History
Dance lets a person express feelings for which everyday life leaves neither the time nor the inspiration to find the right words.
The folk dance ensemble Gatve has a long history. It was founded in 1946 and took its name from an old Latvian wedding dance, the Gatves deja — perhaps the simplest and at once the most vivid revelation of what Latvian dance is.
What Gatve dances is mainly Latvian folk dance, though never only that. The repertoire has long carried the dances of other cultures: the Moldovan “Joc”, Polish dances, the Greek “Sirtaki” and the dances of the ancient Latvians.
1946 · Beginnings
Founded in the vocational schools
Young people came from every region of Latvia to study at Riga’s vocational schools, and there they joined the amateur singers and dancers. They danced Latvian dances as they were in the 1950s: ornamental, unhurried, simple.
Preparing for performances in Moscow, the dancers met the dances of other nations at first hand, and those gradually entered the repertoire — the Ukrainian “Hopak”, the Hutsul “Arkan”, the Romanian “Caraşul”, the Moldovan “Joc” and “Sîrba”.
The teachers
Libere and Sama
Gaļina Libere gave nineteen years to this work. As a teacher she had a rare gift — to put a soul into a movement, to show how deep a single gesture or step can be — and the severity to drive her dancers towards an ideal performance.
From 1949 Zinaīda Sama worked alongside her, and from 1960 the pupils of both taught together. That is when Gatve moved to the centre of the republic’s amateur dance.
1962 · A name and a status
How Gatve got its name
The 1962 and 1963 seasons were brilliant ones. The company chose the name Gatve — the title of the dance through which a whole generation of audiences rediscovered the magic of the ancient Latvian wedding dance.
In 1962 it was granted the status of a Folk Dance Ensemble, a title given only to companies with stable artistic results, a wide repertoire, a qualified director and at least twelve pairs of dancers.
1966–1989 · The Soviet years
On the road
Under Gunārs Rubenis, himself a former Gatve dancer, the two separate groups became one ensemble and the Latvian repertoire moved to the centre of the work.
Gatve travelled: concerts in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Yugoslavia and East Germany, several appearances in Moscow — the 1980 Olympics among them — and roles in two Latvian feature films. At the centenary of the Song Festival in 1975 the ensemble was named a third-place laureate.
Since 1990 · Gunta Raipala
Gatve today
Since 1990 the artistic director has been Gunta Raipala. Gatve is now more than one company: alongside the main ensemble dance two middle-generation groups, VPDK “Gatve” and “Gatve — Otrā iespēja”, and together they make Gatve what it is today.
In October 2014 the ensemble took second prize at the Cheonan World Dance Festival in South Korea. Its solo pair was named the world’s best, and Gatve was honoured for its street parades as well.
Every five years
The Song and Dance Festival
Since its founding Gatve has danced in the Latvian Song and Dance Festival, the UNESCO-listed tradition that gathers the country’s best dancers every five years, and in the contests held alongside it.
In 2023 the ensemble took a shared second place in the dance finals and performed in all three of the festival’s largest concerts — “Balts” at Arēna Rīga, “Mūžīgais dzinējs” at the Daugava Stadium and the closing “Kopā augšup” at Mežaparks.
Directors over the years
Two teachers, two groups
The ensemble was founded in 1946 inside the vocational schools of the Darba rezerves system. From 1960 the pupils of Gaļina Libere and of Zinaīda Sama worked in parallel — two groups within one collective. In 1962 it took the name Gatve and the status of a Tautas deju ansamblis.
One ensemble
In 1966 Gunārs Rubenis became artistic director — himself a Gatve dancer in the group Sama led. The two separate groups no longer existed, and Gatve turned more firmly to the Latvian dance repertoire.
Gatve today
Gatve is no longer a single company — two middle-generation groups dance alongside the main ensemble.
International festivals
In its 80 years Gatve has learned and danced the most varied steps, stood on many stages and seen several generations of dancers come and go, yet it has neither tired nor grown old — it keeps going through the world of dance. We meet and see off every concert with a pleasant excitement, knowing the best of it is still ahead!