the Dancers on WKOW Channel 27 Morning Show

Keyboardist Mara and dancers Josh, Cassidy, Ike, and Lindsey represented the SHS Norwegian Dancers this Wednesday on WKOW's morning show. With a wake up call of 4:45 and early morning warmups, the dancers were ready to go for two short live performances on the studio floor at 6:25 and 6:45 Weds. morning. Way to go dancers! and thank you parents!

Norwegian Dancers meet Steampunk

With Google delivering 36,100,000 search results, Steampunk is much more than an unknown genre in the back row, yet it remains under the radar, attended to by some very devoted fans and participants. It is a fast-growing sliver of culture that is big enough to have its own entry in Wikipedia, and is big enough to have a three day "convention" right here in Madison. The Wikipedia link is well worth reading. Steampunk is a hard to explain mix of Jules Verne-fantasy meeting steam-powered airships meeting Victorian era fashion. And more. The convention was big enough to fill the west side Marriott, which is where the dancers found themselves Friday night, for what is most likely one of the most unusual venues the dancers have ever entered. The dancers held up well, a small group of traditionally dressed Norwegian kids and parents surrounded by an ocean of people dressed in full costume and role playing Steampunk characters from the Victorian era. German airship captains with handlebar mustaches are the easiest to describe. There were numerous other characters as well, that somewhat defy description. A very unique venue, filled with happy people that obviously enjoy getting into period costume and finding another dimension. The dancers were part of the opening ceremony and did two dances then, as well as a longer performance later on in the evening after Teslacon Prime Minister(?), Lord Hastings R. Bobbins had concluded his keynote. Lord Bobbins' web page does quite a good job further explaining Teslacon, which is officially where the dancers found themselves Friday night (11/1/13).

pictures in the blog entry are from Jeff Bach.

by the way, here's an interview (from 2012 so it's a year old) with the Wisconsin gentleman driving the whole Teslacon show.

Norwegian Dancers on TV

The SHS Norwegian Dancers made an appearance this AM on WKOW 27. The station gave them enough time to explain a bit and perform a dance live on the air for the morning viewers. Great job dancers!

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.