Wayback Dancer Pictures are trickling in....

The word seems to be slowly getting out. Dancers from wayback are starting to send in some of their pictures. Officially "wayback" starts in 2004 and goes back from there. Below are a couple of dancer alumni-submitted pictures showing the 1990 group.

The Stoughton Victorian Holiday happened this past weekend. One piece of that puzzle is the Stoughton Norwegian Dancers. As a new parent to the group this year, this was my first full indoor performance. Fun is the first word. Unexpected is the second word. Acrobatic is the third word. Gymnastics is the fourth word. The hat dance, which is part of the Halling dance, given as the finale of the performance was enjoyable to watch. The whole Halling dance which portrays a multi-day family reunion back in old Norway overall was all fun to watch.

It is impressive to see the athleticism required to do the lifts and the backflips and the myriad other movements that are part of this dance. Equally impressive is recognizing the amount of work that goes into mastering the many pieces of this dance. It is really neat to see a 20+ group of teenagers all in this together doing such a good job at something so intricate.

Lapskaus 2012

Just what is Lapskaus? Brilliant wikipedian minds have toiled over this issue for years and have yet to arrive at an agreed up on answer. However, when the days get short in Stoughton, Wisconsin, many Norwegians get hungry. Luckily, the Stoughton Norwegian Dancers are always there with one of the group's biggest fundraisers and the answer to every Norwegians yearning for good old beef stew. The above mentioned wikipaedian minds really can't even agree on that, but beef stew is what we serve every year at our dinner.

Wayne and Nancy Krantz along with all the other parents pitch in and either prepare the food or clean up after the dinner is done. Ken Gulseth provides his secret recipe and donates his labor every year to get it all going the night before. The dancers serve the food and provide the entertainment. Everyone else buys ticket and eats. This year was a great turnout, just a bit bigger than last year. So word must be getting out that Stoughton Lapskaus is worth driving for. It was an enjoyable evening at Christ Lutheran Church where the event was held. The church gym was crowded with hungry Norwegians and even a few non-Norwegians who snuck in after hearing how good the food was.

The dancers showed off their dances in what is still the early season for the group. Many of the dances are still being perfected during the daily early morning practices. It turns out that the dances the group performs are from all four of the Scandinavian countries (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland). Each country's culture kicks in its own particular stylistic flair.

P.S. The picture that is part of the Wikipedia entry (linked to above) for Lapskaus shows a road-side Lapskaus stand in Sister Bay, Wisconsin. Maybe they are on to something up there......

Dancers in Action

Most people when picturing a folk dance think of something calm, or at least a dance where everyone's feet stay on the ground.  The SHS Norwegian Dancers like to occasionally dispel that myth.  The picture below is taken from an elementary school performance where the boys are performing a dance based on the dances found in xx.  Hundreds of years ago, dancing was one of the ways that young men in the Scandinavian countries could "show off" and hopefully impress the eligible young women in their village.  That is the basis for this aerial maneuver that the three dancers are doing. The move itself is hard enough to do alone, doing it in time with two other dancers is even more impressive.  Lots of early morning hours spent practicing this!

Destination Stoughton Performance

October 27-28 was the weekend for Destination Stoughton.  All sorts of things happened in our fair town and some of them were Norwegian in nature.  Surprise surprise.  One of those happenings was the Stoughton High School Norwegian Dancers first public performance this year.  It took place outdoors in the form of a street dance under blue sky and a bright fall sun.  Fun to watch.  Who knew Norwegian dancing was so athletic?