Authenticity Whose Tradition? Edited by László FELFÖLDI and Theresa J. BUCKLAND European Folklore Institute Budapest 2002 Sponsored by Ministry of Cultural Heritage of Hungary MINISTRY OF CULTURE. HERITAGE Edited by László FELFÖLDI and Theresa J. BUCKLAND Co-editor: Eszter CSONKA-TAKACS English revised by Peter SABBATH Copyright © European Folklore Institute, 2002 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means or transmitted or translated into machine language without the written permission of the publisher ISBN 963 202 704 3Click to buy NOW! P D F - X C H A N G E w w w . d o c u - t r a c k . c o mClick to buy NOW! P D F - X C H A N G E w w w . d o c u - t r a c k . c o m

Whose Dances, Whose Authenticity? Egil Bakka We have met here to discuss the phenomenon of revival and concepts like authenticity. We do not use the notion of revival in Norwegian, but we rather speak about the organized folk dance movement as opposed to popular tradition. For me, the important distinction to make about dances and their longevity is between 1) dances staying alive because of their own strength and popularity and 2) dances being consciously cultivated, taught and sustained by a desire to preserve, nurture or utilize. Dances in the former category were typical to Norwegian traditional rural society, where there was no systematic teaching and hardly any clearly formulated ideas about keeping old dances alive. Dances in the latter category are typical of the folk dance revival or the organized folk dance movement. This distinction is not difficult, but it gives us a point of departure. Felix Hoerburger coined the concept Das Erste Dasein, meaning the "first existence," as opposed to second existence (Hoerburger 1986). In the Nordic countries several similar concepts have been defined and used, distinguishing dance as a normal part of traditional society from dance within the revival movements (Klein 1927;BAKKA 1970; Sjöberg 1988 and Biskop 1990). At the twentieth Symposium of the ICTM Study Group on Ethnochoreology in Istanbul 1998, Andryi Nahachewsky discussed and criticized some of these concepts. I do not intend to go into any discussion, but I want to point out that such a distinction is the basis for our topic. I have chosen one question I want to focus on in this presentation: Who is in control of the dances in the revival context, and which strategies of control are being implemented? Is the concept authentic a weapon in the battle for control over dance material or is it a neutral standard for measuring certain qualities of dances within a revival context? We, the ethnochoreologists, are in the middle of this, and I will try to sketch a map of the situation in Norway primarily for the purpose of comparison. The underlying question is: What are our roles as field workers, researchers, writers, activists and dance teachers? Through examples, I will try to show how different kinds of people have different objects in their work with folk dances. First of all, moving the social, participatory dances into new contexts requires adaptations to the new environment. I give you some key words for the most important new contexts: -presentations at contests - organized teaching activities - cultivation and training in specialized clubs - themes in research and education Presentations tend to encourage enhancements, such as the inclusion of impressive, stylistic and popular elements. Organized teaching tends to systematize, place elements in fixed order, and standardize step patterns, while it discourages variation and individuality. Clubs often wish to make their dances stand out and different from similar dances in other clubs. Therefore, common elements are left out and distinctive elements are emphasized. Research and education may view the dances in a distant, critical perspective that can diminish direct and enthusiastic engagement. Generally, in its beginning at the start of the twentieth century, the entire revival movement was clearly influenced by the wish for disciplining the body, making movements considered crude more harmonious. It encouraged the noble, disciplined movements of ballet, gymnastics and military drill over the spontaneous, personal and expressive movements often dominating traditional dancing. 61Click to buy NOW! P D F - X C H A N G E w w w . d o c u - t r a c k . c o mClick to buy NOW! P D F - X C H A N G E w w w . d o c u - t r a c k . c o m

This is going to be a rather personal excursion into questions on strategies for control and authority on the Norwegian folk dance scene. These questions will be related to identity. My presentation is primarily based on interaction with individuals and their expressed opinions, but while writing this I felt it was not appropriate to pin down the individuals as much as I first intended to. I should have asked their permission and I portrayed each of them more than I can here. Therefore, my presentation will deal with the opinions of dancers in different communities. But who am I, the one presenting and instigating this discussion that is just surfacing? I will somehow make myself the first portrait: I was born in the countryside, on a farm. From the very beginning I spoke a dialect