History

The beginning

We are proud of Vingis as it is today. And that today we can enjoy our long-standing traditions, we are grateful to the people from whom this ensemble grew. This is how the now mature but always young VILNIUS TECH University ensemble Vingis, which has been in existence for over sixty years, came into being.

The idea was born...

In 1956, the Vilnius West Branch (VF) of Kaunas Polytechnic Institute (KPI) was established in Vilnius. Two years later, the tradition of starting the school year with a concert by the KPI ensemble Nemunas was born, and since Nemunas performed in Kaunas on 1 September, it came to Vilnius only on 2 September. This beautiful tradition inspired the creation of "Vingis" as well - in the meetings of the leaders and students after the concerts, the students of the Vilnius branch expressed their desire to have something similar but distinctive.

Difficult start and first concert

Although it was difficult to form a solid core of the group at the beginning, more and more enthusiasts gradually gathered, and in 1962 the first KPI VF art group started its activity - the KPI VF Dance Group with its first leader Adomas Gineitis (at that time a choreographer of the Vilnius State University ensemble). In the same year, the group had its first concert, where 8 dancers performed in national costumes borrowed from the VVU and "Lietuva" ensembles.

In the first few years, the group grew, held more and more concerts, and in 1967 the dance group expanded into an ensemble - a folk instrument orchestra was founded under the direction of Juozas Mikolaitis and the leader of the kanklės (Lithuanian string instrument) players, Alvida Gajauskaitė. The ensemble continued to improve, showed a high artistic level and attracted the audience with its exceptional performances. In 1974, the ensemble became part of the Vilnius Engineering Construction Institute (VISI), with Ričardas Tamutis at its forefront. In 1979, the ensemble, having made great efforts, gained the right to call itself "Vingis".

From a dance group to an ensemble

1962

Adomas Gineitis

Artistic directors

Vingis was created and fostered by exceptional artistic directors.

Algis Kirilauskas

1971

Petras Repečka

1972

Emilija Birutė Navickaitė

1972

Ričardas Tamutis

1974

Gintautas Vėžauskas

1988

Marytė Rimutė Zaleckaitė

1997

Achievements

Since its creation, Vingis has taken part in various competitions. In the most famous and widely anticipated Republican Dance Ensemble Competition "Kadagys", Vingis managed to win the highest titles for the last three times. Vingis was also the first dance ensemble to be awarded the second "Aukso Paukštė".

Kadagys 2010, Vilnius, Laureate

Kadagys 2015, Birštonas, Laureate

Aukso Paukštė, 2005 and 2012

Kadagys 2019, Marijampolė, Laureate

International trips

Vingis not only actively performs in Lithuania, but also promotes Lithuania and VILNIUS TECH University in festivals and projects abroad.

Poland, 2019

China, 2018

Portugal, 2016

France, 2016