The annual February 16th concert commemorates Lithuania's Independence Restoration Day

This year, on February 16th, "Vingis" traditionally commemorated Lithuania’s Independence Day at the annual joint concert of Vilnius dance groups and ensembles, held for the 44th time. The concert, this year named "The Tale of Kings", was dedicated not only to the Restoration of the State of Lithuania but also to the commemoration of the Year of Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis.

Excerpts of M. K. Čiurlionis' works were visible and audible throughout the entire concert. Fragments from his symphonic poems were performed, and visualizations of his paintings were projected on stage during performances.

The Vingis dancers performed "Pinsim sesės vainikus" and "Džigūnas", while also challenging themselves in a slightly different role—dancing choreography set to Čiurlionis' Prelude in F-sharp major performed on kanklės (traditional Lithuanian music instrument).

Our dancer Paulius shared, that it was fun to see, talk, and perform with other ensembles again after the Centennial Lithuanian Song Festival that took place last summer. However, he also revealed that the preparation and performance was not the easiest:

"The concert was great, however, it required a lot of stamina and versatility from the performers."

We are incredibly proud of our ensemble singer Miglė Žurauskaitė, who together with our orchestra and vocalists, performed her own apportionment of the Lithuanian folk song "Atlekia elnias devyniaragis". Miglė shared, she participated in this concert for the 9th time already and every time she is very interested in what the director and participants will create together. To Miglė, this concert is the perfect way to celebrate February the 16th:

"During this celebration, we feel immense unity and patriotic spirit, which, I believe, is incredibly important to each and every one of us."

For some ensemble members, unlike Miglė, this was the first concert with Vingis. Our new member Gabrielė mentioned, that she had never performed with this type of dress, as the Vingis dancers did before:

"...I was nervous that I would stumble and fall, but I was constantly encouraged by others, who kept up the good vibes and wished me luck."

As for our new dancer Vakaris, he experienced a true rollercoaster of emotions - from early in the morning he felt excitement and responsibility:

"Even though I had been dancing for thirteen years already and was feeling confident, it was still quite difficult to get control of my emotions. However, the wonderful internal atmosphere of Vingis helped to get over myself. <...> We gave a lot of energy and I am unimaginably happy with my first performance as a part of the best ensemble."

We are also happy for Vakaris and all other Vingis members. We congratulate Lithuania on commemorating its independence!

Concert recording