OTHER NAMES
Calle Schewens waltz - a recommended recordingBACKGROUND:
Noted Scandinavian folk dance researcher Gordon E. Tracie documented this simple pattern waltz among the Scandinavian communities of the Pacific Northwest of the United States. In 1938, Gordon investigated Scandinavian dance in Europe and found that this dance had not been done in Sweden for some 50 years. An older couple told him that they danced a similar waltz in their youth in Dalarna, Sweden as Norsk Vals. He found, however, that the dance was entirely unknown in Norway.
Gordon presented the dance to American folk dancers at the 1953 Stockton Folk Dance Camp and published additional information in 1962 with his series of Aqua Viking phonograph records. Ralph Piper published Gordon's version and another version in his 1954 book. The dance Gordon described remains popular among the various Scandinavian groups in the Pacific Northwest.
RECORDINGS
Aqua Viking 803, 807, and 810: Swedish waltz or Scandinavian WaltzFORMATION
Couples in a circle, all facing CCW around the room, woman to man's right. Join inside hands, man's right holding woman's left hand shoulder-high. Keep free hands on hips, and dance gracefully throughout.SOURCES
Folk dance Camp 1953 (Syllabus), p.6.| Measure | Count | Step | ||
| 1. Step-swing ("Dal" step) and solo turns. Start at the beginning of any 8-bar phrase | ||||
| 1 | Pushing joined hands forward to turn slightly away from partner, step in place onto outside (man's L; woman's R) foot. | |||
| 2-3 | Swing inside foot diagonally forward and across outside foot, raising and lowering inside heel, or touch toe of outside foot beside inside foot. | |||
| 2 | Pulling joined hands backward to turn slightly toward from partner, step in place onto inside foot. | |||
| 2-3 | Swing outside foot diagonally forward and across inside foot, raising and lowering outside heel, or touch toe of inside foot beside outside foot. | |||
| 3-4 | Let go of hands and turn once while progressing CCW around the room, man turning CCW and woman turning CW, with 6 steps in waltz rhythm or 2 traveling waltz steps (cts 1,2,3,1,2,3). End facing parnter. Finish the turns early to allow yourself time to meet your partner and take the "old fashioned" shoulder-waist position or the more contemporary ballroom position. | |||
Contemporary ballroom position: Man places his R hand on woman's L waist. Woman places her L hand on man's R shoulder. Man's L hand holds woman's R hand comfortably out to side, about shoulder-high, with arms rounded a bit.
Useless obfuscation: Some say the turns of bars 3-4 may be replaced by 6 steps forward and CCW around the room in waltz rhythm. Seems to me this might cause collisions unless everyone were to do it. Some describe a tricky shortcut to the second waltz step of the solo turns.
| 5-8 | 3. Couple turn. In shoulder-waist or ballroom position: Dance 4 turning waltz steps, turning CW as a couple and progresing CCW around the room. Man starts back onto L foot; woman starts forward onto R foot. |
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"Backward" bar: step diagonally back to L onto L foot, turning CW (ct 1), still turning CW, step beside L foot onto R foot (ct 2), still turning CW, step in place onto L foot (ct 3).
"Forward" bar: step diagonally forward to R onto R foot, turning CW (ct 1), still turning CW, step beside R foot onto L foot (ct 2), still turning CW, step in place onto R foot (ct 3).
Styling note: In the olden days, couples would use shoulder-waist position for the couple turn and sway toward the stepping foot during the lilt lost in the contemporary style of ballroom position.
More useless obfuscation: Some say to spin the woman once CW under the man's L arm during bar 8. Seems to me that if you like your partner, the waltz is short enough as it is!
Repeat bars 1-8 to the end of the music.RALPH PIPER'S OTHER SWEDISH WALTZ FROM HIS 1954 BOOK. Formation and Introduction as above.
1. Open waltz.| 1-4 | Dance forward and CCW around the room with 4 traveling waltz steps. Finish the open waltz figure a bit early to allow yourself time to meet your partner and take ballroom position for the next figure. Traveling waltz (1 step per bar): Step forward onto outside foot (ct 1), step forward onto inside foot, but not as far as during count 1 (ct 2), step forward onto outside foot, but not as far as during count 1 (ct 3). Continue this "long-short-short" pattern, alternating feet. A slight dip during each count 1 provides a waltz lilt to the step. You may also push the joined hands a bit forward and turn a bit away from partner during odd-numbered bars and pull the joined hands back and turn a bit toward partner during even-numbered bars. |
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| 5-8 | Dance 4 turning waltz steps, turning CW as a couple and progressing CCW around the room. Man starts back onto L foot; woman starts forward onto R foot. Release handhold a bit early to resume the dance from the beginning. Repeat bars 1-8 to the end of the music. |
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End of Swedish Waltz
These notes are ©2000 by Ron Houston of The Society of Folk Dance Historians and are reprinted with his permission.