Washington Island Scandinavian folk dancers win $30,000 grant for cultural trip to Norway

NEW YORK - The Washington Island Scandinavian Fest Dancers received quite the present for their 75th anniversary.

The group was named a winner of a $30,000 grant from the American-Scandinavian Foundation through the foundation's Scandinavian Folk Arts and Cultural Traditions program to help fund a summer cultural exchange trip to Norway.

Thirty dancers – high school- and college-age dancers who comprise the group's Couple Dancers and adults serving as chaperones – will visit the Valdres region of Norway from June 21 to 28 to learn and experience the cultural context and tradition of Scandinavian folk dancing. After they return, they will perform at the Trueblood Performing Arts Center on the Island and share what they learned with the community.

Based in New York, the American-Scandinavian Foundation was established in 1910 to foster cultural understanding between the U.S. and the Scandinavian countries of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland. The nonprofit organization offers a range of fellowships, grants, intern/trainee sponsorships, publishing and membership offerings related to its mission.

The Island dancers were one of nine public or community programs to receive a grant from the foundation, along with eight individual artists who won fellowships to study traditional Scandinavian folk art. The grant program, which began in 2017, is intended to "nurture the rich Scandinavian folk art traditions in the Upper Midwest (North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan) by deepening the skills of master artists, fostering long-term relationships among masters and apprentices, and enhancing the traditions’ visibility through public programs and community projects," according to a news release from the foundation.

Of course, the grant money is important to the Island group; Scandinavian Fest director and dance teacher Kari Gordon said the total cost of the trip is about $90,000 and fundraising is continuing.

But, Gordon also said they're honored that a relatively small organization such as the Island festival earned recognition alongside other, larger, nationally recognized organizations that won grants this year, such as the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis, the Nordic Center of Duluth (Minnesota) and the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah, Iowa.

"We're absolutely overjoyed, exhilarated," Gordon said to the Advocate, "just really, really humbled and excited to be in the company of these world-class organizations. To see our tiny Washington Island Scandinavian Fest Dancers on the list with all these great organizations was wonderful."

The dancing has been one of the highlights of the festival since it was first held in 1949, and Gordon said it's now become the main focus. The dance group covers a huge age range – a total of 162 dancers performed last year on the stage next to the Mosling Recreation Center, ranging from 1? years old to 90, with many of the elder dancers passing the tradition down to younger generations who go on to take part, too. Some families have had four generations dance with the group.

"A lot of people plan their summers around coming to the Island to rehearse with the group and perform with it," Gordon said.

When in Norway, the Island dancers will attend a national camp for Norwegian folk dance and music as well as meet and hopefully have a workshop with Frikar, an internationally touring dance company from Norway that Gordon described as "folk dance meets Cirque de Soleil."

They'll also have the chance to take part in workshops in traditional Scandinavian crafts, visit museums, tour the capital of Oslo for a day, hike in the mountains and learn about traditional Norwegian foods.

The cultural exchange also will feature a war of the s'mores.

Gordon said graham crackers aren't readily available in Norway, if at all, so Norwegians generally make their s'mores with Ritz crackers and claim the salted chocolate taste is great, if not better than the traditional version. So, the Islanders are bringing a supply of graham crackers to Norway for a country-vs.-country s'mores cookoff.

Besides sampling salty-sweet s'mores, Gordon said she hopes the teenage and college-age dancers heading to Norway learn to understand the native background of the Scandinavian heritage they put on display each August on the Island.

"Obviously, one of the things I want them to see is the Scandinavian culture we've been experiencing in the U.S., but to see it in its cultural context," she said. "They'll be able to see how the Norwegian folk costumes (are) created, the traditions behind it, instruments we don't have access to on the Island. I hope they'll bring that back and become the next generation of leaders."

Donations for the dancers' trip to Norway are accepted at Nicolet Bank branches in Door County; ask to give to the Washington Island Scandinavian Fest Dancers. For more information on the festival, visit the "Washington Island Scandinavian Fest" Facebook page.

Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or [email protected].

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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Door County Scandinavian dancers win grant for cultural trip to Norway