Structure and Meaning in a Norwegian Couple Dance

Abstract

The term Valdres-sprinyar refers to a traditional couple dance from the mountain valley region of Valdres, located in central South Norway. From the national point of view the Valdres-springar is today considered to be a 'dialect' of dancing within the genre of sprinyar dances known to be in 3/4 meter. In turn this category is part of the genre of folk-dances called byydedans (lit. countrsr dance), consisting also of dances conventionally described to be in 2/4 and 6/8 meters: ganyar, rqxll, halliny/la?s. Taken together these dances are viewed as the indigenous or national dances of Norway as opposed to the historically younger 'waltz-polka comples' of the 19th (Sentury called gammaldans (lit. old dance). The classification of the 'Valdres-springar' as a single dance dialect overlooks the a rangie of individual as well as local varieties in form and style of performances. This is due to the fact that dancers within the region respond in synchrony to the springar music, i.e. making homologous metricaUl inferences of the fiddlers performances, and that they, in spitn of differences in sequences of cooperational interchanges within couples, still have no difficulty in maintaining the ring formation. By implication, dancers of the region must shars some basic structural knowledga in order to attain the necessary degree of coordination and coop3ration. In contrast the Valdres dancars find it difficult to aUttain synchronization and cooperation with dancers from surrounding districts. This exp3rience, along with dialectal features of speech and costumes, seetn to reenforce their sense of loca.l cultural unity and sha.ring. It is possible for the trained observar to show that the various loca.l varieties of couple dances within the genre of bygdedanser have a series of common characteristics: