Warm Up for Saturday

It's going to be a busy day next Saturday, with Tiny Toads, children's games, food and dancing, dancing, dancing.

At the end of the day we'll have everybody gather round the Majstång, the May pole, at the Heritage park. The Lindsborg Swedish Dancers, and the Lindsborg Folkdanslag will both perform, the pole will be raised, we'll march around it and then do Små Grodorna and Prästens lilla kroka and other songs everyone should know. These are called, in Sweden, "Stamsånger" or "Group Songs." According to the Swedish Wikipedia, these are the songs that everyone in Sweden should know and be able to sing. The songs include "Du Gamla, Du fria" - the Swedish national anthem and "Kungssången", sometimes known by its first line, "Ur svenska hjärtans djup en gång", a phrase I would not attempt to translate. Stamsånger include the Norwegian, Finnish, Danish and Icelandic national songs. That's like asking Americans to sing "O Canada." I mean, I like O Canada and always appreciate hearing it sung at hockey games, but I can never get past "O Can a da, my own my native land," and then I have to hum the tune. It's the same with "Ja, vi elsker detta landet", the Norwegian National Anthem. After the first five words, I have to keep the paper in front of me.

I can sing all of Du Gamla, du fria, du fjällhöga nord", both verses. I think I might be able to recognize the Danish national anthem. I have no idea about the Finnish or the Icelandic tunes.

So it's time to warm up for Saturday. Google "Du Gamla, du fria." The words are in Wikipedia in both English and Swedish, including a never sung 3rd verse, so it's a good source for the Swedish national song.

In the meantime you might also want to learn the final "Stamsång" of the evening, "Vem kan segla", "Who can sail without the wind." We sing it at the end of each Midsommar. There's a nice piece of sheet music with an English translation - though not the one we sing here, at this link "Who can sail".

You can also take a look at a little Danish folkdancing. Here's our group performing Danish sextur last Saturday in Wichita:



On the other hand, here's a Swedish dance group performing in Stockholm.



It's pretty short, but it gives you an idea of the difference between Swedish American folk dancing and Swedish Swedish folk dancing.

Ready to Dance I

We've been busy over the weekend and I haven't posted. One of the things that occupied a fair amount of time were "warm-up" performances for Midsommar. We danced in the street on Thursday night, and in the church fellowship hall in Wichita on Saturday night.



Here's Charlotte and Sarah Anderson playing Charlotte's "Church March." The great irony is that many of the pious Swedes who came here would have frowned upon this kind of music (the fiddle was the devil's instrument) and on dancing. Gustaf Fröding's poem "When beauty came to town" details the opprobrium that would have fallen on dancers like us in the 19th century. Roger Hinchcliffe recorded it. His recordings are available online.

Midsommar Arrives

The Lindsborg Folkdanslag lowered the Majstång in Heritage park tonight, and worked on dances for this week and next. Midsommar celebrations are almost here.

There will be changes this year. "Tiny Toads," a variation on the "Små grodorna" theme, will be doing a street concert as well as playing at the festival in Swensson Park. That´s different. The same dance groups will be back, but Folkdanslag has at least one new dance to bring to the performance. I don´t know about the Swedish Folkdancers, the high school group.

We won't have a Swedish dance group this year. Here is video of the Mora Folkdanslag of Mora Sweden from the 2006 festival performing one of my favorite dances, "Schottis i tur." It's a fun dance to watch and a fun dance to perform.



There will be at least one change in the food at the festival park. The Rotary club will be offering a Swedish Meatball plate or an all American Hotdog (it'll be a Nathans).

And there will be a Swedish Vespers service, with Alf Brorson preaching. You'll remember Alf. He's a frequent visitor to Lindsborg, from Sunnemö, Värmland, Sweden. He'll preach, but I don't know who will lead the liturgy. Charlotte Anderson is going to be gone. I'm going to be gone. We're running out of Swedish Speakers willing to lead the liturgy.

Well, it will be Midsommar i alla fall.