From collection Kosti Ruohomaa Collection
Square Dancing 21
In this image an older man and a girl square dance in a room that has been decorated with pictures and Japanese paper lanterns. Other dancers look on from the sidelines.
Here the man, presumably the instructor, sters and steps in time with his student as they promenade forward. Ruohomaa focusses on how the participants' interplay reflects the process of learning amidst the awkwardness of unfamiliar proximity to neighbors and strangers.
In this improvised dance hall Kosti finds his preferred subject matter: the folkways of ordinary people at work and as here, at play.