Traditional dance in Finland

Here is a document made by Pattanen School in which they explain the origin of Polonaise, a traditional dance. We hope you enjoy it

POLONAISE

We will write about polonaise because it’s a dance which pupils dance at our school every

year.

Polonaise is a very easy dance because the most part of it is just walking around.

All dancers are in pairs and follow the first pair who lead them around the dance floor.

Polonaise is a traditional folk dance in Finland and it’s also danced in Sweden, for example.

Dancers often dance waltz at the end of the polonaise.

When dancing polonaise, girls usually wear dresses and boys suits. In Finnish high schools

pupils have the ball of the seniors in the second grade when pupils often prepare very well for

the day and invest more by having their hair done and by wearing fancy dresses. Polonaise is

a part of the ball of the seniors.

At our school volunteer ninth grades dance polonaise and waltz in the Independence Day

party in December. Polonaise is a tradition at our school. There are about 15-20 pairs every

year. This year there were over 20 pairs dancing and so it was really crowded to dance.

All the dancers were dressed very fancily and it was great to watch it. We practised polonaise

in P.E lessons and during school hours. Our video about polonaise was shot on that day.