and knew the ways of a rural environment. Thus, I was clearly an insider. However, there was neither a folk music nor folk dance heritage to learn from in my home community, and there was not any local understanding for identifying with and absorbing folk dance and music traditions. This was so, even though I was later told that my grandfather, who died 5 years before I was born, played melodies on the willow flute, and that our neighbor of the same generation danced springar, the old couple dance, in weddings in the 1920's. This dance, which I later learned, became a very prestigious heritage item within the revival movement. I started dancing in the local folk dance group, doing a national repertoire of dances selected for being suitable in the youth clubs. These dances were partly choreographed, and they were rather untypical for the Norwegian dance tradition in general. Folk music and folk dance was a national phenomenon belonging to other regions, and the idea that we might have our own did not even strike us. We were users of selected national material, and when I met the heirs, people who presented their inherited local material, I realized that they were different from us in many respects. User and heir are concepts I coined for our Nafplion Symposium, so I will briefly mention them now. Then I will identify three basic attitudes towards revival and the dance heritage. 62 A person with the heir attitude considers himself having inherited his or her dances from close family or neighbors. The users are not so emotionally involved with material from their region, and first of all want to use dances for their pleasure or some other purpose. The researcher's attitude does not necessarily belong to people conducting research, but to people whose main concern is that the revival renders a truthful depiction of the past (Bakka 1994). The heirs did not count users as much, and I never became a full member of the heirs' camp even if there could have been possibilities. Here I was clearly an outsider, and in some ways my university education made me become even more so. The Rff Center After several years of fieldwork and completing my education, I was given the responsibility of establishing a resource center to support the folk dance and folk music revival movements. I started cooperating with local dancers and dance instructors in my fieldwork. They, in turn, wanted to learn the dances we collected, and through a try-and-fail method I developed a strategy for bringing collected dance material back to its region of origin. I invited a few local dancers to our institution, and analyzed and transcribed the dances from film, making descriptions of them with the locals. At the same time we started practicing the most challenging elements of the dances so that we all learned to perform what we had analyzed. Later I went to the region to give a course and help my visitors become instructors. In this way-basing our work in material collected through field work (which in most cases could only be found in our institute), using research methods to analyze the material and then passing it on to others though education-our institute came to influence the folk dance movement substantially. Because of this, our influence obviously could be very threatening to other agents in the field. The classical situation, which we all know, is the following: A researcher has documented 63Click to buy NOW! P D F - X C H A N G E w w w . d o c u - t r a c k . c o mClick to buy NOW! P D F - X C H A N G E w w w . d o c u - t r a c k . c o m

traditional dancing and is both delighted by its unique qualities and shocked by its striking differences to the revival. But as soon as he presents his findings he will provoke the people of the revival and they will make him their bitter enemy. Let us leave this topic for a while and meet other people of the revival. To pay for dances-Tovdal I would like to start this presentation with a memory from my early fieldwork period. It was the summer 1967, and I was a lone student learning fieldwork the hard way. This was my second summer of fieldwork, but the first summer I could record my findings onto film. Throughout the summer I had persuaded some 100 dancers in different communities to dance for me. Some of them were happy that their dances were rescued from oblivion in this way, while others, feeling that they were too old to dance or that they would ruin their reputation, were reluctant. Then I was told about Tovdal, a small narrow valley, where they danced springar. Magne Velure, my driver and companion that summer, could not come with me on this trip. Thus, I went by bus, and contrary to my usual practice, had to make appointments on the phone. When I talked to the dancer I had been referred to, I was totally taken by surprise. He was very friendly, but he firmly told me that I would have to pay him and his partner in order to film them. He wanted to be paid not for their time, but for the dance, which he considered very valuable. Perhaps he thought I would exploit my film recordings in commerce. Such a demand for payment, have never happened to me before. I had paid musicians for their services, and I had paid the travel expenses for dancers. But, to pay for dances? Both his demands and my surprise reveal the situation and the attitudes. For the first time I was faced with people claiming ownership of their dances. It was of course problematic, but simultaneously thrilling to see such an appreciation of traditional dance. 