, Latvia has only one national election, which determines the course of government for the next four years. The Latvian national election decides which candidates and parties will form the next government (Saeima). The elected Saeima chooses the President.

The Latvian voting system is unique and the list of candidates and parties long. It is very important to vote, as the overseas Latvian votes form a substantial part of the electorate. In Latvia, where voting is not compulsory, each vote makes can make a big difference!

There are 100 seats in the Saeima and 5 electoral regions, each region has a number of seats proportional to the population of that region. The regions are Latgale, Kurzeme, Vidzeme, Zemgale and Riga. Changes in population distribution result in a redistribution of the seats for each electoral region. For the upcoming election, the numbers are: Latgale (14), Kurzeme (12), Vidzeme (25), Zemgale (14), Riga (35). Since the previous elections, the first three regions have each lost one seat while Riga has gained 3. This change can be explained by the fact that the votes of Latvians living overseas are included in the Riga electorate and there has been a wave of economic emigration over the past four years. It has been calculated that overseas Latvians have the potential to decide 8 of the 100 seats. This can make a critical contribution to the formation and tone of the next government of Latvia.

The voting system is based on party preferences. There is a separate ballot paper for each party. Each voter is given a voting envelope and multiple ballot papers, one for each of the participating parties. The voter chooses one of the ballot papers, which is then put in the envelope and into the ballot box. The remaining ballot papers are discarded. Before placing the chosen ballot paper into the envelope & ballot box, the voter can mark it to indicate preferences amongst the listed candidates, this will influence whether a specific candidate on the party preference sheet actually winds up with a seat in the Saeima. A plus sign next to the candidate's name indicates a positive shift for that candidate, a line through the candidate's name moves that candidate down the list. The ones at the top of the list get into the Saeima.

Political Parties

There are many small political parties in Latvia. To be included in the election, a party must have at least 500 members and have been formed 1 year before the date of the election. To get into the Saeima, a political party has to poll at least 5% of the vote. To increase the chances of a small party's candidates gaining seats in the Saeima, they often combine with another small party (or parties). When this happens, and a combined party is formed, it is useful to know the policies and actions of its constituent parties, before making a decision. The line-up of candidates for the election will be finalised in late July.

Here follows a brief outline of the major parties.

It is most likely that the major players in the next Latvian election will be three parties which already have a track record. These are: the social democrat “Saskaņa”, “Zaļo un Zemnieku Savienība” [ZZS] (Greens and Farmers Union) and “Nacionālā Apvienība” (National Union).

“Saskaņa” has held the largest number of seats in the Saeima since 2010, but has not been part of the government. The main support base of “Saskaņa” is the Russian-speaking population of Latvia, but it also gains votes from ethnic Latvians. “Saskaņa” is ideologically different to all the other parties in that it is against Latvian being the official language of Latvia, it has a pro-Soviet stance on the Soviet occupation of Latvia and has pro-Russian geo-political leanings. Due to these basic ideological differences, it is highly unlikely that “Saskaņa” would be able to form an alliance with any of the other parties, so it is most likely they will again be in the opposition in the 13th Saeima.

Zaļo un Zemnieku Savienība (ZZS) is currently the leading party in the Latvian government. It has its roots in regional areas outside Riga and many of its candidates are local government politicians. This party does not have a specific ideological base, but relies on the post-Soviet longing for a “good, honest manager” and also has the capacity to attract popular candidates. As the leading political party in the current government, it has been responsible for initiating the recent taxation and health care reforms. Although some of its members flirt with anti-Western and anti-American rhetoric, it is unlikely that it would form a coalition with “Saskaņa”.

The support base for Nacionālā Apvienība is those for whom the Latvian-Russian relationship is of utmost importance. NA boasts a string of popular politicians and its supporters seem unconcerned at the increasing number of allegations of corruption levelled at their representatives.

“Vienotība” gained second place in the previous election, but has now dropped to 3-4% in the ratings, so could possibly be completely out of the next government. This ratings drop can be explained by the party's inability to overcome its internal differences. It has lost a swathe of politicians, but has retained a number of experienced and popular candidates who bring with them a solid support base. The policies of “Vienotība” are European, centric and technocratic. There is no guarantee that they will have enough support to gain seats in the next Saeima.

“Jaunā Konservatīvā partija” has much in common with “Vienotība”. Its current focus is anti-corruption, which it is pursuing effectively. JKP is not a new party, but has been re-vitalised by fresh and energetic candidates, including human rights workers. Despite their energy and excellent communications skills, they lack political experience.

“Attīstībai/Par” is a new party, hoping to attract “Vienotības” liberal electorate. It is led by competent politicians, with experience in government. It is supported predominantly by young, educated, European-oriented voters. The weaknesses of this party is that some of its politicians are tainted by previous public dealings and that Western left-leaning policies are not widely popular in Latvia.

KPV.LV is basically a one-man party, led by Artuss Kaimiņš. He has based his political career on pointing out the failings of the existing elite and system, but is yet to provide alternative policies to deal with these failings.

Latvijas Reģionu apvienība (Latvian Regional Union) is an independent ZZS look-alike, which has also attracted some interesting candidates.

Latvijas Krievu savienība (Latvian Russian Union) is an openly pro-Moscow party, which attracts the radical pro-Russian sector of the electorate. This party sees “Saskaņa” as being too Western and conformist.

The post October 2018 Latvian Elections: Voting Information appeared first on Latvians Online.

The current state of play

The parties have now registered their candidates and policies with Latvia's Central Electoral Commission. There is less than two months until the elections and neither expense nor political tricks are being spared. The resulting noise is confusing to the onlooker, so this article attempts to strip away the hype and give an objective and critical view of the party candidates and their policies.

A few words of warning

Firstly, about the people fronting party campaigns – they are not necessarily even candidates! In recent years, parties have taken to using their high profile members to head their election campaigns in order to attract maximum votes for their party. Some of these are genuine candidates, who appear on the ballot paper, some are not. So, if you are basing your vote on your support for a particular party member, it is wise to check before the election whether that person is even on the ballot paper. Some of the political show ponies in this election, whose names do not appear on ballot papers are: Roberts Zīle (“Nacionālā Apvienība”, National Union), Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš (“Jaunā Vienotība”, New Vienotība),

Another point to consider is that Latvian governments have traditionally been coalitions, as no one party has ever held enough seats to form a government alone. For this reason, the leader of the government is necessarily a figure of compromise and is unlikely to be the official leader of any of the parties forming the coalition.

