The
greater the person the humbler and more open they are. Actor Jānis
Paukštello has been a Latvian theater megastar for nearly four
decades. Today he gave a concert in Stelpe School. Not only Stelpians
but also people from nearby communities had come to watch. Everyone
felt lifted up and charged with new energy from the concert.
"I'm
old, behind the times and happy," says Jānis Paukštello about
himself. He recited poems about our homeland Latvia, sang old
favorites, the most popular of which was Cielaviņa
"The Little Wagtail" introduced to Latvian public by
himself in 1982. He had come to Stelpe together with his wife Elīna
who was also the driver.
Jānis
has met a lot of suffering in his life, both physical and emotional.
But he has always stayed strong, full of humor and energy. "I
feel that people thirst for positive emotions, and my responsibility
being an actor is to give them to people" - this is how Jānis
Paukštello has been commenting on the show he was performing in
Stelpe.
"An
elderly man with a doubtful occupation who needs to start thinking of
the time when he will be leaving the room feet first while Cielaviņa
(The Little Wagtail - a song closely associated with himself) is
being sung, and that by his own self, is for the time being still
available live..." - this is how Jānis Paukštello wanted me to
introduce him to Stelpe spectators.
Flowers
as a sign of appreciation of Jānis Paukštello's talent were given
to him by the grateful fans and spectators.
UPDATE: Yesterday (Monday) our local newspaper "Bauskas Dzīve" (Bauska Life) published an article and a photograph of mine. You can find it also on their news portal: Bauskas Dzīve
UPDATE 2 : Today (Friday) we walked, the whole family, in Bauska. My son Dag paid attention to a TV screen and said: "Hey, is this not Jānis Paukštello?" And it was him indeed together with his wife Elīna. It felt so personal and different seeing them on TV when we had just met them in person in Stelpe School.