Dance reports year 2000

At last this millennium event arrived. The event had since long been prepared for by those of us working with computers, as well as by the mass media.

Kulturhuset did also honour the event by arranging a dancing palace for the second time, with several orchestras. Some of us warmly remembered the prior event from the EU cultural capital year 1998.

As we had been dancing the preceding evening, combined with that the work with securing the switch of millennium did not allow for much sleep, we were a little worn already when we arrived. So it felt nice to start the evening with a splendid buffet containing for example fish and shellfish.

At 9 the dance started. This night three orchestras were playing. Streaplers were playing modern dance music, Alfredo de la Fé played Salsa, and Jennie Löbel and Swing Kings played jazz and swing music. As a complement there were three dance floors with recorded music.

We visited all dance floors, but spent most of the time with Jennie Löbel and Swing Kings, and the Streaplers. Both the orchestras play well, and the dance floors were large enough and had a reasonable glide.

When there was a pause at these places we also visited the floors with disc jockeys. Deja Vu had a rather small dance floor, the music when we were there was very danceable. According to the advertisement they played here jazz, funk, soul and rare groove. At the Culturhouse it was disco, we did not dance there. On Plaza Tropical it was probably samba when we visited, something that I can not dance and thus avoided.

We were also twice visiting Alfredo de la Fé. As previously at salsa events I found the sound level painful, for that reason the visits there were short.

To sum up, the evening was fun and well worth remembering (and also physically demanding), with the swing dancing favoured.

But in comparison with the previous dance at the Cultural Capital Year the event was more limited. At the previous event the swing was mixed with all sorts of music, e.g. Latin American dances and Wiener waltz, it was then also tango, polskor and gammaldans.

Bygdedansens Vänner arranged a dance with Trollrike Spelmän. The legs were already tired by long-distance skating when we arrived. As the floor was a little rough in the beginning, the start of the dance was refractory. After a while the floor improved, and by then the tired legs were forgotten.

Trollrike Spelmän play gammaldans and bondpolskor. It also works well to dance hambo to their bondpolskor. They did also include a few slängpolska and Bingsjö-polska.

The attendance was ok, possibly a little too crowded a few times.

The ticket price was increased to 100:-. We were told the reason to this was increased rental.

According to what we heard, it will now be necessary for some dance organisations to reconsider their activities or seek new locations because of increased rent prices.

Despite the well known problems with the local trains in winters, we had no serious problems going to Kallhälls Folkets Hus, where we arrived at 5:30. We did not join the show, but did only dance. In the beginning it was reasonably with space on the dance floor. Once again we noticed that the floor, despite that it is located in a sparse environment and just has a plastic mat, is very good for dancing - smooth, slippery and elastic. And the room is rather well ventilated.

When the dance opened it was mostly gammaldans. When Wallmans Polskekvartett played the room was jammed, and the dancing became problematic. But the music was very nice, with very danceable polskor from Southern Dalarna and Siljan.

We then took a break for coffee and a round in the house. Besides small groups playing in every corner, there were fiddlers and 'nyckelharpor' on the second floor, melodeons and coffee on the third, and accordions and coffee on the fourth.

When we visited the fourth floor it was modern music in the coffee bar. As it was space but no dancers there, we had a very enjoyable turn round the room with jitterbug and foxtrot. It was also a larger group with accordions outside the coffee bar, but with no space for dance.

The last announced dance at the ground floor was 10 - 10:30 with Väduren, a gang playing very nice gammaldans with mostly melodeons. It was a nice ending of a nice dance evening

Approximately once a month the organisation Nalens Vänner arrange dance events with jazz music at Nalen. This was our first visit to their dance.

In the large hall Gösta Linderholm and Trad Brothers played, in Harlem cabaret and jazz concerts alternated, and in Stacken there was a talent hunt. It was also a dance show with Kindahl's Dance School.

The audience was numerous, and mainly contained well dressed ladies and gentlemen in the upper part of the middle age. We also for a short while visited the talent hunt in Stacken, where the public was more youth.

But we were visiting to dance, and spent most of the time in the large ball room. At the start it was space to dance, and we danced some spirited dances to Gösta's group. Soon the floor became crowded, especially when Ballroom Big Band played. For that reason we danced mostly foxtrot when they played.