Bear in mind also that the Latvian voting system allows for a party ballot paper to become essentially a vote for one individual, if a plus sign is marked against that individual's name and all the other candidates on the ballot paper are crossed out. Candidates that promote this style of voting are not likely to support their party's views, but rather their own self interest.

Finally, be aware of ambiguities in the party names, as some parties have deliberately created a name similar to an existing party. For example, “Par Alternatīvu” is not the same as “Attīstībai/Par” and “Latviešu nacionālisti” is not the same as Nacionālā apvienība “Visu Latvijai!”-”Tēvzemei un Brīvībai/LNNK”. Voters should be very wary, as even a few votes may be crucial to the success of some parties.

Party candidate lists

First, a few general points, then the specifics of the Riga area candidates, which will be the ones on the ballot papers for overseas Latvians. A reminder that we are only looking at those parties that are likely to poll over 2%. (According to current ratings figures). Each party's candidate list has a mix of veteran and virgin politicians – some weighted more in favour of political experience, others in favour of fresh faces.

Parties which have opted to essentially retain their veteran politicians in the front line-up are: Nacionālā apvienība “Visu Latvijai!”-”Tēvzemei un Brīvībai/LNNK” (NA) and Zaļo un Zemnieku Savienība (ZZS).

The Socialdemocratic party “Saskaņa” has moved its traditional Russian background leaders to second place on their ballot papers and replaced them with Latvian background candidates as the front runners. (Including a couple of high profile defectors from “Vienotība”)

The once leading party “Vienotība” has become “Jaunā Vienotība” and in at least two areas it is leading its ballot paper with experienced government ministers.

“Jaunā Konservatīvā partija” (New Conservative Party) is not really all that new, but in this election seems to have a chance to enter the Saeima. Its drawcard is that at least two of its ballot papers are led by respected anti-corruption campaigners Juta Strīķe and Juris Jurašs. This party also polled well in the Riga local elections.

KPV.LV (short for “Kam pieder valsts” which translates as “Who does the country belong to?”) is aggressively putting itself forward, despite an almost total lack of political experience by any of its members. Its leader, Artuss Kaimiņš, has gathered a mixed bunch of strident candidates around himself.

The liberal, pro-western niche is this time occupied by “Attīstībai/Par”. Although the party styles itself as being young and fresh, its front runners are experienced politicians. This party also has a fair sprinkling of high profile arts identities.

Party candidate lists for Rīga

The ballot papers issued for Riga are tailored to suit the citizens of Riga and the Diaspora. The average Riga citizen has a higher income, is better educated and has a more global outlook than the average regional citizen. At the same time, the citizen of Riga is also more suspicious and inclined to change his or her mind.

An example of this tailoring is that the front candidate in Rīga for “Saskaņa” is Vjačeslavs Dombrovskis, a highly qualified economist with a doctorate from Clark University and ministerial experience. However, the other candidates on their list are not well known to the Latvian public, apart from the widely disliked “family values” proponent Jūlija Stepaņenko and defence expert Raimonds Rublovskis. “Saskaņa” has also included one of the Rubiks sons in its Riga line-up.

In contrast, the ZZS ballot paper for Rīga is full of well-known and respected candidates, beginning with Dana Reizniece-Ozola (Finance Minister and U-18 European chess champion) and ending with the Head of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, Ojārs Spārītis.

The NA candidates are also well-known, including Dace Melbārde (Minister for Culture), foreign policy expert Rihards Kols and Professor Dagnija Blumberga.

“Jaunā VIENOTĪBA” is headed by Foreign Minister Rinkēvičs, who is supported by well-known and experienced politicians, such as Ojārs Ēriks Kalniņš, Interior Minister Rihard Kozlovskis and Education Minister Kārlis Šadurskis.

JKP has chosen Juta Strīķe to head their list. She has had a high profile since 2003, with her first candidature for KNAB (the anti-corruption organisation). Their list includes economist Gatis Eglītis and well-known administrator Indulis Tupenis.

The candidate list of “Attīstībai/Par!” begins with Economics Minister Daniels Pavļuts and includes former minister Vita Anda Tērauda, anti-corruption experts Inese Voika and Kristaps Petermanis and other familiar faces.

In contrast, KPV.LV has assembled a surprising array of characters, including singer and TV personality Andris Kivičs, actor Ivars Puga and Fisheries Union president Didzis Šmits.

In short, the party candidates offer a broad spectrum of knowledge, experience and political history. Voters should consider carefully the rival merits of experience/youth, education/popularity, strong patriotism/a global outlook, etc. It is clear that newcomers to politics will have a cleaner reputation than those who have already been there for some time. However, a well-educated politician does not necessarily have the skills to be promote his or her policies and previous business experience may be an indicator of either links with corrupt practices or a deep understanding of Latvia's economic problems.

The simplest way to gain some clarity on the issue is to look at the past achievements of the candidates and parties.

Programs and promises

Over 4,000 programs have been registered by the competing parties. The programs are not of themselves generally considered as important campaign elements. However, it is a good idea to cast your eye over them, to gain some insight into how the party perceives its voting support base. Some are written in plain language, outlining aims, objectives and strategies, while others are couched in flowery language, big on hype and devoid of strategic substance. It should be remembered that for a party to enact its policies, it is not enough for it to gain seats in the Saeima, it must negotiate successfully with the other members of government. Here again, the best indicator of future achievements is past performance.

Coalition with “Saskaņa”?

The popularisation of Artuss Kaimiņš' party KPV.LV has led to the concern that there may be a real possibility of a future coalition government with “Saskaņa”. “Saskaņa” has such a different position to the vast majority of the parties on Latvian language, history and geopolitical orientation that this concern is understandable.

KPV.LV has until now been unpredictable in its political decisions and has not made any firm commitments, so there can be no certainty that it would not invite “Saskaņa” as a coalition partner.

This seems a very remote possibility, as the right-wing parties that are likely to win places in the Saeima (according to the current ratings, see below) have all ruled out forming a coalition with “Saskaņa” and some of them would need to be part of such a coalition, to get the voting mandate above 50%.

