But these final preparations have been preceded by long hours of hard work—long weekly trips for some to get to downtown Toronto, hours of sweating to first learn the basics and steps, which would eventually turn into great dance patterns. The audience doesn’t see all of this.
Today we are talking to Talvi Parming, dance director of the Kungla Folkdance Group in Toronto, which has been included in the dance festival many times.
In her daily work life, Talvi is a middle school teacher in the French immersion program and mostly teaches math. Before becoming a school teacher, Talvi worked in outdoor education in Orillia, Ontario, and also at the University of Rhode Island in the United States.
But as an active member of the Toronto Estonian community, she has also held roles as an educator and director of the Jõekääru Estonian Children’s Camp over the years and is currently a leader of the Estonian Guides.
When asked how she became interested in folk dance and whether she remembers her first performance, Talvi replied that his first memorable performance was at ESTO 2000 in Toronto.
“I was in a children’s folk dance group that was created just for that event. I remember that there were a lot of dancers on stage and I was a little annoyed that I was made to dance with the ‘little kids’ and not the older ones, with whom I liked dancing better (I was a few months too young to be in the ‘older kids’ group),” Talvi recalls. “I don't remember the names of the dances, but there was something like the ‘Mustjala pulmarong’ and at least one other dance where we were in the shape of a star,” the dance leader continued.
Talvi adds: “I always liked folk music and folk dance. As a child, I would constantly ask my mother to teach me how to waltz or polka or do other steps, and we would dance around the living room. I also remember that at Jõekääru, older boys and girls could learn and perform the “Tuljak.” I was jealous of that. At eleven years old, I was too young, but Maarika Hiis secretly taught me Tuljak the day before Family Day, so when one girl dropped out on the day of the performance, I took her place. Since then, I have danced “Tuljak” several hundred times, teaching this dance to the youth of Jõekääru, the Guides and Scouts, and, of course, to the Kungla group.”
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Fun Fact: Tuljak can be danced to Lady Gaga’s song “Bad Romance.”
Talvi has been dancing in Toronto Eesti Rahvatantsurühm Kungla (TERR Kungla) for a little over fifteen years now.
Talvi recalls: “I performed with Kungla at the 2014 and 2019 Dance Festivals. After the 2014 Dance Festival, I became a teacher. I have been teaching most of the last ten years (including the 2019 Dance Festival), although in between (while living in Rhode Island and during a world tour) Taimi (Marley Hooper) taught instead.”
What could be the big dream of a dedicated folk dancer and dance director? Talvi said this: “I would like to see a dance I created at the dance festival one day. I have created several folk dances for Kungla, with which we have performed, for example, at the Estonian community in Toronto’s annual Christmas market. Having already performed at the Dance Festival two (soon to be three) times, my dream now is for my dance to make it there, too.”
Talvi said that even before registration for the 2025 Dance Festival opened, Kungla knew that they wanted to participate. About a third of those who danced in 2019 continued or returned to the group, and the remaining dancers have joined the group in the past five years and are very much looking forward to their first Dance Festival.
I also asked Talvi when or how she decided that she would be the main dance teacher this time, too, and what inspired her to do so.
“I am a teacher by profession and this also applies to dancing. I also particularly like creating my own dances and Kungla is always very receptive to learning them,” Talvi replies, adding: “In the words of the dancers, I am perhaps ‘nitpicky’ enough with steps and movements for the Dance Festival jury to accept the videos of us dancing. There’s tough competition!” According to the young dance director, it was a little easier this time – she knew how the process works. The experience of previous festivals came in handy.
Everyone who is involved in and participates in Estonian activities in North America (and elsewhere abroad) knows that due to the distances, it is often not easy to organize and coordinate and participate in Estonian things. But what was the most difficult or biggest challenge for Kungla?
“Since there are a lot of new dancers who have never been to the Dance Festival before, it was difficult at first because we had to start with the basic steps before we got to the dances,” Talvi describes. “Of course, the dancers want to do the dances right away, and the training gets boring if there are too many basic steps, and maybe some of them feel like we were moving too slowly and not finishing the dances in a timely manner!” she adds.
From the point of view of a dance teacher, the long travel distance to Estonia is also a challenge: “Of course, it is also harder for us abroad because we cannot attend dance seminars on site, where we could go through all the dances with the instructors. We have to read the description book and follow the Zoom seminars.”
There are also other helpers involved in preparing the group and teaching the dances, to whom Talvi is very grateful: “Since Kungla’s practices take place on Thursdays, which are also the evenings chosen by the TDSB (Toronto District School Board) for, for example, “parent-teacher” interviews, Elin Marley has taught Kungla’s practices in my place on a handful of days this year. I am grateful that she is willing to do this and that I don’t have to miss practice days in the meantime. And of course, a big thank you to the Kungla board, led by Taimi Hooper.”
Five of this year’s sixteen dancers from Kungla have danced at the dance festival before. Mari, who joined the group a few years ago, says that she danced when she was younger, but not folk dance – if she had known it was so cool, she would have joined Kungla a long time ago.
Now, however, she is facing her first Dance Festival. Mari says that she would have liked to surprise her grandmother by dancing at the dance festival, but unfortunately, her grandmother passed away last year. Now Mari is dancing in memory of her grandmother.
Veiko, who has previous Dance Festival experience, says that dancing at the Festival is very special: “Every move of each dancer counts. The effort pays off many times over.”
Finally, Talvi invites everyone to keep their fingers crossed and join in on their performance at the XXI Dance Festival at Kalev Central Stadium in Tallinn. We made it into the Dance Festival! Kungla Folkdance Group will definitely be seen at Kalev Central Stadium. Whoever bought tickets for the east stand will get a good view (or even a close view) of Kungla’s dancers!”
Kai Kiilaspea, in conversation with Talvi Parming
