Dance and dance music in focus Førdefestivalen 2018

Halling will take center stage at the Førdefesivalen 2018 when the theme is Dance in Music - Music in Dance!, here represented by dancer Vidar Underseth and dance fiddler in a class of his own, Sigmund Eikås. 

The theme of Førdefestivalen 2018:
The dance in the music - the music in the dance!

-This summer it's going to be all about dancing! When we invite you to the 29th. Førdefestivalen , 4-8 July 2018, there will be more dancing than ever, says director Hilde Bjørkum and elaborates: Within folk music, dance is closely linked to music. This applies to most countries all over the world. In some cultures, there are not even different words for music and dance, there is only one expression that covers both. We want to take a closer look at this close connection and appreciate the good dance music and all the great dance expressions that exist, both in our own country and internationally.

In Norway and many other countries, much of the good dance music in recent years has been transformed, or primarily presented as concert music. -We want to pay tribute to dance and dance music both by presenting it from the stage and inviting everyone to social dance, Bjørkum continues, and not least bring out the very nerve in the interaction between the dance fiddler and the dancer - which creates dance magic!

A blow to folk dance

When asked why she has chosen the connection between music and dance as the theme for the festival, Bjørkum is clear that there is a need to strike a blow for folk dance both in Norway - and internationally. - In several places in Norway, skilled dancers and driving enthusiasts have worked hard over a long time and created wonderful lively dance environments with both young and old involved. In other places, dance activity is down. Førdefestivalen wants to inspire people to take up dance. Simply encourage more people to experience the joy of dancing to live music by passionate, good dance musicians, says the dance-loving director, who himself has three Norwegian championship titles in folk dance, and can boast the King's Cup from the National Competition in 1989.

- I think the strong, almost ecstatic joy of being able to move to good dance music is greatly under-communicated. Being able to feel how the rhythms can propel you forward, the feeling of mastery of being able to perform some intricate dance steps and turns you have practiced, and being able to perform some steps you have just learned. Or the freedom of just improvising and moving freely to the music, it is simply fantastic and something I wish everyone could experience!

New Norwegian dance production

In a brand new Norwegian dance production, The Old Ones Are the Oldest , the festival honors our tradition bearers; dance masters who have been among the foremost dancers in Norway for decades, and have trained new generations in halling, springar and other dance forms. The performance revolves around our older halling dancers, who are no longer as active on stage, but who dance with life-experienced bodies. -It will be fantastic to see halling dancers Martin Myhr, Ingar Ranheim, Rolf Bjørgan, Dagfinn Krogsrud, Vidar Underseth and Dag Hamre in action on one and the same stage, says Bjørkum. The musicians in this production are of the younger generation, namely Sivert Holmen and Tuva Syvertsen. The Old Are the Oldest is produced by Villniss Dansekompani, in collaboration with Førdefestivalen , Hilmestemnet and Riksscenen. Choreographer is Silje Onstad Hålien , herself a well-known dancer in the elite class in Norway.

International theme concert

- The opening concert on Thursday, July 5, will, as usual, be dedicated to the theme of the festival, so here the audience will both see fierce dancing and hear dance music from Europe, America and Asia, in addition to our local music and dance traditions, says the director. 

Tap dance from Canada and Tarantella from Italy

From Italy come Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino , the foremost representatives of the very special pizzica tarantata tradition from Salento in Puglia, in the very south of Italy's heel. Central to this tradition is the taranta dance, which takes its name from the spider, the tarantella. Legend has it that this intense and almost ecstatic dance is the only way to recover if you have been bitten by a tarantella. The taranta tradition in Italy has experienced enormous popularity in recent decades, including through the festival La Notte della Taranta, which attracts more than a hundred thousand spectators every year.

One of the new comets in Canadian folk music, sisters Cassie and Maggie MacDonald from Halifax, are ready for Førde . 

There will also be Canadian tap dancing with Nova Scotia sisters Cassie & Maggie MacDonald, who have established themselves at the top of the Irish-Celtic folk music scene in record time. -In 2016 they won Live Ireland Radio's “SINGERS OF THE YEAR” “NEW GROUP OF THE YEAR”, and in addition to being ultra-talented musicians, they have this inner connection you often experience with sibling duos, which makes the interaction inexplicably close and precise, explains Hilde Bjørkum. Both Cassie and Maggie and other talented dancers will also be found among this year's course instructors - because of course there are more dance courses on the program for next year's festival!

Classical dance from India and indigenous dance traditions from Easter Island

At the opening concert, the audience will also experience music and dance from the Bharatanatyam tradition from southern India. This dance was traditionally performed only by women. The Small Island, Big Song project is a large-scale documentation project involving music and dance traditions with over 100 indigenous performers from 16 islands in the vast oceans of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Some of these will be presented during the opening concert and with their own multimedia presentation during the festival.

The best are coming

The musicians who were first to be ready Førdefestivalen 2018, is the old-time dance group Lendmenn , who with their driving good dance music from Ottadalen won the group stage at the National Old-time Dance Festival in 2017. -Dance stage at Førdefestivalen the following year is included as part of the prize for those who win this class, and we are more than ready to do our very best to 'get you dancing' at this summer's festival, says Øyvind Sandum in Lendmenn.

As usual, the festival will present a number of events throughout the winter. artists on the program both by themed artists and outside the festival theme. The full festival program will be presented in March 2018.