Another point to remember is that the President has the power to invite a party representative to negotiate a coalition to form a government, the party with the largest number of votes does not automatically gain this privilege. It would seem that the current Latvian President Vējonis has enough political sense not to invite “Saskaņa” to form a government. If KPV.LV were invited to form a government, there would be immense community opposition to “Saskaņa” being involved.

Whoever is invited to form a government, it will be difficult to negotiate a workable coalition. There is a greater likelihood that the right-wing parties will set aside their differences and form a government if the only alternative is inviting “Saskaņa” to the table. If such a coalition should be unattainable, the majority of right-wing parties would opt for an extraordinary election rather than a government that included “Saskaņa”.

The relative strengths of the parties in the next Saeima is critical in all of these scenarios. So, more than ever, not only does every vote count, but it can be crucial to the entry into the Saeima of the minor parties that are hovering around the 5% mark. It is also important that people of differing political views talk to one another: the plethora of small political parties is symptomatic of a fragmented Latvian society, each shard isolated from the others. It is not always easy nor pleasant to speak with people who hold radically different political views. The alternative is to complain after the elections of a duplicitous government with policies at odds with Latvia's interests.

From information compiled by Ivars Ījabs, an independent political analyst commissioned by PBLA.

The post October 2018 Latvian Elections: Voting Information – Part 2 appeared first on Latvians Online.

The election is rapidly approaching and as Latvians in the diaspora, we should appreciate that for many Latvians living in Latvia the 27 years since independence have brought unwelcome as well as welcome changes and consequently in some quarters there is voter dissatisfaction with the whole political process. We should remember that voting in Latvia is not compulsory and that some will abstain or vote as a knee-jerk reaction because of disappointment with previous governments.

So, it is particularly important that we inform ourselves and use our votes wisely.

But how to make the choice?

We should consider what the Latvian government should do over the next four years, in the economy, education, defence … and which of the political candidates might be able to achieve this result? Look at the leader of your preferred list of candidates and ask yourself whether you would buy a used car from this person … if he/she does not seem honourable, don't entrust them with running the country!

Personalities aside, there is another very important point to consider when making your choice. Latvia is recognised as a modern, democratic European country, which is expected to keep up with the advanced countries of the world. Latvia punches way above its weight in the fields of business and arts innovation. Unfortunately, we don't have many politicians at this level. We have a string of popular and respected politicians, but many of these are still 20th century people with 20th century ideas, they are afraid of our contemporary open world and don't know how to communicate with it effectively. For some, habits of mind and behaviour instilled during the Soviet occupation continue to shape political interactions.

Latvia stands on the threshold of a dynamic four years - not only internally, but in terms of the next EU budget, the future of NATO, the relationship between the West and Russia, and similar critical policy areas. For this reason, it is important that the next Latvian government is made up of forward-thinking, educated young people who have the knowledge and will to work in 21^st century conditions. To give the green light to the younger generation, we can use the Latvian voting system's uniquely offered opportunity to mark a candidate with a “plus” sign or strike him or her from the list. Contemporary, forward thinking candidates can be found in almost all the lists and it is they who should be supported for the overall benefit of our country. We may be very fond of an experienced old horse, but we need a car to even think of entering the Grand Prix.

How to choose your candidates

To navigate the Latvian political landscape, I will use the subjective approach I have developed to guide my own decisions. The Latvian political landscape can't be easily divided into “good” and “bad”. It can be described in two dimensions as “experienced” vs. “new” and “predictable” vs. “unpredictable”, so we can each make our own decision based on our priorities.

We can understand those voters who choose to stay with the status quo. After all, the “Vienotība”, NA and ZZS coalition has, in the main, been in power since 2009 and has given Latvians some stability. Some negative aspects of this fragile stability are: Aivars Lembergs in the coalition, the OIK scandal over the corrupt funneling of “green energy” money, the lack of transparency in appointing solvency administrators. In short, the coalition has many faults. However, this government has put Latvia on a sound course that leads in the right direction – towards economic strength, integration into the EU and NATO, sustainable fiscal policies and more. This has been achieved at great cost, so it would be foolhardy indeed to allow its destruction by some barely hatched “saviours of the people”. Latvia has a lot to lose, we must be mindful of our choices.

We can also understand those voters who have decided not to support the existing government. The current coalition seems to have lost drive, energy and capacity to govern. The most obvious example is the implosion of the once-great party “Vienotība”, brought about by internal conflicts, which has frightened off many of its supporters. The other two experienced parties – Nacionālā Apvienība and ZZS – have also suffered from corruption and other scandals. Therefore, perhaps it is indeed worthwhile to seek some new alternative – even if only to change the personalities in the ruling elite. It would not be reasonable to expect young people wanting to make a career in Latvian politics to join these stagnant old parties. There is certainly a case to be made for voting for young people.

The “experienced” and “new” divide does not fall in the same place as the “predictable” and “unpredictable” divide.

The “predictable” parties are those which, despite pre-election rhetoric, can be relied upon, if they come to power, to make considered judgements on matters of policy. They share the same underlying values that have underpinned the current development of Latvia as having a free, internationally viable market economy:

• strong support of the NATO alliance in defence
• the importance of maintaining the Latvian language and culture in the public arena alongside respectful relations with the minority groups in Latvia
• welfare reforms in line with contemporary thinking
• macroeconomic stability
• true democracy.

All the “predictable” parties may bend their rhetoric to interpret these values, but would agree that they are fundamental to Latvia's future.

On the other hand, the “unpredictable” parties have demonstrated by previous behaviour that they are quite capable of stepping aside from such principles for short-term gains. With “unpredictable” parties in power, anything could happen. Some would argue that risks need to be taken for the possibility of great future gains – but who would ultimately benefit? It seems unlikely that it would be the voters. If, for example, “Saskaņa” or KPV.LV were part of the ruling coalition, what would they do? These parties themselves have not given any clear indication. Are voters ready to take such a leap into the unknown?

Using this two-dimensional model, the parties line up as shown in the attached diagram. Please notice that just because a party is experienced, it is not necessarily predictable (e.g. ZZS) and that some of the new parties are predictable, particularly with respect to their basic values. The subjective aspects of the diagram will, no doubt, be modified by each of you, according to your personal political inclinations.