Gösta Linderholm and Trad Brothers were inspiring, when they played it was also a little more space. If done with care, it was then possible to swing, sometimes in fast tempo.

It was a long time since we last visited Mälparingen. This evening Yvonne and Torbjörn were instructing polskor from the south part of Dalarna, and we found that to be a good reason to do something about that.

It was nice to see the place again. Most things was as they use to be, the dance now ended 21:50 instead of 22:00. It was also rather many visitors, which Yvonne and Torbjörn seemed to enjoy. And so we did - we got a nice dance evening.

This evening, when Boda/Bingsjö and Edsbacka Spelmän played, it was less crowded. Possibly those arranging the dance had hoped for the same number of visitors as on their previous dance, but the lowered attendance gave better possibilities to dance. The temperature was also more comfortable.

Despite this there was a little jammed especially when dancing Bodapolska, Orsapolska and Bondpolska. The reason for this might be that some (e.g. me) dance these dances with a distinct movement forwards, while others, especially on the walking steps, move slower.

The evening was disposed with the two orchestras alternating. Boda/Bingsjö mainly played polskor but also a little gammaldans and tango, while Edsbacka Spelmän mainly played gammaldans but with a few polskor.

It was a nice dance evening, with good music and nice people to dance with.

It is not possible to write about all dance events we visit, but for this weekend everything will be covered. So on the 'resting day' it is time to visit Mälarsalen, with a floor that I and many with me have worn during the past years.

The 'new' floor is still there, while a forgotten number of worn shoes have been sent to kingdom come. The floor is not new any more, but that is obviously as true for many of us who still wear it.

The floor is however still one of the best. It is as usually with loss of fluids and a feeling of macaroni that, after four hours of uninterrupted dance to Bålsta Dragspelsgille and Gideons, it is time to put the head on the pillow and start preparing for a new week.

After a cold it was nice to go out dancing again, this time to Falu Spelmanslag. My oldest memory with this group might have been from Skeppis, where a cheerful lot made a performance. For example I remember a melody where one of the musicians accompanied using a cap pistol.

After that we have of course danced to the group a few times, and this evening we did once again experience that the group is both youth and plays with zest. This evening someone told us there were 37 musicians visiting.

They started with half an hour with concert, and at least we who sat at the front got the feeling that we were sitting in the middle of the music.

After the concert the dance started, and it got of course crowded and hot. Falu Spelmanslag plays mostly polskor, especially polskor from Rättvik. But also other polskor from Dalarna were frequent. During the evening there were also a few gammaldanser.

The audience seemed to enjoy the evening, the crush on the dance floor lasted all evening.

We had not fully recovered from a cold, and avoided for that reason to use the long-distance skates this weekend. For that reason it felt good to dance in the evenings. The previous evening we were dancing to Stockholms Spelmanslag, and now ended the evening with dancing swing at Nalen.

When we arrived at 6, the dance instructions had just ended. We were happy to find that the orchestra played very well, and the number of dancers was just right. Our skills have probably improved since the first time we visited Nalen, but it is still nice to be one in the crowd, providing there is still space enough to dance.

The orchestra played a nice mixture of slower and faster melodies. When the pace increases, one gets painfully reminded about all the evenings that have not been spent in the jogging track.

But one can always try to believe that the previous cold has temporarily decreased the performance...

To some of the slow melodies it was ok to dance foxtrot. More than one litre of water was needed to survive the evening.

Westlings spelmän are among the best groups playing gammaldans. To dance hambo when they are playing is something to remember.

During the first one and a half hour, between 5 and 6.30 I did not even take the time to go and drink water, to avoid missing any dance.

The floor was a little too stiff, but reasonable to dance on.

When Mac Olssons started playing, I took at last time for visiting the water tap. Sometimes I can feel that modern dance can feel a little tame, but when the music also contains rock and gammaldans it is more enjoyable.

In the pause Westlings played once again, and after that we had some more dance with Mac'en playing. When we left 9.15 they were playing the first tango for the evening, something that we thus missed.

Kollijox is not one of the more well known dance music groups. It was thus with a feel of uncertainty we visited this dance. We wanted to find out both the sound of the group, and if it could entice a public.

When the dance started it was not many visitors, but the first waltzes where very nice. After a couple of dances the number of visitors had increased, so the feeling of emptiness soon disappeared.

