Jenkka

Jenkka is a Finnish dance . The steps of this dance have their origins in folk dance , the Jenkka steps appear in many Finnish folk dances. The pace is generally around 140 steps per minute.

The man stands to the left of the woman, both stand in the dance direction (always counter-clockwise through the hall), the two inner arms are placed around each other's hips. The man walks left – right – left and hops once on his left leg. The woman opposite right-left-right-right. At the next bar the man begins on the right, the woman on the left.

Then the two outer hands grasp each other, so you take the classic dance posture and dance two quick turns clockwise in a hopping step: left - left - right - right - left - left - right - right (man) or the woman right - right - left - left - right - right - left - left. Now you have to stand in the dance direction again and let go of the two outer hands. Then comes the next round. Each run consists of four 4/4 bars. You can't start when you want, only when the melody begins such a passage.

Despite its roots, the Jenkka is one of the Finnish ballroom dances. Georg Malmstén in particular composed numerous jenkkas between 1930 and 1970, which became very popular in Finland. A composition called "Letkajenkka", a melody in the typical Jenkka rhythm, became internationally known, but new steps were invented and which became a fashion dance in 1965 by the Roberto Delgado orchestra under the name Letkiss .