Karelian dances are the circle games, sung ring dances and lively quadrilles of Karelia, the eastern borderland that is home to Finland's oldest song traditions.
Karelia, today divided between Finland and Russia, is where many of the songs of the Kalevala epic were collected in the 19th century. Its dance life grew from village gatherings: young people formed rings and moved to sung games, and later the quadrille and other set dances arrived and took on a local, energetic style, accompanied by the kantele, the fiddle and the accordion. After the Second World War more than 400,000 Karelians were resettled across Finland, and they carried their dances, songs and food with them. Today Karelian dances are kept alive by folk dance groups and Karelian associations all over the country.