Mostly the orchestra played well. They played more polskor than is usual for the dances at Alvik, with one dance (two polskor) of Bingsjö, Orsa, Bondpolska and Sörmländsk slängpolska.

Regarding the polskor the performance was a little disharmonic - e.g. the Orsapolskor were fine, the first slängpolska we found appropriate for Orepolska, while the Bingsjöpolskor were played at a furious speed.

The girl I then danced with had got some trash in her eye, but with the speed we danced the wind made her eyes clear in no time.

As a summary, it was a nice evening. It seemed as others had the same feeling, it was relatively much people there when the orchestra on overtime played the last waltzes. The last waltz was so slow that we tried to use what we remembered of modern waltz.

This Tuesday Slagsta Gille and Towe Widerbergs played once again in Hallunda. After the boring trip with the underground train, we were met by a brimful parking place, cars parked along one of the sides of the main road - probably allowed on Tuesdays - and substantial queues both at the entrance and the cloakroom.

Our memory of the previous visit made us not have much expectations of the modern dance. Perhaps this was the reason to that we found it pleasant. The dancing hall is among the best in Stockholm, airy and with a nice smooth dance floor , with better glide than for example Mälarsalen.

Despite that the hall is quite big, it was limited space on the floor.

We felt as the evening had just started when Slagsta Gille took over, after one and a half hour.

Fortunately it was then more space on the dance floor. The sound arrangements were not good during this first half hour. Despite this it was a nice dance.

After coffee, there was more modern dance and one further lovely half hour with Slagsta Gille - with better trimming of the sound this time.

Ages ago I went to a dance at Mariahissen. When we now once again visited this locale, my memory of the place did not at all agree with reality. We had planned to also join the dance course before the dance, but time was too limited.

When we arrived just after 8 the course had just ended, and Hasse Ling and his Syncopators of Swing had started playing. The dancing room lies side by side with a room with some plain tables. The rooms are separated by a fire wall with two open doors. The dancing room is of moderate size, has wooden floor and some windows with a beautiful view of Riddarfjärden.

The music of course consisted of jazz. When the slower melodies were played, I would have preferred to use my very limited knowledge of slowfox. That was however not possible because the floor was then filled up with Lindy Hop dancers. At best it was then possible to dance ordinary foxtrot.

The faster melodies had a very nice swing pace, and by then it was also more space on the floor.

To sum up, this was an unpretentious and nice way to spend and evening.

It was some time since we last visited one of the Mälarsalen Bugg events. As previously, one of the first impressions was that the average age of the dancers was much lower than we are used to. My feeling is that the composition of the dancers was similar when I started to dance - a mix of dancers of all ages, where those from the first half of the life have the majority.

Another thought from this evening is which role the music has for those visiting the dance. As I remember the music from the evenings with bugg we have visited, it differs from the modern dance music played other evenings.

According to the advertising the tempo is higher, something that I do not agree with. On the contrary, this evening I was wishing for at least a few melodies played with high pace, and have also the feeling that the modern dance music played on the gammaldans evenings sometimes use higher pace. But the music has a different sound - without being able to explain it, the music has a more modern sound.

The evening was well attended. Despite this it was enough with space on the dance floor, but later in the evening it was difficult to dance at least to the faster melodies.

This was our first visit to a dance arranged by Söderringen. The music was provided by Bas, Fiol & Drag playing gammaldans, and Ellika Frisell playing polskor for one hour.

Bas, Fiol & Drag opened the dance with straight gammaldans music. Despite some whirling traditional costume-skirts, there had been room for more dancers.

After about one hour the dance was interrupted and replaced by joint dances - gillesdans, engelskor and dancing games.

The biggest dancing challenge for the evening was undoubtedly the dance to Ellika Frisell. Although she avoided some of her wildest and crooked polskor, her technical skills combined with her power of insight makes always the dancing to an adventure. Moreover she does not make it easier for herself nor for us dancers by keeping a high pace. She played mostly polskor, but one or two gammaldans where also included.

After that there was more gammaldans and another session with joint dances. The evening was ended with Långdans from Sollerön.

The City Museum were arranging a Finish tango event with dance and a brief instruction for a couple of hours on a Thursday evening. According to their announcements there were more dances to come, with the same concept but other themes.