Campaigns and current events

In the Latvian political system, a vote for a particular party is also a vote for the coalition that party is likely to form – no party has ever governed by itself. Therefore, the individual party programs should be taken with a grain of salt, they are more a list of aspirations than of policies. If your party gains a place in the ruling coalition, the government policies will be those agreed upon by this coalition. Coalition partners are carefully chosen. The hot topic in the press is what role the social-democratic party “Saskaņa” might take in a ruling coalition. Despite the media hype, there remains only a very small possibility that this might happen. However, we should be aware that the Artuss Kaimiņš scandal-riddled KPV.LV party has consistently avoided stating its position on co-operation with “Saskaņa”. This has caused a great deal of speculation. An example of this is the connection between KPV.LV and prominent politician and millionaire Ainārs Šlesers, who is a part owner of the newspaper “Dienas Bizness” which regularly supports KPV.LV and denigrates its opponents. However, although it is predicted that KPV.LV will fare well at the ballot box, it remains highly unlikely that it, together with “Saskaņa”, would constitute a majority.

Political polls over the past month have varied widely in quality and methodology, which has been reflected in the vast array of pre-poll predictions. It seems certain that the next Saeima will include “Saskaņa” and ZZS, most probably as the two largest factions. It is highly likely that Nacionālā Apvienība VL!-TB/LNNK, Jaunā Konservatīvā partija and KPV.LV will also be represented. (KPV.LV has been touted as possibly receiving 5% - 15% of the vote.) The remaining parties are balancing on the 5% cut-off line: this includes the slightly refreshed “Jaunā Vienotība”, the liberal start-up “Attīstībai/PAR” and “Latvijas Reģiona Apvienība”. It is difficult to predict the results for these parties. A dark horse in the field is Tatjanas Ždanokas pro-Kremlin “Latvijas Krievu savienība” (LKS), which has popular journalist Andrejs Mamikins amongst its candidates. This party has not done well in the ratings, but its voter base tends not to disclose voting preferences, so it is not out of the question that “Saskaņa” may have a left-based rival.

Taking into account the broad spectrum of political parties and ideologies on offer, it is conceivable that the next Saeima may be very fragmented. The current Saeima has representatives from 6 parties, the next one could potentially see representation of up to 9 parties. This could be a major stumbling block in the formation of the new governing coalition. Personalities, previous political history and pre-poll rhetoric will all have to be juggled by whoever is charged with forming the next governing coalition. Let us remember that the most unlikely coalitions can be forged into governments, as in the Saeima elections in 1995, when Andris Šķēle successfully managed a coalition consisting of 9 parties. Such a scenario is not ideal, but it can be workable for the day-to-day running of the government. The alternative of inviting “Saskaņa” to the table is not being realistically considered by any of the players.

In the end, it will be decided by arithmetic – the result of the will of the people, in which we each play a part.

Ivars Ījabs, specially commissioned by PBLA

The post Latvian elections: what should we be voting for? appeared first on Latvians Online.

3rd generation Australian-Latvian singer-songwriter Ivars Štubis has just released a new album with nature sounds from Latvia, blended with his own compositions for various instruments. 

Your latest album titled Dabas Miers (Nature's Peace) was just launched at the Melbourne Latvian Aged Care Facility in Australia. How did you come to choose this venue for the launch?

I work part time as the Lifestyle Coordinator at the Melbourne Latvian Aged Care Facility, the only Latvian-specific aged care facility in Australia. I like to include lots of music in the program including singing, meditation, music listening and more. The facility is also a cultural hub for many community events in the Melbourne Latvian community. For me, this was the natural place for Dabas Miers to start its journey.

Where did you draw inspiration for the concept of your new album?

The inspiration for this album also came about through my work at the Melbourne Aged Care Facility. One day I was talking about music with my colleague Ingrīda. We were speaking about meditation and relaxation music and she mentioned the lack of such music that is specifically “Latvian”. I completely agreed. There is plenty of Latvian folk music which includes nature sounds but there isn’t much in the way of instrumental music with influences from Ambient, New Age and Post-Rock genres, as well as folk. I also wanted to create something programmatic, that is, something that invites active listening and takes you on a journey through various elements of nature, music and emotion. That’s how the idea for this album was born!

What was the process involved in composing the music?

This project was the longest and most time consuming I have ever been involved in. There were many steps involved in the process – from recording, to mixing, to mastering and post-production.

First of all came recording of all the nature sounds. Much of this task was completed by Andrejs Jaudzems in the summer of 2017 when he travelled to Latvia with our Zoom H6 Microphone. Andrejs travelled to various locations in Latvia including Līvāni, Zvārtes Iezis, Buļļi and Mežaparks, where he recorded natural sounds such as birds, rivers, fields and trees. In the summer of 2018 I also had the chance to make some recordings during my concert tour of Latvia. It was a painstaking process – listening to the many hours of recordings, editing appropriate sounds and arranging them to create the soundscapes that I was after. At this point I began to fully realise the sonic impact that humans make on nature. Rarely was a recording not affected by the sound of cars, motorcycles, builders hammering, people shouting and cyclists whizzing by.

During this time I began composing and arranging for the album. My idea was to use Latvian folk melodies as an inspiration and then take them to new places. I recorded guitar, synthesizer, accordion, piano and even some voice as well as the traditional Latvian trejdeksnis. I spent many hours treating audio to create new and interesting sounds. For example, the final track "Pūt Vējiņi", uses a mixture of synthesizer, accordion and voice to create the ethereal/spiritual sound that I was after.

After many hours of mixing and recording in my home studio I then enlisted the help of a professional mastering studio where my final touches could be realised and brought to a professional level. I am so grateful that I received funding from various organisations and individuals that allowed me to truly realise my ideas to their full potential.

What inspires your Latvian folk song compositions?

