Humppa
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(February 2009) |
Humppais a type of music from Finland. It is related tojazzand very fastfoxtrot,played twobeatsto abar(2
4or2
2). Typical speed is about 110 to 130 beats per minute. Humppa is also the name of a fewsocial dancesdanced to humppa music. All dances involve bounce that follows the strong bass of the music. InFinnish,the wordhumppacan also be used for allsocial dancing.The name humppa was invented byAntero Alpolafor a radio show in the 1950s. He picked it up fromGermanOktoberfestwhere the locals used the word to describe the playing of the band. The band probably used atuba,as the sound of tuba on the first beat is likehump,the second beat coming as apa.[1](The related German style is known asoompah.)
There are three different dances typically danced to humppa music, and they have existed long before the word "humppa" was coined. One form of Humppa dance is related toone-step,which arrived in Finland 1913. In this kind of humppa, both dancers take a step on each first beat (on "hump" ) and progress to the direction of dance. This is danced making turns inclosed positionor making figures by changing variousopen positions.The second Humppa form is related totwo-step,which came to Finland in 1910. This Humppa has somerhythmand movement fromsambaandwaltz.A third form of dance,Nilkku,is based on a slow, slow, quick, quick rhythm. The first quick step hardly takes any weight and gives the dance an appearance of limping.[1]
In early 1970s pop music and dancing alone almost killed social dancing, but revival of humppa since mid-1970s keeps the traditional social dancing alive.[2]
The revival meant that humppa had become the most popular music and dancing form for older people and also for countryside's youth in the Eastern and South-Eastern parts of the country. Most popular humppa artists from the 1970s include male singersErkki Junkkarinen,Henry Theel,Mikko Järvinen,Eino Valtanen,Eero Aven,female singersBerit,Eija-Sinikka,Hanneand bands Tulipunaruusut, Kaisa & Kumppanit and Mutkattomat. The most popular humppa event were probably Humppa festivals ofLappeenranta.
See also
[edit]- Eläkeläiset,a band making humppa covers of famous pop songs.