We expected a moderate number of visitors, and were quite surprised that although we arrived well before the dance started, we were among the last to get a ticket.

The members of the music group - Emigrantkvartetten - come from Finland but are now living in Sweden. They play tango from all parts of the world, including their own home area. We would enjoy dancing to this quartet again!

The dancing room was of moderate size, but with a superb view of Strömmen.

Due to the large number of visitors, it was quite crowded on the instructions and the dance.

The dance was sometimes interrupted by shows with a dancing couple, who have been successful in competitions in Finish tango. Included in the ticket was also refreshments with juice and "salta pinnar".

The evening was a nice introduction to the weekend course in Finnish tango.

Jakobsbergs GDV, usually arranging dance practice events on Friday evenings, arranges often once per season gammaldans in the Aspnäs school. Coffee and cakes are included in the entrance fee. As with most GDV events, the dance floor is used as coffee room in the pause.

In many cases Westlings Spelmän have played at these events, but they had cancelled this time. So this evening Wermdö Durspelare were hired.

Possibly the number of visitors was sligthly reduced due to the switch of orchestra. But it was still a well attended dance, with plenty of very good dancing.

Everyone I talked to expressed their assessment with the dance and the music.

60 years is a very respectable time frame, well worth celebrating with a jubilee.

Dalaföreningens Spelmanslag did so by arranging a dance at the Music Museum. It was a festive view seeing the spelmanslag opening the dance, with many beautiful national costumes and a very nice sound.

The group played for one hour at a time. Björn Ståbi, who has been a member since he was a child, played and told stories in between.

The music contained about two thirds of very danceable polskor, mainly from Dalarna. The remaining dances were gammaldans.

Björn Ståbi played also mainly polskor, but also some gammaldans that had been played by the spelmanslag during the passed years.

The dance ended at 11.30. In the cloakroom afterwards we could listen on some dancers that seemed rather fagged out.

It was more than a year since we last visited Polskedansarna. When we this evening intended to repair that, we found that the dance was cancelled, and replaced by a meeting between politicians and the public, discussing the future for Folkets Hus. The local government seemed to plan to pack it in.

We stayed not long, but got the impression that the politicians expressed that to get the activity self-contained, they would have to take rents that they did not believe that they could get.

The evening was still interesting. We got the idea that the dance was moved, and checked a place nearby where we had danced earlier. But there it was oriental dance. An acquaintance then suggested that the dance might be moved to Bagarmossen FH. He had a car and gave us a lift. In that place it was dance as well, with Skördegillet.

The dancing floors that currently exist in Stockholm seem to be much used.

Sollentuna GDV arranges dance in Rotebro some Fridays.

They use a mixture with 1 modern + 1 gammaldans all through the evening. I find this mixture more varied than the mixture with 2 modern + 2 gammaldans.

This evening Gideons from Eskilstuna played. The modern melodies were played with a restful pace.

The dance floor in Rotebro is smooth and delicious. This evening it was also reasonably with space, so there were good possibilities to fully enjoy the dance floor.

The dance in Sollentuna was at this event preceeded by a concert with the Boda-Bingsjö group. The audience at the concert was well attended. After the concert there was a pause for just over half an hour before the dance.

The dance floor was sluggish, despite attempts to improve it with coffee powder. At the beginning of the dance it was also crowded, but after a while there was more room for dance.

Hasse Svedbergs played on Maundy Thursday in Alvik. When the dance started it was both sparse with visitors and a sluggish dance floor. Both these matters were however improved after a while.

Hasse Svedberg brings mostly a feeling of joy. It seems as he enjoys playing to dance, and that this is infectious to the dancers. And so it was this evening.

There has previously been a few polskor on the dances with Örjansringen - the orchestras bring with them their repertoire. As Hasse Svedbergs normally also play modern music, there was this evening some modern dances as well.

Many of those dancing gammaldans also like dancing polska and modern dance. Probably there were some visitors this evening that were not that accustomed to foxtrot and tango, but that enjoyed trying some new dance steps.

When we arrived just before 8, there was a little queue at the entrance, a queue that lasted for a substantial part of the evening. Some of the visitors were visiting for the first time.

When the dance started the floor was very rough. After a while coffee powder was applied. After this the floor was ok for the rest of the evening.

As there was more visitors than usual, there was also less space on the dance floor, but it did not seriously affect the dancing.