I grew up hearing and performing Latvian folk music. From a young age I went to Saturday School to learn Latvian, sang in choirs and participated in music classes. Many times I hated it and struggled to understand the meaning behind it all.
My real love for Latvian folk music was awakened when I met musicians and folklorists during my years attending the Latvian Summer High School (AZVV) near Adelaide. There I began to learn about the ancient history of Latvian folk music and the meaning that is conveyed through the words and melodies. I have to say it is the essence of Latvian folk music that inspires me in most of my work. The ancient unbroken knowledge and way of life shines through the centuries and reaches us today, much like the stories of the Australian Aboriginal Dreamtime. The gravity of thousands of years of joy and adversity seems so strong to me and is beyond our modern interpretation of music as a commodity. Traditional music emanates from the human condition itself.

What music do you listen to and do you have any favourite artists that have been influential in your own music-making?

I would have to say that my musical tastes are quite eclectic and broad. I enjoy heavy metal, ambient music, post rock, world, classical, folk and even a pop song or two. If I like it, I like it, no matter where it comes from.

One thing I do appreciate probably above all other musical types are traditional and sacred music. I particularly enjoy medieval canticles, Orthodox Choirs, first nations music, Hindu devotional music and more. This is music that was mostly composed for something other than earning money. It was composed to venerate, to tell important stories, to pass on knowledge in a time before “do you really think that will sell” was the overarching concept.

This is your third album now – yet this one is quite different to the previous two. Do you feel your compositions are moving away from one genre or are you just experimenting with different types of genre?

I have always been restless and I like to try many different things. My problem is that I like composing many types of music and I think many musical types have merit. I do however feel that guitar is my strongest asset and I greatly enjoy creating cinematic soundscapes utilising altered sounds, reverbs and delays. This album allowed me to indulge in this area and get really creative. I would like to continue moving down this path and create some more albums in the same vein.

You are an Australian of Latvian descent. Would I be correct in saying that through your albums you are expressing your Latvian identity? Or do you see it differently?

I suppose my identity is something I grapple with and explore through my music. Understanding who I am when I speak native English but the people around me don’t even bother trying to pronounce my name has been difficult. People have said to me “Your name isn’t very catchy as an artist, you should use a different one”. Then I think, “Why should I, I am who I am.” But on the other side of that, I am a third generation Australian and have never been in Latvia for longer than 3 months.

The thing for me is that Latvian folk music draws me. It seems so rich and plentiful, a fountain to draw from. I cannot find that same inspiration in the “Aussie” side of my identity. Besides the First Australians, Australia is a land of migrants and has been enriched by those migrants. I’m not sure if there exists a distinct Australian culture outside of the standard Western Capitalist paradigm. Australians are Italians, Chinese, Latvians, Indians, Afghanis and many more. Latvian traditional culture is something I can hold on to, just like many other Australians hang on to their own distinct traditions. Let’s just say that my music is an exploration of all of this.

You live in Australia, yet have created an album with nature's sounds from Latvia. What association do you have with Latvia?

All four of my grandparents and some of their parents were displaced persons after World War Two. All of them made their way to Australia via the DP camps of Germany. All of them had terrifying stories of war, bombing, escape, atrocities and salvation. Some had to fight, others had to flee. I suppose that in the beginning they thought that they may return to Latvia, but after 70 years they became rooted in their new homeland.

I have spent most of my life volunteering and participating in the Latvian community both in Sydney and Melbourne. From choirs, to bands to teaching and now even working with Latvian elders, I have done it all. I have always been attracted to the culture and have spent time trying to understand the history and folklore of Australia.

One surprising fact is that I only set foot for the first time in Latvia when I was 22 years old and had saved up enough money to do so. I met some long-lost family members and felt my connection with Latvia grow. However, sometimes it’s hard to understand which reality I fit in with most. This is part of my life’s journey.

What do you see as the target audience for the album? 

Whilst the idea for this album came from my work with Latvian elders, I feel that this album can work for anybody who enjoys relaxing music, ambient music or field recordings. I was able to try my initial composition ideas in the memory unit at the Latvian Aged Care facility to see which sounds and songs were able to help calm people or evoke memories. I gave my songs to people of all ages to listen to and critique during the composition process.

I feel that the sounds will also connect with diaspora Latvians who long for the familiar sounds and melodies that they left behind. My colleague Ingrīda says that when she closes her eyes and listens to the album, she is transported back to the forests of Latvia. Sometimes her feelings are positive, sometimes they are sad. This album is for anyone who wants to go on that journey. I tried very hard to steer away from the usual new age meditation music and try to evoke sounds that would create a range of emotions.

As part of this album and its funding, I also want to give back to the community. I am currently in the process of sending free copies and digital downloads to Latvian aged care organisations. These include several organisations in Australia and America as well as many in Latvia itself. I hope that the music can be used for reminiscence, relaxation and meditation as well as active listening or even sleep. Even if it is only enjoyed by one person at each organisation, I feel that it will be worthwhile.

Can you share what new ideas you have in the pipeline?

As I stated before, if the interest is there, I would love to make a series of albums in this genre. I would love to have the time to record many more sounds and explore new sonic possibilities with those sounds.

In other musical pursuits I am currently working on a couple of recordings with the Melbourne Latvian Male Choir “Veseris”, and as always, I am writing songs and performing at local venues in Australia. I would love to travel to Latvia again for a concert tour soon!

Where can the album be purchased – physical copies, as well as downloads?

Digital and physical albums can be purchased and shipped worldwide via (Bandcamp) from ivarsstubis.com. Payments can be made via credit card or Paypal. If you manage to catch me at a show I will have them with me as well. It would be great to find a distributor in Latvia for the album so I can get more copies out there.

The post Singer-songwriter Ivars Štubis’ new album features nature sounds from Latvia appeared first on Latvians Online.

I have always preferred minor character actors to A-list film stars. They might only get a scene or two, but the presence of these strangely-shaped, broken-nosed, odd-looking and heavily-accented figures gives a film a human appeal and variety that can never be conveyed by the handsome and beautiful leading men and ladies.  

When I was young I even had a book called The Heavies, which chronicled the careers of a certain sort of supporting player. To this day I can rattle off the biographies and filmographies of Elisha Cook Jr,. Marc Lawrence and William Bendix, oddballs who can be seen lurking in the backgrounds of innumerable films noirs. No-one else is the least bit interested in them.

