The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-07-08

blecklnge, Jon Seetorf sings a |
visor of the kind the country trou-
badours used to perform for a gap
ing populace. When 1 heard him he |
was singing the fourteenth verse of a
ballad which recorded the wars Of |
Napoleon. There must have been
fifty-two verses, and every one had the
same refrain
At. 1880 the star number of the fes-
tival begins. This is a combination |
performance of folksongs and folk
dances on platform in the open,
with rising ground on one side for the |
spectators and a background consist
ing of a cliff covered with the dark
verdure of pines and frs. The per-
formers come down a concealed
path, their bright, many-colored cos
TUNES closely copied from the old ma
tlonal dress once In common use. It
! certainly makes a picture. They
gather In large ring facing the
center. Clasping hands they move
slowly In circle following the leader
and his partner. Then the leader
sings verse from one of those beau
tiful quaint folksongs in minor key,
such as Sven Rosengurd." The
chorus sings the refrain and then
the step is much livelier. Once more
the leader sings, it is the second verse,
and the dance movement is slow and
quiet, so that all may hear the words
| L,
solo and chorus, the dancers fur
nishing their own music with their
singing.
For the "folkvisa" was never in
tended to be sung in a concert hall
or to piano, the only way in which
we now hear it. 1t and the folkdance
were Intimately connected. 1t ap-
pears that at one time these were
sung all over Europe. At least the
songs were very similar. But most
of them have long been forgotten
and the dances that accompanied
them, also. Some of the songs were
collected in Sweden by Geijer and
others, but the dances nearly all
passed into oblivion. There is, how
ever, one corner of Europe where the
traditions have been kept up. On the
F'avoe Islands many of the old songs
and the old dances are still in the
possession of the common people.
Fru Hulda Garborg from Norway has
taken great pains to study these
dances and has had much success in
reintroducing them in Norway and
this spring here in Sweden. Thus a
new word has come into the diction-
AIRY. the songdance.
Her work is thoroly appreciated
AID is much in line with similar ef-
forts in Sweden. where the society
'Folkdansens Vanner," has for some
'!iltC PiChSu up lIle SIreuS OI WndC is
lett and revived dances that We're all
but forgotten. The folkdance is now
very popular with the young people,
but the steps are nearly always to
instrumental music, even tho it be
single violin or a mere accordion. :.
Not all the songdances are in a
minor key. Some are very lively and
the dancing is more like work. Others
are quite humorour, that is, the
words and the steps are humorous.
Then others are of quite different
character, to punish publicly some one
who has acted in an unmanly way
or In some way occasioned ridicule
or contempt.
, There was, too, some solo dancing
. by young Norwegian, some of the
movements verging on the acrobatic,
tho graceful and 1.-the for all that
The applause showed how thoroIy ap-
preciated all was.
About o'clock there was the most
interest in "Namdemans Garden i
: Soraker.' The little children in the
= district school were being examined
\ IN the presence of parents and friends
!, by the Anticipated, pedantic and poor
- ~ educated type Of teacher, now a
rare specimen in real life. The fool
, 1sh and irrelevant questions which,
: more often than not, elected absurd
g and ridiculous answers, kept the
: crowded audience in the best of hui
i, NOR in spite of the close air in the
= low-roofed schoolroom.
! In shed near by, travelling troup
, OF transformers had advertised the
= performance of two dramas, the mu-
a sic furnished by their own orchestra.
'. Of course, that must be grand. SO
! L entered. Sure enough, there was
= the orchestra-one bass violin. Laugh
ter and applause greeted the efforts
Of this "orchestra,' rendering "Ack,
Wow nloS, l,, i
on his strings for the high notes and
slurring over the more rapid move
! ments.
J But it was the acting that caught
the audience. OF course, it was
bloody. The end Of the second, the
. fnal, act saw nearly every one dead
or dying. Unfortunately the drop
curtain got stuck about midway, and
the moon, which travelled too fast
-, across the scene and in front of the
trees, came to an abrupt standstill
when hardly more than half way.
But then. one can't expect the per-
lection Of modern stage scenery for
r. a fee of cents. Every one was we'll
n pleased. ,.....,... ,.r........ ... D..
D At $3.50 the gipses entered on the
stage of the open-air theater, where
they camped around their fire, played
% their games, laughed, quarreled and
= sang those sad and plaintive melo-
. dies, with third notes and quarter
notes, those songs that tell of a long
ing for home. In their language is no
word for home" but five for "mov-
c ing
C During nearly all this time the
Marine band has been playing on the
p top of the hill. At 10 o'clock they
surrender the platform. Three OF
"a four fiddlers enter, and couple after
y couple, some of them very young, steI
up to join hands in dancing the ole
. folkdances: All are dressed in the
national costumes.
r At II o'clock it is time to quit bu
:" the light is still good enough to read
n by. And so I go home convinced
that shall long remember this beau.
a tiful sunny day in Skansen, Where
u happy populace has enjoyed itself
light-hearted and with abandon of al
G the worries of everyday life.
-Olof z. Cervin.
AMPT,E PROOF 'i