64 In the end we solved the problem. I eventually filmed the dances, and since then I have worked with the Tovdal dancers on several occasions. Even younger generations of Tovdal dancers have wanted to protect the dances as their particular heritage, fearing that people from other parts of the county, particularly from the central town, would "steal", their dances. And I would have to say that their fears are probably quite justified. The Tovdal people considered me an ally in their work. They did not feel like giving their neighbors in the same county, particularly those from the folk dance group of the major town, full and free access to their dance material. The people from the folk dance groups were invited to come and learn, but they were neither given the documentation nor the descriptions of the dances. In this way the locals wanted to prevent them from teaching the dances and thereby from gaining full control over them. The Tovdal people saw that among the outsiders there were more experienced dance teachers and people who could invest time and resources to become better trained performers of the dances than the Tovdal people themselves might. So they cut a deal with me as field worker and researcher to keep others at a distance from the material, and thus to remain in control. However, one may fear that they are not enough in number to keep their dances alive. Perhaps cooperation with the whole county would have helped them and strengthened their cause. But the problem for them was how they could stay in control, remaining the rightful heirs. Telemark: the county where peasants threw out the tax collectors The county of Telemark has always been considered a stronghold of traditions. It is a county with a large number of communities with a strong dance heritage. Revival enterprises like organized teaching and competitions started here, and they seem to have influenced dancing in general. The borders between popular tradition and revival are consequently somewhat blurred. 65Click to buy NOW! P D F - X C H A N G E w w w . d o c u - t r a c k . c o mClick to buy NOW! P D F - X C H A N G E w w w . d o c u - t r a c k . c o m

Hardly anywhere else in Norway is the feeling of being heirs to tradition stronger. The dancers of Telemark do not seem to fear losing control of their dances to the dancers from other regions and to dancers of the capital city. There are several strong dance groups and the locals do not seem to object that outsiders learn and teach the dances. Their line of defense goes against documentation and research. In a report from a dance seminar, influential dancers have questioned the work of outside researchers, such as our institution, who film their dances, offer feedback on how their dances should be done, and thus steal the dances by taking control of them (Romtveit 1991). It is easy to understand their fears of outside experts, and it is probably true that expert opinions are more dangerous to local control here than the opinions of competing folk dancers. Our institution carefully tries to keep a low profile in any kind of opinions and advice, unless asked. Nordfjord - internal rivalry Nordfjord is one of the three oldest regions of the county, and it has a distinct type of springar that is rather different from springars in the neighboring regions. The region did not have any widespread, revived version of the springar in the 1960's and 70's. Only one couple from Nordfjord, who had learned the dance from their elders, presented such a dance at the competitions (kappleik). They presented their dance as the one and only correct Nordfjord springar. For some reason they did not seem to recruit younger people who wanted to learn the dance. Already in 1967, my fieldwork companion and I documented this couple. At the time, we did not find any other dancers of springar in their community, but some years later I documented quite a lot of traditional dancers in other communities of the region. Interested dancers borrowed film documentation from other communities in order to learn a springar version from Nordfjord for revival purposes. They made several attempts and even though they did not seem to succeed, the dancer of the Nordfjord springar heard about 66 the attempts to establish a new version of the Nordfjord springar and did not like it at all. He wrote critical articles in the local newspaper saying that there was only one correct Nordfjord springar, the one he learned and established. The battle for control took the form of defending the one and only regional springar, and the rivals were internal competitors who threatened the monopoly of the established dancers. In the middle of 1980's a group of people came to our center to do a systematic analysis and transcription. A new version of springar from Nordfjord was established and presented. The problem of the earlier version was solved by saying that the two versions