At the coffee break there was a shortage of chairs and coffee cups, something that was solved by borrowing chairs from the stage and using paper-drinking cups. We also heard that the tickets were sold out, but that was just as good, because the date on the tickets for the next dance event was wrong.

The evening was ended far to soon, even though we got an extra hambo at the end, partly with solo music with mouth-organ. Wermdö Durspelare always seem to enjoy to play to dance, but I believe they looked even more happy this evening.

There are a few orchestras that I remember from when I started to dance, and that still are active. Norrtelje Elitkapell is one of those, and I still like listening to their music. Thus I was looking forward to an one hour long concert with them.

This evening the group contained four members. Three musicians altered between different instruments, Puma played nyckelharpa (hurdy-gurdy?).

The music contained polskor and gammaldans from Uppland, mixed with some melodies from Finland and USA. The instruments used were nyckelharpa, violin, guitar, double-bass, piano, clarinets, accordion and soprano saxophone.

As you can guess when knowing the instruments, the concert was a nice mix of traditional melodies with some with a more modern touch.

When the dance started there was less with people and good room for dance. The dance was mainly gammaldans, but mixed with slängpolskor and bondpolskor. When Edsbacka Spelmän were playing, there was also a few Boda- and Orsapolskor. Towards the end of the evening, Norrtelje Elitkapell were playing more of their early repertoire, and also one tango.

The evening is a nice memory, mainly due to the enjoyable music.

Svenska Ungdomsringen Östergötland, Östergötlands Spelmansförbund and Folkmusikföreningen in Linköping organized a dance event from Friday until Saturday. Due to logistic reasons we participated only in the Saturday evening activities.

This was the first time we visited the people's amusement park in Linköping. The park is beautifully situated just opposite to the old town in Linköping, and contains several very nice dance floors.

The main building is named Cupolen, and holds winter standard, with café, toilets and a large, gorgeous dancing floor, holding the same class as the best available in Stockholm. The floor is slightly lowered, and surrounded by tables and windows on both sides, and with a stage at the farther end. The ceiling contains a large number of weak lights in various colours, and with some pendent decorations.

On this floor Casanovas were playing modern music, with bugg and occasionally rock-'n'-roll.

Rotundan is a rather large dance floor. It is built-in but without any heating plant. The dance floor is excellent, with a central pillar and surrounded by tables. Among those playing here, we remember Öra spelmän, Falu Spelmanslag and Stockholms Spelmanslag.

'Logen' is an outdoor dance floor, however protected by a roof. It is relatively big and with a rather good floor. Here Kal-Kagges and Westlings spelmän were alternating.

The Yellow Pavilion had a nice, although when we were there rough, dance floor in the open, with a stage with a roof. We were told there were slängpolskor at the floor above. We did however only inspect the floor there before the dance had begun.

We did not visit Cupan, but understood that it was possible to dance there as well. In the evening this was used as a musicians' pub.

There was also dance below the main stage. According to the programme, it was used for disco dance for youth and children.

At the main stage Orsa Spelmän had a concert. We preferred to dance and did thus not visit that building.

For those still seeking something else, there was also a temporary dancing floor for the evening. Besides some small orchestras this place was mainly used for Argentinean tango.

With all these dancing possibilities, it was not possible to stay long at any place if everything should be covered. When the dance started at 6 only Öra were playing, and they played well. As most visitors then were attending the concert, it was good space on the floor. After that we visited Kal-Kagges, that seemed to alternate with one gammaldans and one briefly instructed joint dance. We enjoyed the dance when we visited this floor.

Falu Spelmanslag played as usually mainly polskor, e.g. pols and various polskor from Dalarna. Despite it was a cool evening it was rather hot to dance under the roof, so it was pleasant and fun to vary with some solo dance on open air dance floor, that for the time being was empty.

After a coffee break we danced some dances to Casanovas, among others a very enjoyable rock and jitterbug dance. When the breathing was back to normal we danced to Westlings, which as always is very pleasant. As entr'acte dance we choose Argentinean tango.

The evening was rounded up with some polskor with Stockholms Spelmanslag. If we had not to worry about the travel back to Stockholm, we would have been delighted to continue dancing.

Skansen had for the second time all-night open during the shortest night of the year, with modern dance in the evening and polskor with gammaldans beginning around midnight.

