Smiltene Voices 2013

The weekend was made for heading in the traditional direction of Sigulda into Latvia's golden autumn. But along the sun-drenched road, lined on either side by trees draped in gold, we continued on to Smiltene, where on 12 October the vocalist competition "Smiltene Voices" took place in the renovated cultural centre.

Throughout the car journey, chatter flowed in three languages - Latvian, English, and German - as our fellow passengers were Vita Eglīte, a dancer and teacher from the Alegria dance club, and Debi Mandal, an RSU student and expert in Indian dance. Together we delighted in the cheerful views outside the window and chatted about dances, the music of various peoples, and how it is perceived.

The "Smiltene Voices" vocalist competition took place across four age groups with a five-member jury, which included singer Normunds Rutulis, and featured prizes and live musical accompaniment (the "Kokmuiža musicians"). In the competition's intermissions, guests also performed - illusionist Robijs Trankalis, who worked brilliantly with the audience and provoked tremendous laughter, and dancers from Latvian dance groups "Black Pearl" (dancers Dana Langenfelda and Madara Mūrniece), "Alegria", and from India.

We were pleasantly surprised by the excellent organisation of the event, the attendance, the modern lighting effects, and the live music backdrop, which always lends an event a certain charm. The contestants in the vocalist competition had carefully prepared, and although some were hampered by stage fright, the songs rang out and the voices carried. This was duly recognised by the jury as well, who distributed the places earned and sponsors' prizes.

Since we had come to the event primarily as supporters of the dancers, we focused more on and captured on video and in photos the many and varied dance styles - Bollywood Indian dances, belly dances, flamenco, Gypsy dances, and break dance (Sandis Mūrnieks).