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“We are One, Big Family”
The Finnish Temple Cultural Celebration, Part 3
Text by Maurine Jensen Proctor
Photography by Scot Facer Proctor
Editors’ note: Most of
the pictures throughout this article (all parts) are not captioned
with the names of the performers. Can you, the readers, help us
caption each picture by identifying each person with a correct spelling
of their names and where they are from (branch, ward, and/or district
or stake)?
Please be sure and tell us
the exact person you are talking about by saying where they are
in the picture (example: third person from the left with the red
flower in her hair) and the exact picture to which you are referring—each
picture is numbered. Send all caption helps to sproctor3@cox.net
and we will update the articles every few days as we receive the
needed information. When you see someone you know — contact
them and let them know they’re being featured on Meridian
Magazine!
To
go back to Part 1, Click here.
To go back to Part
2, Click here.
The Russians
Then, in turn, each country performed
its segment of the show. LDS Russians came from twelve cities including
Moscow, St. Petersburg, Omsk, Rostov, and Novosibirsk to perform.
Please
click on any photo to enlarge.
Sister Alevtina Shtaltovnay from Moscow University.
Alevtina Shtaltovnay, a teacher of
theater at a Moscow University, was in charge of the Russian segment.
To teach the performers, she journeyed across Russia, traveled to
all of their cities, gave them instructions and dance steps, and
then left them to practice on their own.
Finally, all the performers converged in St.
Petersburg a few days early to begin to work together on their segment.
“We were there to share our talents. We were happy to be together.
“The more we shared we became
closer and closer and the Spirit became stronger and stronger. Outside
there was rain,” she said, “but we could feel the sun
inside of us. We are not afraid of anything because we are together,
we are in the Church, and we are one big family.”
Here is a portion of the Moscow Latter-day Saint
Choir.
Music for the Russian segment was supplied by
the remarkably excellent 40-voice Moscow Latter-day Saint Choir
and music was the heavy-toned, luxuriant Russian music in which
viewers could almost hear their history.
The story they told in song and dance was about
a beautiful maiden who catches the eye of a young man who falls
deeply in love with her. As all the girls are dancing together,
he finds the flower wreath that she usually wears upon her head.
A ball comes where young men, dressed in their
best with brass buttons, are dancing with young women in fancy dress
gowns. Suddenly there is a military drum, and a man comes to deliver
a somber message. All the men must leave for war.
One by one they leave their sweethearts with
mournful goodbyes. Away from home, the men engage in the typical
Russian dance with squats and kicks, but finally they become weary
of war.
The young man and woman are dreaming of each
other, but no matter what they do, they can’t find each other.
Even when they come close, they are still far away.
Finally, they have their sweet reunion and are
joined in marriage amidst celebrational folk dances.
Please
click here to go to Part 4 of The Finnish Temple Cultural Celebration.
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