Humppa is a type of music from Finland. It is related to jazz and very fast

foxtrot The foxtrot is a smooth, progressive dance characterized by long, continuous flowing movements across the dance floor. It is danced to big band (usually vocal) music. The dance is similar in its look to waltz, although the rhythm is in a tim ...

, played two beats to a

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

( or ). Typical speed is about 220 to 260 beats per minute. Humppa is also the name of a few social dances danced to humppa music. All dances involve bounce that follows the strong bass of the music. In

Finnish language Finnish ( endonym: or ) is a Uralic language of the Finnic branch, spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. Finnish is one of the two official languages of Finland (the other being Swedish ...

, the word humppa can also be used for all social dancing. The name humppa was invented by

Antero Alpola Antero is a Finnish given name and the Spanish version of the Latin name Anterus. It may refer to: * Antero Abreu (1927–2017), Angolan author and poet * Antero Alli (1952–), Finnish astrologer * Ántero Asto, Peruvian politician * Antero de Q ...

for a radio show in the 1950s. He picked it up from German Oktoberfest where the locals used the word to describe the playing of the band. The band probably used a tuba, as the sound of tuba on the first beat is like ''hump'', the second beat coming as a ''pa''. (The related German style is known as

oompah Oom-pah, Oompah or Umpapa is an onomatopoeic term describing the rhythmical sound of a deep brass instrument in combination with the response of other instruments or registers in a band, a form of background ostinato. The oom-pah sound is us ...

.) 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 to one-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 in closed position or making figures by changing various open positions. The second Humppa form is related to two-step, which came to Finland in 1910. This Humppa has some rhythm and movement from

samba Samba (), also known as samba urbano carioca (''urban Carioca samba'') or simply samba carioca (''Carioca samba''), is a Brazilian music genre that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century. Havin ...

and waltz. 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. 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. 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 singers

Erkki Junkkarinen Erkki Aukusti Junkkarinen (22 April 1929 in Suonenjoki – 9 April 2008 in Hämeenlinna) was a Finnish singer. Junkkarinen established his musical career in 1950 with his successful single ''Yksinäinen harmonikka'', though in the following y ...

, Henry Theel,

Mikko Järvinen Mikko is a Finnish masculine given name and equivalent of the English name Michael, having been borrowed into the Finnish language. The given name Mikko is shared by the following notable people: * Mikko Alatalo, Finnish musician and politician * ...

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, female singers , Eija-Sinikka, and bands Tulipunaruusut, Kaisa & Kumppanit and Mutkattomat. The most popular humppa event were probably Humppa festivals of Lappeenranta.

References

{{Finnish folk music Dance in Finland Finnish music Social dance Finnish dances Karelian-Finnish folklore

See also

References