ARTISTIC DIRECTOR'S NOTES
By Mikkel Thompson
We have the dance and music group from Ålesund coming to stay with us from 3 - 8 July 2001. There is a commitment from 32 of them to travel here. They will have a one hour presentation. They are four people on Hardingfele, one on Trekkspill and 22 dancers.
5 people age 10-12 years, 7 people 14-18 years, 3 people 20-25 years 13 people 40-53 years, 1person 66 years old.
We are planning for them to experience the American 4th of July, maybe some wine tasting and Great America. They will have concerts at Nordahl Hall on Friday the 6th and Viking Hall in Santa Cruz on Sun 8th, all day workshops in dance for adults, dance for children and musicians, (concert?) and dance party at the Masonic Hall in Mountain View on Sat. 7th.
Egil and I are organizing and several others are helping like Ellen and Anita. If you are willing to help with any part of there trip here from hosting in your home, driving them to events and picking up at the airport, sight seeing, etc. please let Mikkel or Egil know, from a few hours to a day to the whole five days. When we travel to Norway it is so nice to be treated so well and I would like to show that in return to them.
We have many fun events coming up every week in May, our busiest month of the year. June has a performance every weekend. The Barneleikarring is encouraged to come to Barnesdag at Fort Mason on the 20th of May, Santa Cruz for the Midsummer celebration on the 17th and Midsummer celebration in Ferndale in Northern California on the 30th. We usually camp out for the weekend. We are planning a big two hour concert in Reno Nevada on the 6th of Oct in the afternoon in a four hundred seat amphitheater sponsored by the Daughters of Norway and Sons of Norway. This will be like a home concert. Would you like to present a home concert here in the Bay Area in Oct or Nov. since you will have polished the performance for Reno? This could be a good way to earn some much needed money for rent and costumes and our proposed AmeriKappleik tour to Northfield, MN and Decorah, IA in July/August of 2002. Please set aside the last week of July and the first week of August for this Leikarring, Barneleikarring and Spelemannslag tour. More details in the next polsnus. Check information on the HFAA web page, "www.hfaa.org". I will be teaching this August at the HFAA workshop at St. Olaf College Aug. 9 - 12, 2001. They will have teachers on hardingfele and dans from Telemark.
Please check out your costumes for Norway Day on May 5 and 6, so that when we perform we can look like a team or dance group. We all have different costumes and bunads, except for the kids, and we all need to wear our white shirts and blouses, men's knickers and white socks, women's black slips and black tights. It is a high stage and they can see up under the skirt and there may be a wind on the outdoor stage. With everyone having a few things alike there will be a continuity to the presentation.
I will be riding in the TRAM, The Ride Across America, again this Summer in July. It is a 300 mile bicycle ride across the state to raise money for MS. It is for a good cause and 100% of the money pledged goes to research and to aid those afflicted with the disease, I will be riding with my father, brother Jay, nephew Alex who traveled to Norway this last summer, his sisters and several friends. We will ride as a team called the "Easy Riders" in the memory of my cousin, Michele, who died from complications of the disease. If you would pledge some money (it is a tax deductible donation) I would greatly appreciate the help. A lump sum or so much a mile. $3, 20, 30, 100, 300? Mange takk. Helsing, Mikkel
