Kivajat dancers appear and perform throughout the year in the Copper Country. Even earning invites to regional cultural festivals, helping greet guests arriving by cruise ship, and keeping heritage alive. The western upper peninsula sits as a hub of Finnish American culture. More specifically, in Hancock, the community takes great pleasure in hosting Finnish festivals, events, concerts, and dances.
Over the past 20 years, Kay Seppala has led more than 800 Kivajat Finnish folk dance practices in the Finnish American Heritage Center.
Seppala started dancing after viewing her first performance on a trip home from college. That first dance inspired her to go on to join the Kisarit Dancers in Minnesota. The art form afforded her many opportunities to meet new people, including her husband. And to travel on expeditions to learn from Finnish folk dancers in Finland.
Today, the local dance group includes 53 dancers of all ages. Many kivajat dancers start young, most around the time they enter middle school. But some join the group even earlier. Seppala says it’s been indescribably rewarding to lead the community’s Finnish dance performances.
And it’s just thrilling to watch them now as they help the younger dancers. Leadership skills have been developed, and some natural leaders have emerged. That’s just a surprise that I didn’t expect as we started this whole process. Dancing is something that you do for life. And whether these people continue with Finnish folk dancing, they will always dance. – Kay Seppala, program director, Kivajat dancers
Seppala joins a collective of more than 140 Michigan heritage awardees since 1985. This year, MSU’s Michigan Traditional Arts Program honored Seppala alongside others preserving Michigan’s communities, people, and heritage.
The 2025 Michigan Heritage Awards also went to Ed and Cindi John from Leelanau County, blues musician Reverand Robert James, and the team leading the Flint African American Quilters Guild.
The older children just performed at Finnfest in Duluth, and the Loistavat, they’re the teens. And they were marvelous. They took the place by storm, and everybody just loved them. And it’s just such a fun way to preserve our heritage. – Kay Seppala, program director, Kivajat dancers
The Kivajat dancers are probably one of our signature programming pieces. We host them, we sponsor them, and we support them in every way we can. They return the favor every chance they can, and they really are a bridge into Finnish-American culture for many people. – David Maki, executive director, Finnish American Heritage Center
Finnish American Heritage Center Executive Director David Maki says the community is proud and grateful for Seppala’s leadership and passion.
I think it speaks volumes for Finnish-American culture here in the Copper Country. To see something like this that’s truly multi-generational and how it’s growing at a time when cultural activities are shrinking by and large, it speaks to all the hard work that’s gone into not only this year, but in the 20 years previous to make the Kivajat dancers what they are today. – David Maki, executive director, Finnish American Heritage Center
The Kivajat Dancers celebrated with the community last night. Showing off a handful of dances the team recently performed at Finn Fest in Duluth. In the fall, Seppala plans to travel to Finland to work with dance instructors to study choreography and folk dances. Seppala says the Kivajat Dancers could not continue without support from the Finlandia Foundation, national, residents, and new generations of dancers continuing to preserve Finnish–American heritage in the Copper Country.
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