The entire program is ready!
Flamenco - 4 women 4 - photo: David Carbajo
Urban Rumba Catalana and passionate flamenco from Spain, halling in a new Norwegian production, fierce tarantella from Italy, Cuban salsa, dance from the Solomon Islands, Easter Island, Taiwan, Madagascar and Papua New Guinea, tap dance from Canada, Bharatanatyam from India, Polish from Sweden - and Jølstraspringar in Astruptunet; this is just a little bit of the dance menu when Førdefestivalen for the 29th year invites you to a musical guest booth in Førde , July 4 - 8 this year.
HERE you can download a pdf of the festival program.
The dance from the world - to Førde !
For her last festival as director, Hilde Bjørkum has focused on dance and dance music, and has looked for artists with dance appeal in its expression. -It has been a lot of fun work and as always exciting, and I am incredibly pleased that we get to show SO many different dance expressions at the festival, says Bjørkum. She has always wanted to show the great breadth and musical diversity that exists on the planet; the same applies to dance and dance traditions. -We have always had a lot of dance at the festival, but I hardly think we have had so many different dance traditions on one stage as this year, says the director.
The old are the oldest - new Hallingdans performance to be shown on Førdefestivalen Photo: Thor Hauknes
'If I don't dance, I'll die'
The quote is taken from Tuva Syvertsen, musician in the new dance production, Dei gamle er eldst. The performance revolves around our older halling masters, the great role models for an entire generation of new dancers, who tread the dance with life-experienced bodies and an invaluable knowledge of the subject. -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. Dei gamle er eldst 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, and who herself contributes dance to the performance.
Important with new productions
Focusing on new productions is an important part of the artistic profile of Førdefestivalen , which this year has taken the initiative for three such shows. On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Aasmund Olavsson Vinje, the festival has engaged Jorun Marie Kvernberg to lead and write music for a new children's show, which has been titled 'På geitevis', and is a kind of journey into Vinje's fairy tale world. Fridtjov Urdal is writing the script, and the show also features Unni Boksasp, Daniel Herskedal and Rune Filip Roaldsnes.
The church concert 'Op sødeste sang' is also a new production. -Here we want to highlight the rich and beautiful religious folk tunes from our own county, says Bjørkum. The musicians take as their starting point the extensive material found in the folk music archive in Sogn og Fjordane and in Arne Bjørndal's collections at the University of Bergen. Sigbjørn Apeland is the musical director of this project, and with him he has strong names such as Arve Henriksen, Kim Rysstad, Synnøve Bjørset and Malin Alander.
Last but not least, we have addressed Nikolai Astrup's close ties to folk music and folk dance, and invite you to Klangen av Astrup, in Astruptunet, on the festival's last day. Here, Gro Marie Svidal is the producer and musician, and with her she has dancers and famous musicians such as Erlend Apneseth, Sigmund Eikås and Emil Horstad.
El Nene from Cuba
#dancingwarm with crash courses and dance hosts
On the very first day of the festival, the audience is invited to a salsa evening with Latin Grammy winner El Nene, who in both voice and appearance is compared to the world-famous Ibrahim Ferrer of Buena Vista Social Club. -Son del Nene brings authentic 'son habano' - music that, according to the festival director, speaks straight to your feet! - There's no point in standing still, she says, and that's the whole point; we really want the audience to dance. Even more. That's why the festival is doing a little extra to entice even more people to follow the music with their bodies - and you DO NOT need to be an expert in advance to join in! This summer there will be crash courses in both Cuban salsa and Jølstraspringar, and on the three dance evenings in Førdehuset Dance hosts will be on hand if you want to brush up on your reindeer steps, try your hand at jumping or get that last walk on the pole again. This will also be the festival for social dance, according to the director, who knows what she's talking about; she has already won three Norwegian championship titles and a king's cup in dance from the National Competition from an early dance career.
Spanish flamenco feminism - and encounter with indigenous traditions
Dance and music can also be storytelling, as in the flamenco performance 4 women 4. Here you will join a journey through time through the most important eras in Spanish women's long and difficult struggle for freedom and equality in society and family life. With five flamenco dancers, musicians and singers - in addition to beautiful costumes - this becomes a visual and powerful history lesson.
Small Island Big Song is a different kind of storytelling. -This project has taken Australian filmmaker and music producer Tim Cole three years to make. He has visited 16 different island communities and recorded and interviewed indigenous musicians in their local cultures. Six of these musicians - from the Solomon Islands, Easter Island, Papua New Guinea, Madagascar, Taiwan and Borneo - he has brought with him to Førde , and you can only look forward to a great multimedia presentation, with sound and film, and live music and dance, says Bjørkum.
Fanfare Ciocarlia, one of the world's best brass bands, is coming Førde - again!
Artist list like a backpack trip
Førdefestivalen has always distinguished itself with artist lists reminiscent of a fierce world-wide backpacking trip, and the 2018 edition is no exception. In addition to those mentioned above, the artist menu includes the world's best brass band, Fanfare Ciocarlia from Romania, the Kurdish music icon, Aynur, pizzica specialists Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino from Italy, the Finnish supergroup Frigg, the cross-border musical collaboration Constantinople & Ablaye Cissoko from Iran, Senegal and Canada, "Mr. Maloya" - Danyel Waro from Reunion, the Norwegian-English Baroque soloists with the smash hit The Alehouse sessions, Cape Verde's new star Elida Almeida, and also Cimbaliband (HU), Cassie and Maggie (CA), Trio Lopez Petrakis Chemirani (ES/GR/IR) Fanfaraï Big Band (FR/AL/MA) Dimitris Mystakidis (GR) Hazelius Hedin (SE) Jyotsna Srikanth (IN/UK) Muchacho & Los Sobrinos (ES) Majorstuen (NO) Marja Mortensson (NO) Timbila Muzimba (MZ) Son del Nene (CU) Anne Hytta (NO) 9 degrees north (NO/LK) - and several more.
-Imagine, all this in the space of five days, in small Førde ! – With this year's festival, we have presented over 7,000 musicians from around 135 countries all over the world over the past 29 years. That is something to be proud of, says the outgoing director, Hilde Bjørkum. -We made a choice once, to create a festival with a clear acoustic folk music profile, which offers the audience experiences they cannot get anywhere else, and which gives new insight and knowledge about the world's cultures and encounters with fantastic musicians and people from all corners of the world. That has been the trademark and success criteria for this festival all these years.