Looking back further, dance was also once a part of ancient Lithuanian calendar celebrations and rituals. The specific steps and movements of Lithuanian paired dances differ very little from those of neighboring countries. However, the character and spirit of our dances is unique. Lithuanians dance with great emotional energy which is never expressed externally. Lithuanian traditional dances are dominated by subdued ring dances and games whose lyrics center around growing crops and livestock or relations between young people and matchmaking.
Dance music has a moderate tempo, is usually symmetric and without large interval jumps.
Simply walking, the participants perform various movements which sometimes illustrate the song's text. Rateliai have several forms including simple circles, double circles, rows, bridges, chains and gates. These games hinge on creative improvisation, spoken text or dialogue and the performance of tasks. Some types of zaidimai are quite similar to rateliai. Separate pairs dance in loosely structured spaces whereas group dances follow a larger plan.