So when I was offered the chance to join the ranks of odd-looking people with a minor role in Sarkanais Mežs (Red Forest), the flagship TV production of Latvia's centenary funding project, I accepted quickly despite a notable lack of acting experience. If reading The Heavies had taught me one thing, it was that drama school and The Method were by no means pre-requisites for a successful acting career. All it really takes is an interesting face that can be suitably contorted in the inevitable death scene.

Joining the cast came by a roundabout route. I occasionally act as a script consultant. Sarkanais Mežs is an adventure series loosely based on real events and set in 1949. Part of it involves Latvians being trained in England to infiltrate the Soviet occupation of their homeland and consequently, numerous scenes are set in a postwar England conjured from locations found entirely in Latvia. 

There are a few sections of English-language dialogue and the producers sent these to me for a quick look, as a result of which a few  minor changes were made. They mainly concerned the machinations of a slimy English doctor, a sweet Latvian nurse and our fine, upstanding hero. In a couple of scenes, a barman by the name of 'Jim' loiters in the background and occasionally brings drinks. The part could have been written for me as I do a lot of both in my spare time.

This was a marvellous opportunity to boost my thespian bona fides. The barman who does nothing but polish beer glasses and nod to customers is one of the great stock characters of twentieth century cinema. Only on rare occasions - notably The Shining - does the barman do more than polish and nod but oh! the importance of this job in establishing the mood or mise en scene, if you prefer the Godardian to the Kubrickian.  

Night in the Museum  

I arrived on the location for a night shoot convinced a new career would soon open up for me. The transformation of the Mentzendorff House museum into an English pub of the late 1940s was extremely well done. Reproduction advertisements for Guinness and Bass Ale adorned the walls, bottles with specially printed labels were lined up behind a neat little counter and tweed-capped "regulars" filled the tables, puffing on empty pipes and playing brag with practiced ease.

After being issued with a white shirt, black waistcoat, a pair of rather tight shoes and a natty little apron to signal my occupation unambiguously to the viewing public, I wandered around the set admiring the work. I was even able to provide a little additional value by pointing out that prices on the menu (Jim seemed able to cook a variety of lamb dishes combined with increasingly unlikely vegetables but little else) and beer pumps should be written with a "d" to represent pence and not "p" in pre-decimal Britain.

When I told this to an assistant director, he looked skeptical.

"But why 'd' if it stands for pennies?" he asked, not unreasonably.

I had to admit I had no idea, though subsequent research showed that it was derived from the Roman dinarius. Maybe later this year Britain will regress to using "d" for pence again as its post-imperial Brexit fantasy plays out and it reintroduces the florin, the sixpence and the shilling?

Another of my pieces of advice went unheeded, for the simple reason that the change I suggested would have completely ruined one of Sarkanais Mežs' main plotlines. In the scene in question, some Latvians are singing along to the popular song Rozamunde when an English hooligan takes exception to these foreigners and their music, becomes aggressive and winds up having to be ejected from the premises by yours truly, Jim the barman.

The accordionists pumped, and the Latvians sang to get their voices warmed up for the scene.

"Um... there's a problem," I said to the assistant director.

"What now?" he replied.

"The song," I said.

"Yes, Rozamunde. It was a very popular wartime Latvian song!"

"It was also a very popular wartime British song. It's called "Roll Out The Barrel". It's exactly what you would expect to  hear in a British pub of the 1940s. No-one would ever get angry about hearing Roll Out The Barrel." 

"Oh," said the assistant director, "Let's not say anything. Maybe the hooligan doesn't like the Latvian words."

With everyone warmed up, including myself courtesy of a small fire kindled behind me to add extra atmosphere, it was time for the moment of truth. My pre-poured beer was safely hidden out of site below my fake beer pumps. The extras were positioned with precision. The actors waited like caged panthers to hit their marks and collect their beers from Jim.  

Action!

Curiously, at precisely this moment I became acutely aware that polishing a beer glass is in fact the most difficult feat of dexterity ever required of human hands. It really is extremely demanding. When combined with nodding to customers and - even worse - moving one's lips silently, it becomes virtually impossible. Never can a veteran barman have looked so curiously incapable of performing the basic tasks of his profession as I did during the dozens of takes it took for me to look like someone who was not being operated by a puppeteer. I was only marginally less wooden than the bar top on which I placed the beer.

But this shot was merely the prelude to my big scene. This would involve a very large working-class Englishman bursting into the bar, directing a stream of abuse at the singing Latvians and consequently being ejected by Jim.

Roll out the Barrel

Impressively, the casting director had somehow managed to track down a genuine Geordie lunatic to play the part of the troublemaker. While the set was rejigged and the cameras and recording equipment were prepared we got talking. It turned out he came from the same grimy town in the North-East of England as my mother. We compared notes while running through our lines and bonded by agreeing the town was a complete dump.

Then we were on. The accordion played, the Latvians sang, the Geordie stormed in, said something like "Shut up you rotten Germans!" and I shuffled out from behind my bar. "Don't cause any trouble, please go away," I advised and ushered him politely towards the exit. And that was it. This acting businesses was easier than I expected.

"Hmm, it lacks something," said the director. It was hard to argue with this conclusion. It was about as dramatic as the unusual combinations of lamb and vegetables on Jim's lunchtime menu.

"Try it again, only this time a bit faster," the director suggested for the second take.

"That was better, but this time, even faster and push him in the chest," he said for the third take.

"A definite improvement, but this time much louder and really resist each other," he said for the fourth take, adding "And don't feel like you need to stick to the script, just say whatever you English people would really say in this situation." That was the key phrase, which explains what happened next.

The next few takes are something of a blur. The accordion plays, the Latvians sing Rozamunde, and in bursts a psychotic Geordie who pushes everyone aside and bawls "Shut yer f****g mouths in my f*****g pub, yer bunch of f*****g German ****s!" 

Cue barman Jim, who leaps his counter, sprints into the fray and says "Sling your hook, you stupid b*****d, they're Latvians, not b*****y Germans and this is my b****y pub, not yours, so b****r off!"

Even as I said it I thought "I wonder how they will translate 'Sling your hook' in the subtitles?"

Now Jim and the thug engage in protracted pushing and wrestling until eventually the Geordie Achilles is ejected. The scene concludes with an audibly breathless Jim returning to the room to make sure no Latvians were hurt during the making of this movie and finally taking his place again behind the counter where he resumes his totally inept polishing of tankards that are already perfectly clean.

