Traditional Norwegian dance
The
Halling
(
hallingdansen
) is a
folk dance
(
bygdedans
) traditionally performed in rural
Norway
, although versions of the halling can also be found in parts of Sweden
[
citation needed
]
. The dance is traditionally performed by young men at weddings and parties.
Overview
[
edit
]
The halling is a quick (95?106 bpm) dance in
6
8
or
2
4
that includes acrobatic, athletic competition between the dancers. Hallingdans can best be described as rhythmic acrobatic dance and consists of a number of steps which requires both strength and softness elation.
[1]
The dance is associated with the valleys and traditional districts of
Valdres
and
Hallingdal
, where it is often referred to as the
laus
(loose dance). The term refers to it being danced solo, not in couples (although coupled halling dancing is traditional in the western parts of the country). According to some scholars, the word may refer to the fact that the dance was "half" the performance, as the other half was the
springar
(after the fashion of a Renaissance dance suite).
The meter of the dance is
2
4
or
6
8
of a quite fast (95?106 bpm), sharp quality which calls for an experienced musician. The musician has to give the dancers enough impetus to perform the various challenging moves that are involved in the dance such as the
nakkespretten
(neck jump),
kruking
(hooked dancing),
hodestift
(going over the head) and especially the
kast
(throw). The dancer Olav Thorshaug performed hallingdans shows in the United States of America around 1910?1920, incorporating the
headspin
in his dance.
One of the dance moves is called
hallingkast
. In this move, a girl has traditionally held a hat high using a stick or something similar, and the dancer is supposed to kick down the hat.
Kast
is seen as the test of strength, which involves kicking a hat that is held about 230 to 280 cm above the floor. Some girls have been able dancers themselves, and known to be as agile as any man.
[2]
In popular culture
[
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]
Noted Norwegian composer
Edvard Grieg
composed several pieces of music for the halling dance in his
Lyric Pieces
.
[3]
The finale of
Geirr Tveitt
's Piano Concerto No. 5, published in 1954, is described as 'Tempo di Halling'.
The dance was performed by the
Frikar Dance Company
to the Norwegian winning contribution for the 2009
Eurovision Song Contest
, "
Fairytale
", by singer and fiddle player
Alexander Rybak
.
Frikar Dance Company has toured 29 countries with halling dance the last years. The company's founder and choreographer Hallgrim Hansegard is known as the reinventor of halling, exploring the tradition in meeting with new artistic expressions and arenas as for example in the computer game "Age of Conan".
[4]
References
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]
External links
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]
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General
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Tune Types
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Instruments
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Scales
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Relations
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Miscellaneous
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