Norwegian Dance: Springdans fra Romsdal

Springdans fra Romsdal (or Romsdalspringar) is a traditional dance from the Romsdal area in Møre og Romsdal province, Norway. Here it is being danced at Norway’s national folk music and dance competition, NM i Folkemusikk 2009 (which combined Landskappleiken and Landsfestivalen) by Palmer and Kerstin Løkseth. Springdans from Romsdal has a slightl asymmetrical beat in three. This beat and the steps are specific to the Romsdal area of Norway, yet there are some characteristics of the dance shared with dances such as Sunnmørespringar (Springar fra Sunnmøre) to the south and Rørospols to the east. In fact, some tunes for Springdans from Romsdal are, in essence, pols tunes that have a lengthened first beat. The Løkseths are “Class A“ Springdans fra Romsdal dancers, which means that they have won top scores dancing this particular dance in the “Class B“ (Open/Adult) division in two separate years. The tune being played is called ““Ungdom på åtti (Teenager/Youth at 80 Years)“ and is played on standard fiddle by Inge Godtland. Godtland composed the tune to honor the 80th birthday of a well-known fiddler from Romsdal, Olav. P. Hjelvik.