And it only took about twenty-five takes. Indeed the exertion was so intense that by about take fifteen, instead of leaping over his counter, Jim the barman unceremoniously collapses behind it with cramp in his foot, caused by the unfamiliar shoes handed to him in wardrobe and the fact it is now three o'clock in the morning and he has been standing up, polishing his spotless collection of beer glasses since 10 p.m. Look out for it in the blooper reel.

A Star is Born

But we got there in the end. I have no idea how much of my boozy heroism will make it into the final cut of Sarkanais Mežs, but I would not be surprised if Jim's brief but memorable appearance leads for calls for him to get his own spin-off series in which he protects Latvians in dangerous situations and tells villains to sling their hooks, preferably in exotic locations.

With my brief scene having held up proceedings for several hours, it was time for the real actors to take over with some high-intensity exchanges during which they threw the English-language dialogue I had doctored back and forth. It was impressive, highly professional, and a sharp contrast with the rank amateurism I had displayed. But I was improving. I only managed to ruin their scene three or four times when I put a glass of whisky on the table between them in a manner even more awkward and artificial than the way I polish beer glasses.

Just before dawn, it was all in the can. Handing back Jim's apron and cramp-inducing shoes to the wardrobe department, I felt very much as Peter O'Toole must have felt handing back his robes and camel at the end of Lawrence of Arabia. And like O'Toole I left in search of an early-morning drink. It's what we actors do.

However, I do have an admission. At the end of filming I stole a bottle of beer from the set which I intend to drink at the moment I make my screen debut. This is not such a serious crime as it sounds. After all, it was my b*****y pub.

This article was originally published on March 3rd, 2019 at http://lsm.lv

You can watch the series online worldwide via the Re:Play portal.

The post Sling your hook! My part in the Latvian centenary series “Sarkanais Mežs” appeared first on Latvians Online.

Labas
idejas un  skaisti nodomi nāk no debesīm.
Dažreiz negaidīti, citreiz jau laikus brīdinot. Arī latviešu valodas nometnes
ideja nāca laicīgi un tiešā lidojumā no debesīm.

Sadarbība
ar Maskavas latviešiem sākās 2017. gadā, kad ansamblis “Atbalss” piedalījās
Lieldienu svinībās Latvijas vēstniecībā Maskavā. Tam sekoja 2018. gada Latviešu
kultūras dienas Arhlatviešu vidusskolā, kur ar bērniem strādāja trīs skolotājas
no Maskavas.

Uzaicinājumu
piedalīties nometnē no Maskavas latviešu skoliņas vadītājas Antras Levovas
saņēmu 2018. gada nogalē. Es apzinājos, nometnē mums ir jāpiedalās. Bija jādomā
par to, kur ņemt finansējumu ceļa izdevumiem, un tieši tajā laikā Latvijas
Republikas Ārlietu ministrija izsludināja diasporas atbalsta projektu konkursu.
Pēdējo gadu laikā, piedaloties diasporas atbalsta projektu konkursā, esmu
varējusi piepildīt ļoti daudz ieceru un ideju. Man un maniem skolēniem par
lielu laimi projekts tika apstiprināts, atlika sakrāmēt ceļasomas un skolotāja
Ilona, Arkādijs Cīrulis, Kristīne Trocenko un Kristīne Braznovska varēja doties
ceļā.

Darbs
nometnē bija aktīvs un uzdevumiem piesātināts. Nometnē bērni mācījās latviešu
valodu, dziesmas, dejas un rotaļas, darbojās radošās mākslas pulciņā. Ar
skolēniem strādāja Maskavas Latviešu skolas skolotāji, kā arī pedagogi no
Latvijas. Paralēli darbam nometnē, skolēni un skolotāji gatavojās Maskavas
Latviešu skolas 25 gadu jubilejai. Skoliņa dibināta 1994. gadā, tā darbojas Latvijas
vēstniecības Maskavā telpās. To absolvējuši aptuveni 240 skolēnu, ar skolēniem
strādājuši latviešu valodas skolotāji no Latvijas un Maskavas. Pašreiz skoliņā
mācās 32 skolēni vecumā no 6 līdz 14 gadiem. Skolēni apgūst latviešu valodu,
Latvijas vēsturi, skolēniem ir deju nodarbības, kā arī radošās mākslas pulciņš.

Es
jūtos gandarīta par to, ka šis mācību gads bijis labiem notikumiem bagāts. Man
prieks, ka to noslēgusi Latviešu valodas nometne, kas uz dažām dienām spējusi
apvienot Maskavas un Baškortostānas latviešus.

Maskavas
skolas jubilejā Arkādijs un abas Kristīnes runāja Jāņa Petera dzejoli “Tēma ar
sveci”, man liekas, svarīgākais, ko bērni paņēma no šī brauciena ir ietverts
dzejnieka vārdos:

“Nevajag
daudz, vajag, lai dzīvo

Viss,
ko tu jūti un redzi”.

The post Maskavas un Baškortostānas latvieši piedalās Latviešu valodas nometnē appeared first on Latvians Online.

The Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at the University of Latvia (LU FSI) has launched a new survey, funded by the Fundamental and Applied Research Programme (FLPP). Aimed at Latvian nationals and emigrés living outside Latvia, as well as those who have returned or moved to Latvia. The project, titled "Well-being and Integration in the Context of Migration" is the second wave of a survey that was conducted by the Institute 5 years ago, titled "The Emigrant Communities of Latvia".

The survey is available at Migracija ⇄ LV in three languages – Latvian, English and Russian. There are two options - a short (20 min.) or long (30 min.) version.

This interview with lead researcher of this project, Director of the Diaspora and Migration Research Centre (LU DMPC), Dr. Inta Mieriņa will reveal more about the research.

How does this study differ from previous LU FSI and LU DMPC research?

This study is the continuation of research in
the form of a survey, conducted by researchers at the University of Latvia in
2014, with participation by over 14 000 people living in 118 countries. This
time we would like to invite those who previously responded to take part, as
well as those who didn't, or only emigrated later.

