Fantastic Folk Festival Fun

Over the weekend I went with the folk dance group to Ransäterstämman. One of the others told me he was surprised to see me there since usually the foreigners don't invest in a full weekend of dancing. I'm all dedication. And gladly so! The weekend was filled with amazing dancing, and spectacular music, and beautiful weather, and lovely camping, and a freezing river. I borrowed such a great green ridge tent. It did rain a bit on Saturday, and the tent held up wonderfully. Also, across the river there was a pasture with cows and apparently it is mating season, so those cows were making a lot of loud calls to each other at really early times of the day.

The dance was held at the Ransäter Homestead, and such a great little homestead it was! There were always plenty of little packs of musicians playing in every spot you could find. I never took any photos during the busier times, because I was plenty occupied with dancing or watching concerts. I just had to take a photo of that one sweet couple who was playing though. I danced to their music at least three different times throughout the weekend, and I was told that they show up every year. The last two dance photos show the inside dancers and the outside dancers who were listening to the music and trying to teach/learn the basic dance steps. 

Each evening the dancing started at about 6pm, and then it continued until past the sunrise. It was really nice to be dancing and having it get darker and darker and then start to get lighter and lighter. I've never experienced a summer at such a high latitude. The full night of twilight is quite surreal. 

On one of the evenings at 2am, one of the most popular Swedish folk bands started playing. Often in the dance halls the music was done by a playlist where anyone could sign up. I had been told that sometimes the big musicians will sign up using pseudonyms just to surprise the dancers. I was never checking any lists since I don't know any of the bands yet, so if it was a surprise that MP3 was playing, the word sure spread fast. The musicians were so super amazing, and the dance floor was completely packed. 

Lastly, because I'm really good at the internet, I'll include some items that I found on the web.

(My fame and glory starts at about 00:28 (looks like just walking, but I promise, it is dancing).)

I found some really great photos on this blog, and I am 99% convinced that I am in this photo (dancing with the tall guy in the white t-shirt who is a fellow philochoros dancer).