Announcing Nordic Fiddles & Feet 2005
Description from the Brochure
Camp this year is 2-9 July. Download and print a complete brochure or the registration form alone. New this year: 10% discount for first time NFF attendees; new mini-camp July 2-5 for those who can't stay for the whole week.
Nordic Fiddles and Feet, now in its fifth year, is pleased to present a fabulous line-up of some of the best Scandinavian musicians and dancers in the world. Immerse yourself for a whole week in this enchanting folk music and dance in the beautiful West Virginia hills. A full and varied schedule is designed to offer plenty of music, dancing, and fun for both beginning and more experienced dancers and musicians.
Dance classes include Swedish, Norwegian, and Basics and are designed for all levels of dancers. Dance basics is intended to give beginners an introduction to Scandinavian dancing while working on skills that help all levels of dancing. We change partners often (you need not register with one). Evening parties are varied with gammaldans, mixers, bygdedans, dances taught during daily classes, and your special requests. We dance to live music at every session and party!
Music classes include multiple levels of Swedish fiddle, as well as hardingfele, nyckelharpa, and singing. Classes are generally taught "by ear" although a syllabus will be available. To take a fiddle class you should be a competent fiddler in some tradition, but may be new to Scandinavian music. For basic hardingfele or nyckelharpa you need to have some musical background. Basic singing will include language coaching. The gammaldans band and allspel sessions are open to ALL instruments and singers.
Crafts and cultural sessions will be presented by various members of the staff throughout the week.
| DANCE | MUSIC |
| Anna Torhild Blikberg & Knut Bilkberg, Bengt Mård & Britt-Mari Westholm, Roo Lester & Larry Harding, |
Leif Rygg, Hardingfele Loretta Kelley, Hardingfele |
Norwegian Staff
ANNA TORHILD BLIKBERG & KNUT BLIKBERG began dancing nearly 40 years ago learning from community elders in Voss in the old tradition. Knut has consistently ranked at the top in regional and national folk dance competitions. He has danced vossaspringar and halling in six European countries and the United States, and made several television appearances, including the Lillehammer Winter Olympics. He is a noted collector of dance traditions from Western Norway. Knut's wife, Anna Torhild Blikberg, has been his partner for dance teaching for many years.
LEIF RYGG from Voss is honored throughout Norway as one of the most accomplished virtuosos of the hardingfele today. Rygg began playing the fiddle at the age of nine, from teachers including Lars Skjervheim, Sigbjørn Bernhoft Osa and Anders Kjerland. His gorgeous tone, perfect technique and deep musicality have won him the Landskappleik (the Norwegian National Contest for Traditional Music) five times. He is a superb and inspiring teacher who has taught at workshops throughout Norway. This is only his third time teaching hardingfele in the USA.
Swedish Staff
BRITT-MARI WESTHOLM & BENGT MÅRD return to Nordic Fiddles and Feet to celebrate our fifth anniversary. They are expert dancers and teachers who have delighted dance students at workshops throughout the USA for many years. They both have the "big silver" medal from the Ungdomsringen in Sweden and have taught dance throughout the world.
JONAS "JALLE" HJALMARSSON grew up in Älvdalen (NW Dalarna) but has studied with and been influenced by many Dalarna-area fiddlers. His musical backyard was formed by fiddlers like Gössa Anders from Orsa and Gunnar Orre from Älvdalen, among others. He was trained in pedagogy at the Institute in Stockholm, and has been a teacher for nearly a decade at the Folkhögskola in Malung--perhaps the best-known folk-music program in Sweden. He's also involved in the prestigious Royal Swedish Music Academy's folk music track. Peter Michaelsen says "...one of the two best harmony-improvisers I've heard...and one of the best fiddle teachers I've encountered."
EVA ÅSTRÖM RUNE is one of the top folk singers in Sweden. She graduated in 1995 from the Royal Music Academy in Stockholm. Her repertory ranges from very traditional folk songs from all over Sweden to jazz-tinged improvisation. She performs with ensembles such as Rosenbergs Sjua, Alruna, Krus, and Rune-Lindvall-Sjöblom, in genres including folk music, contemporary music, modern dance and theatre. She works as vocal pedagogue at the University of Karlastad. Eva has an unusually clear and expressive voice, and an ebullient personality that shines through in her singing.
ANNA-KRISTINA WIDELL, champion nyckelharpist, specializes in tunes from Uppland and particularly the soulful 8th-note-based tunes of Ceylon Wallin. However, she also loves to play 16th-note slängpolskor and has a repertory of tunes from all over Sweden. She has been studying at the Royal Music Academy in Stockholm. She won the World Nyckelharpa Championship in 2002 and the Youth Championship in 1999.
State-Side Staff
ROO LESTER & LARRY HARDING are experienced dancers and teachers who exude delightful energy and enthusiasm. They have an encouraging, clear style of teaching that makes them favorite teachers for both experienced and novice dancers.
BRUCE SAGAN returns this year--our former NFF co-director, and previously co-founder and co-director of Scandinavian Week. He regularly travels to and studies in Scandinavia, and is a fabulous fiddler and teacher whose mastery of a variety of musical styles offers tantalizing breadth to our program. Bruce inspires musicians and dancers alike with his contagious energy and enthusiasm.
LORETTA KELLEY is respected equally in the USA and in Norway for her talent and skill with hardingfele as well as her knowledge about traditional Norwegian music and folk culture. Her writing, performances, and recordings have enriched us all as we explore Norwegian folk culture.
Registration, Policies, etc.
REGISTRATION is $600 for full-week camp
(Sat. dinner through Sat. breakfast), or $325 for mini-camp (Sat. dinner
through Tues. breakfast). NEW: First-timers (those who have never attended
Nordic Fiddles and Feet or its predecessor Scandinavian Week) receive
a 10% discount. Deposit of $175 holds your place and is due by May 1;
fully refundable until June 1. Balance on pre-May 1 registrations ($425
full week, $150 mini-camp) must be postmarked by June 1. Registrations
postmarked after May 1 must include the FULL AMOUNT PLUS A $40 SURCHARGE
($640 full-week, $365 minicamp). Registrations cannot be accepted after
June 12.
CHILDREN are welcome with a designated adult who is responsible
for them at all times. Full week: $255 ages 13-17, $175 ages 5-12; Mini-camp:
$160 ages 13-17, $100 ages 5-12. Under 5 are free. NEW: Bring two children
and third child in family is 50% off. We will connect parents so that
they can arrange programs for the children together.
WORK SCHOLARSHIPS are available, mainly in the kitchen,
at a reduced rate of $330 ($370 after May 1). All positions involve about
3 hours daily and can be arranged so that you don’t miss special
classes. To apply, send a letter, along with your registration form and
deposit, describing your cooking or other RELEVANT experience. Please
call or email for more details.
BUFFALO GAP COMMUNITY CAMP is in Capon Bridge, WV, near Winchester, VA, about 2 hours west of Washington, DC. It is a rustic 200 acre camp with a beautiful, open-air, covered dance pavilion overlooking a small, private swimming lake with a sandy beach (bathing suits are optional) and a wood burning sauna at one end. Cabins are nestled in the hill surrounding the pavilion. Some are only screened in, others are more enclosed. The bathrooms facilities range from sinks and toilets in the cabin and group showers, to rennovated full bathrooms shared by 3 to 4 rooms. Expect to share a cabin with up to 8 people. You are welcome to bring a tent for more privacy.
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| Updated 5 March, 2011 |
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Feet
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