7 quick takes, 1 track mind

- 1 - 

Last night there was a most amazing folk dance. There was a concert first, with the band Bjäran. They were tons of fun and very high energy. Then there was a small break and then dancing. And after they played the spelmanslag (large group of folk musicians) from the student nation where the dance was held played more dance tunes.

- 2 - 

The Swedish word for tune is låten.

sista låten = sad time of night

- 3 - 

And if you are a person who hates bananas, you can eat an avocado and get so much potassium! Potassium is a great post-workout thing. So there is that.

- 4 - 

I also asked my dance teacher to dance! I usually get pretty nervous dancing with people who I know are much better dancers (because if something doesn't go quite right, it is far more likely that I am the cause). In the class usually the two instructors dance with each other to demonstrate, or if they dance with us, it is with the people who need the most help. I am glad to not be the person needing the most help (especially since all the instruction is in Swedish, so then I'd feel really bad for slowing down the progress of the class) but at the same time, I'd also like the privilege of dancing with the pros (they don't actually get paid, and also, I have danced with the other instructor). Anyhow. I really enjoyed dancing with him. He knew a lot of good tricks:)

- 5 - 

There is one really big difference (to me) between contra dancing and Swedish folk dancing. In contra dancing, generally you change partners for every dance, and often you try to dance with a new person for each dance. In Swedish folk dance, this is not the case, and I can't quite figure out what the case actually is. Someone once told me that usually you dance two dances with a person before changing. And some bands will play two of the same type of tune (aka two waltzes in a row or whatever) to facilitate this. Whatever the case may be, I always feel a little awkward to be the one to decide that I'm not going to dance another one with the person I was just dancing with. So usually this means I dance many dances with only a few people throughout the night. Oh I wonder if the person who asks is supposed to be the person to call it quits?! Maybe this is where I am going wrong!

- 6 - 

In dancing I usually prefer to follow rather than lead, but lately I've been trying to not avoid leading. In our class on Monday I led a waltz for the first time, and it started out shaky, but it was a really valuable lesson for me.

- 7 -

I've been telling a friend of a friend who is interested in dance about these events. At the dance in January we were talking about the dancing that we each have done. And he asked me if I've ever thought about organizing a contra dance here. The answer is: Yes. I'm just a little hesitant because there is a lot that would need to go into that. Most importantly I'd have to do a lot of practice with calling. Because I'd hate for someone to get a negative opinion of contra dancing due to bad calling. I must admit, it would be pretty interesting to program an evening of dancing for a group of people who know folk dance, but not contra dance in particular.

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