We are most interested in finding out how the
lives and views of people from Latvia living abroad have changed in the past
five years. During this time Latvia has experienced changes – both wage growth
and a change of government as well as the adoption of a Diaspora Law and a
number of major upheavals have rocked the world in general.

The study is unique in that it is the first
longitudinal study of its kind in Latvia, following the lives of emigrants –
for instance, who has returned, who has remained, whether their life
circumstances and life satisfaction have changed, their relationships with
their loved ones, their ties with Latvia.

A longitudinal study is the most effective way
of researching this as it allows researchers to gain evidence of the influence
of different factors on the life course of a person. This is of great value not
only in the context of Latvia but is also a rarity in the European context.

Will
this study be aimed at a particular target group?

This study will differ from others as it is not only aimed at emigrants but also those who have returned to Latvia. This year's research will also help us to gain better insight into the number of Latvian nationals who live outside Latvia and those who have returned to Latvia. Currently there are different versions and calculations but there is no precise data. But this should be the foundation for our research! We especially need data on the emigre (trimda) Latvians, and so this time around we sincerely hope that many members from this group will take part, which would give our colleague, Prof. Hazans the opportunity to be able to make a more precise evaluation of the situation.

We are also particularly interested in a group called the transnationals - people who define their
home to be in a number of countries, who are in constant movement between
Latvia and another country, maintaining close ties with a number of countries.
Our 2014 data shows that 17% of our respondents fall into this category.
Migration processes are no longer the same as they were previously – a person
makes a decision to leave, packs his bags and goes. Nowadays these processes
are much more flowing and dynamic, often a person may live in one country, he
may have another job or his family in another country. This category is
steadily on the rise, and for this reason our research will focus also on this
group.

What is the aim of
the research?

The central issue is the wellbeing of emigrants and return migrants. Our
aim is to find out how Latvian nationals feel living outside Latvia, analysing
this in depth from various aspects – those that are most important to migrants,
including psychological wellbeing, the availability of health services, their
inclusion into the labour market and the value of their skills and contribution
outside as well as in Latvia. We will also be looking at the integration of
emigrant and return migrant children into the school system and other questions
that influence the wellbeing of migrants, with the aim to understand what
support would be required to help solve these problem situations. From a
scientific point of view, the plan is to find out the factors that allow people
to integrate into their new host country most seamlessly, and why some people
decide to return.

From theories we know that by emigrating, one improves one's economic
situation, career prospects, gains new skills and knowledge and improves one's
financial and material situation in various ways. Yet we know much less about
the way that emigration influences other facets of life: relationships with
one's peers and friends, family, how one integrates in society as a whole, the extent
to which one gets involved in social and political life, the availability of
health care, how children integrate into schools, other details that are no
less important than the material side of things. We would like to find out if,
by improving one's material situation, we end up paying for it in other areas –
do our ties with loved ones and an overall sense of belonging weaken, do we
have to live with psychological tension and stress in a foreign environment,
with difficulties in the labour market, the education of our children.

What questions
would you like to get answers to in this study?

We will cover a number of different themes. One of the most recent
questions – how we can look at questions of integration in the context of
flowing, transnational migration, bearing in mind that up till now, the
politics of integration has been directed at people who have moved to live in a
particular country permanently? What does integration mean to those migrants
who have not fully integrated into a society, and maybe don't even wish to
integrate, feel quite satisfied with the situation that they are in. What does
being well-integrated mean? Does this mean it is mandatory to learn the
official language? Does it necessarily mean you should establish close ties
with the local community? Or can you be a good resident without all these
things?

In the literature, these questions are usually answered from an
epistemological point of view, also a philosophically theoretical sense, yet in
this study we plan to ask the people to answer this themselves.  Do they feel well-integrated or a sense of
belonging to the society in the host country? Do they even want to fit in? If
not, why not? If they do – in what way? This could help to understand the new
reality that the increasingly mobile Europeans are faced with. Maybe we try to
force unnatural models of integration onto people, who feel very different?

Our previous research clearly illustrated the subjective status of
migration – what does leaving or returning mean? For this reason we will
also ask how people see themselves – as emigrants, as Latvian nationals
living abroad, as exile representatives, as members of the diaspora?

Many of these terms are foreign to our people living outside Latvia. For instance, we know that many don't identify themselves as members of the diaspora, even though this is the most frequently used term in political documents. And the term emigrant doesn't sit well with the old emigre community, who don't see themselves as emigrants, as this word has a negative connotation. Those who have left recently also frequently don't want to see themselves as emigrants or migrants either, as there is generally a prejudice towards the word migrant. Therefore we will find out how people identify themselves.

It is important that among our researchers are people who live or have
lived outside Latvia; that also contributes to a better understanding of the
views of people living outside Latvia.

Why should people
take part in this research?

In the past five years, significant changes have occurred in diaspora
and remigration policy. We are pleased that our scientific research has
provided the inspiration and informative base for various policy initiatives
and have made a significant contribution to the development of diaspora policy.
Because those of you living outside Latvia have trusted us with your opinions,
we have been able to lobby for the changes required in certain areas. Among
these are support for return migrant children, or changes to taxation
regulations and social benefits, the establishing of support mechanisms in
Latvia.

Our research has also promoted the development of various private and
social initiatives regarding job opportunities. The research findings have been
widely publicised in the media in both Latvia and outside, they are utilised in
the academic teaching sector and have been published in international journals
and monographs, helping to better understand the views of those who have left,
their motivation and life stories. If I am asked – is it worth taking part in
the research, then today I can proudly show quantifiable results that have been
achieved because of our previous research efforts.

In addition to academic interest, policy makers are also interested in
the findings of this research. In the realm of diaspora politics, our research
is taken into account very seriously and serves as an information and knowledge
base for the developing of support measures for the diaspora and return
migrants. It is not just research like any other research. It is being
conducted by Latvia's leading emigration researchers and it has a unique
knowledge base that will ensure that the results will be voiced loudly and have
far-reaching influence. We are also convinced that we as researchers should
work with the diaspora – collaborating with diaspora organisations and groups,
tackling the most pressing problems that the diaspora and return migrants face
and helping to highlight and solve them.

If you would like to take part, please complete the survey by 31st October at Migracija ⇄ LV.

The original version of this interview, in Latvian, is available at Migracija ⇄ LV

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