represented different commu,nities of the region. Dance pilgrimage to Roros, the mountain mining town The old couple dances of Norway (called regional dances) are generally danced mostly by dancers from their region of origin. Dancers of course move and take their dances with them, so several regional dances are even cultivated in some of our biggest cities. However, one regional dance known as the pols from Røros has been adopted by most Norwegian folk dancers throughout the second part of the twentieth century. This has affected its status both negatively and positively. Røros is a mining town situated on a mountain plateau, and a particular version of the couple dance pols (polish dance) seems to have originated in this town. However, the version can be found in large rural districts both south and north, and west of the town as well. At the Røros fair which is held in February every year, the pols has become one of the main attractions. Every day at the fair there is dancing at noon in one of the community houses in accordance with old practices, and the pols at Røros is one of our regional dances which has stayed alive longest more or less independently from the support of revival. activities. For folk dance enthusiasts even from other Nordic countries, it is a sort of pilgrimage to go to Røros to dance with the 67Click to buy NOW! P D F - X C H A N G E w w w . d o c u - t r a c k . c o mClick to buy NOW! P D F - X C H A N G E w w w . d o c u - t r a c k . c o m

locals at the noon dances of the fair. The locals generally enjoy the success of their dance, and travel the world teaching. There are hardly any strong defense lines, and most folk dancers of Norway know the Røros pols. Outside dancers may win the national contest, and outside teachers may teach. As long as the town and the surrounding region keep their fame, the defense seems to be maintained. But I think defense lines against outside teachers and outside contest winners could easily emerge. Summary In Norway local people throughout the country look at the regional dances as a heritage that they want to control. They want to define what are authentics version and they want to have the privilege of teaching their dances. They consider themselves the most competent, and they want to win contests showing what the dances should really look like. Lines of defense are drawn and battles arise between individual insiders, between inside and outside dancers, and between inside and outside researchers. As an ethnochoreologist with the responsibility of aiding the revival, I find it challenging to relate to a wide spectrum of interests and objects. Experience has taught me that I can solve unnecessary internal battles about who has the one correct version by showing that different versions can be accepted as alternatives. I have realized that disagreement between insider and outsider interests are very delicate, but that I usually find it more reasonable to support the insiders who supplied the available material. I have also learned to keep clear of the defense lines of insiders towards researchers. I find it is my role to collect and keep information available, but unnecessary to offer information that is not requested. I think it will be of great value for people in the future to be able to reestablish dances from popular tradition in the most faithful way possible. But this does not mean that I have any right or reason to disrespect the lines of oral and visual-kinetic transmission, which even takes place between individuals within a local revival setting. There is also no reason for me to fight adapted forms that may also be transmitted through strong personal relations. We can also ask if the process of direct transmission locally is as valuable and important as the dance itself. Authenticity may very often turn into the question of whose authenticity. REFERENCES BAKKA , E. 1970. Danse, danse lett utpå foten. Folkedansar og songdansar. Oslo: Noregs Boklag, 1-206. -. 1994. "Heir, User or Researcher. Basic Attitudes within Norwegian Revival Movement." Anonymous Proceedings 17th Symposium of the Study Group on Ethnochoreology 1992. Dance in its Socio-Political Aspects. Dance and Costume, 117126. BISKOP, G. 1990. Folkdans inom folkdansrörelsen-folklig dans? Helsingfors: Finlands Svenska Folkdansring rf. HOERBURGER, F. 1986. "Volkstanz." In Hans Eichiner and Thomas Emmerig (Hrsg.) Anonymous Volksmusikforschung. Aufsätze and Vorträge 1953-1984 über Volkstanz and instrumentale Volksmusik. Zum 70. Geburtstag des Verfassers am 9. Dezember 1986. Laaber: Laaber-Verlag, 11-16. KLEIN, E. 1927. "Folkdans" och folklig dans. Hävd och Hembygd 1935. ROMTVEIT, H. 1991. "Referat frå dansedialektseminar i Vinje." Spelemannsbladet 50: 22-23. SJÖBERG, H. 1988. "Folkdans-folklig dams?" Anonymous Artiklar under 25 år, et urval. Samarbetsnämnden för Folklig Dans. Stockholm: Södermanlands Spelmansförbund, 13-22. 69Click to buy NOW! P D F - X C H A N G E w w w . d o c u - t r a c k . c o mClick to buy NOW! P D F - X C H A N G E w w w . d o c u - t r a c k . c o m

Click to buy NOW! P D F - X C H A N G E w w w . d o c u - t r a c k . c o mClick to buy NOW! P D F - X C H A N GE w w w . d o c u - t r a c k . c o m