The modern dance music was from the 60's. When the dance started at 8 it was not many visitors on the dance floor. That is perhaps not surprising when the dance will go on all night. The dance was very enjoyable, and the audience increased all the time.

For us who do not want to stay awake all night the modern session was the main part of the dance.

After one hour without any dancing activities, there was an instruction of polska at Bollnästorget. The dancing floor was nicely decorated, with lighting all round.

Unfortunately there were some drops of rain just before midnight, making the floor rough and unpleasant.

Inside, in the barn, the dance started at the same time, with two fiddlers and one recorder. The room was crowded and the floor was very unpleasant. Despite the rough floor it was a pleasure to watch all the dancers, of all ages. It was as a picture of the dance from when I started to dance.

Although we felt that the dance almost had not started, we left the dance to catch the last ferry at 1. Possibly others can report from the reminding part of the dance.

I would like to thank Skansen for this nice event, and hope it will reappear in coming years.

There was at least two years since we last visited Hågelby. That was the reason to that we went to there this evening, despite the weather. It was cool and with some rain in the air. Fortunately there were no drops of rain on the dance floor, and it stayed slippery all evening.

Hågelby is a very beautiful park, and it is a very nice environment for dance during good weather conditions.

On Tuesdays the events contain some gammaldans - 2m + 1g before pause, 3m + 1g after. This means that for those liking gammaldans, it is slightly better than the Tuesday events at Skansen.

We were told by other dancers that it was considerably less visitors than usual this evening. As I like to have some space when dancing, I liked the size of the audience. Despite the weather it was a nice dance in a beautiful environment.

This Thursday was the first evening this summer without rain on the gammaldans event at Skansen. It is always nice to dance gammaldans at Bollnästorget in good weather with a dry dancing floor.

Lill-Stickans were playing, and, as previous summers, they played well. They explained during the dance that they like to play on Skansen, which we dancers also could feel.

There seem often to be less visitors at the gammaldans compared with the modern dance. That does not necessarily mean that the dance is less enjoyable.

I often find it difficult to dance on a full dance floor, and it is not necessarily easier to find nice people to dance with. On the Thursday evening there were both nice people to dance with, and enough with space for the dance.

After our holidays we were back to Skansen, both on the event with polskor on Wednesday and the gammaldans on Thursday. Both evenings were well attended, with good weather and enjoyable dance.

On Thursday Stockholms Spelmanslag were playing gammaldans. In the pause there were also dance with polskor from Jämtland.

I found the music better than expected.

At most events Stockholms Spelmanslag plays mainly polskor. They have now included a clarinet, which I appreciate in folk music.

Even though the gammaldans repertoire was almost too limited, and some of the melodies were played slightly too fast, the main impression was very good.

With good music, splendid weather, a smooth dancing floor and many to dance with, it was a nice evening in the early stages of the August dusk .

On Monday we visited a dance with Leif Kronlund, but did not stay for long. The main reason was that we found the dance floor too crowded. But we would also have preferred some more variation of the music, including some faster melodies.

On Tuesday we were back, and had a nice dance evening with mainly modern dance, with Dingtunas Spelmän playing.

Although the group played gammaldans each fourth melody, that is not their strength.The modern music they play however very nice, with a nice instrument mix, nice melodies and varied speed.

They also played some tango, and - as the only group I can remember - also one wiener-waltz. There was less visitors compared with the previous evening, which was appreciated, giving more room for dance.

We were was once again visiting a dance at the Hemmesta rural community centre, with Wermdö Durspelare playing. The floor was rough when the dance opened, but some coffee strewed over the floor improved the situation.

The music was as usually nice.

We appreciated also the finish family schottishe that we so far only have met here. As previously most visitors stayed until the dance ended.

Sigtuna Spelmän and Löpsjötorparn's opened the the autumn season with gammaldans. Outside it was very pleasant weather, sunny and warm.

Possibly this was the reason to that the number of visitors was less than usual. Those who had stayed at their summer places missed an enjoyable dance event, where both the orchestras contributed.

As usual the dance started with gammaldans for one and a half hour, with Sigtuna Spelmän who played many nice melodies.

Löpsjötorparn's then continued, and they played very nice, both the gammaldans and the modern dance.

During the dance one of those I danced with told me that Tage Öst no longer is a member of the orchestra.

Despite this they played very nice. On the gammaldans afterwards three musicians were playing accordion, and seemed to have as fun as we dancers. It was with tired legs we left the dance after four and a half hours' dance.

We visited this evening one of Danshuset's events, for the first time for quite some time. During the autumn they have had a few dances at the Music Museum. This floor has more space compared with those used previously. This evening Frifot, with Lena Willermark, Ale Möller and Per Gudmundsson, were playing.

When we arrived the dance had already started. Compared with most other dances described on this site, the audience was younger.

The music contained mainly of polskor, especially those with a fast second beat.

A few times other polskor were also played, as Rättvik and Bingsjö. There were also a few waltzes and one or two schottishe, stjults and slängpolska. To one of the slängpolskor almost everyone danced långdans.

Lena was singing to a few of the melodies. In the pause a couple of the youth people played, with similar repertoire.

The youth audience was very enthusiastic. Especially the fast polskor, such as pols. were appreciated. It was a nice evening, with skilled musicians, good dancing floor and youth public.

Westlings' gammaldans music, including their Bingsjö-polskor, must be considered as being among the best dance music available.

These musicians combine a smooth and enjoyable pacewith musicality and a nice repertoire. Westlings suites both those wanting to dance in accordance with tradition, and those who like to vary the dance.

When these musicians are playing at a place with an excellent floor, enough with space and with a public keen on dancing, the dance will with no doubt be great.

This evening I came to the dance alone, as Ellika had got a cold. The number of visitors was pretty good, and during the evening it was just one or two dances that I missed.

For those not preferring to have a coffee break at the pause, there was dance singing games, a Landskronakadrilj and finally family waltz and family schottishe.

By regularly visiting the water tap I was able to stay at power until the last hambo.

Slagsta Gille and GePe were playing on the last dance for the year on Mälarsalen. When Slagsta Gille started with a waltz at 5 pm, the group was larger (33 musicians) than the number of dancers. As usually this changed fairly soon, and the attendance was as usual. It is nice to dance to a large group of musicians. I heard also other dancers who expressed their appreciation.

When GePe later started the mixed dance (modern + gammaldans) they did so with melodies that in my ears seemed to be lately written.

During the evening they played also a few old hits, but the late music dominated. I found their gammaldans to be ok.

At 8 p.m. Lucia arrived. The very youth Lucia procession from the previous years was this time replaced by teenagers, that also got some more time for their appearances. Their songs were very beautiful, but I found it disturbing that the audience occasionally applauded between the songs.

As always, this event contained a lot of dance.

At last, with the Christmas holiday, we got colder weather, allowing for a small skating trip on the lakes. Despite this we had now a feeling that an involuntary dance pause at last was brought to an end.

This feeling seemed to be shared with many others! The dance floor at Aspnässkolan was full. We were told it was more attendees than previously this autumn. As a consequence the dance floor was crowded, influencing the dance.

But it is at the same time nice to see that evenings with only gammaldans still can please a numerous public.

Westlings music was as always very nice. Besides gammaldans there was also one Bingsjöpolska, one Bodapolska and one tango.

There was almost as tight on the dance floor when the dance ended at 11:30 pm.

When the year is on the way out, it is tradition to visit Örjansringen and the dance in Alvik. This year's edition was splendid. Leif-Billyz were playing, mostly gammaldans but also some polskor. The mazurka was played more frequently than what we are used to, but in easy pace, well suited for hambopolkett.

Probably it is the tradition from Sörmland with this dance that also have got the nicknames "gubbstöt" (old man's thrust) and "rumpedarra" (tremble from the back) that we got a taste of.

The floor was in the very beginning a little dull, but that feeling quickly disappeared when the dance started.

The number of visitors was probably about 200. Among these there were some old acquaintances, but also some new and some younger dancers.

In the pause it was traditionally danslekar for those not preferring to "fika" (coffee/tea pause). At the family waltz and family schottishe that always finish off this part of the dance, there were two full rings of dancers around the dancing floor.

We were on the dance floor from the first dance to the last. Despite this there were many old acquaintances I had not time to dance with. When we danced segla to the last waltz played in slow pace, I had a strong feeling of gratefulness for all the joy of dancing and nice memories experienced in Alvik.