Fall Fest 2018 was Nov 9–11
We had a fabulous party Saturday night with a huge allspel featuring Hale Bill and the Bopps, our regular Scandi Band, and special guests. The family waltz (familievals) brought out plenty of smiles. (Click on photos to view)
Program
Festivities begin with a special concert!
Friday, Nov 9, 7:30 pm: Concert featuring Hale Bill and the Bopps from Seattle - First United Methodist Church, 203 S. 200 East, SLC, UT 84111 - This historic and beautiful church sanctuary and organ have recently been restored! - $10; doors open at 7:00 pm - Free parking available in church lot, enter from 200 East on south side of church; - more free parking in lot on corner across 200 East; - metered street parking available on 200 East and 200 South. - See guest bios and venue maps below. |
Workshops, Dinner and Party will all be at the E.W. Garbett Center for Choral Arts,
700 N 200 West, SLC, UT 84103 Dance on the new floors, installed Spring of 2017! Full package, $110: Concert, Workshops, Scandinavian Dinner. A la carte pricing available, see preregistration form. Folk dance instruction by Bill Gooch and Meg Mabbs from Tennessee. Musicians from the Bopps will share music instruction and dance accompaniment. *Music instruction will include sessions for hardingfele and regular (flat) fiddle. |
Friday, Nov 9
- 3:00–4:30 pm: Advanced dance workshop: Polska från Orsa
- 7:30 pm: Concert at First Methodist Church
Saturday, Nov 10
Dance Workshop
- 9:30 am–12 noon: Introduction to Bakmes och Slängpolsk från Övre Klarälvsdalen
- 1:30–4:00 pm: Continuation of morning session
Music Workshop
- 9:30–12 noon: Flat fiddle instruction (all instruments welcome)
- 1:30–4:00 pm: Concurrent Flat fiddle and hardanger fiddle (hardingfele) sessions
- 4:15–5:30 pm: Allspel
6:00 pm: Scandinavian Dinner, catered by Brenda Goodwin ($16; must preregister by Oct 31)
Mail your check to Scandi Fest, Attn. Bonnie, 5072 E Quad Road, SLC, UT 84108
6:30–8:00 pm: Swedish Store, various goodies including chocolate, candy, crackers, lingonberry and other jams and cheeses.
7:30 pm: Grand March and Dance Party featuring Hale Bill and the Bopps. Free admission.
Sunday, Nov 12
Dance and Music Workshop sessions continue:
- 12:00 noon–1:45 pm: Joint Review (with package only)
- 2:15–4:00 pm: Advanced dance session, we will review a few dances that were taught here at previous Scandi Fests.
- 4:00 pm: Fall Fest concludes
Preregistration is open! Please share the registration form and poster with friends!
- 3:00–4:30 pm: Advanced dance workshop: Polska från Orsa
- 7:30 pm: Concert at First Methodist Church
Saturday, Nov 10
Dance Workshop
- 9:30 am–12 noon: Introduction to Bakmes och Slängpolsk från Övre Klarälvsdalen
- 1:30–4:00 pm: Continuation of morning session
Music Workshop
- 9:30–12 noon: Flat fiddle instruction (all instruments welcome)
- 1:30–4:00 pm: Concurrent Flat fiddle and hardanger fiddle (hardingfele) sessions
- 4:15–5:30 pm: Allspel
6:00 pm: Scandinavian Dinner, catered by Brenda Goodwin ($16; must preregister by Oct 31)
Mail your check to Scandi Fest, Attn. Bonnie, 5072 E Quad Road, SLC, UT 84108
6:30–8:00 pm: Swedish Store, various goodies including chocolate, candy, crackers, lingonberry and other jams and cheeses.
7:30 pm: Grand March and Dance Party featuring Hale Bill and the Bopps. Free admission.
Sunday, Nov 12
Dance and Music Workshop sessions continue:
- 12:00 noon–1:45 pm: Joint Review (with package only)
- 2:15–4:00 pm: Advanced dance session, we will review a few dances that were taught here at previous Scandi Fests.
- 4:00 pm: Fall Fest concludes
Preregistration is open! Please share the registration form and poster with friends!
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Write SaltLakeScandDance@gmail.com with any questions.
Guest Instructors and Musicians
Bill Gooch and Meg Mabbs spent many years dancing before meeting each other at a Scandinavian dance and music week in West Virginia. The past twenty-five plus years have not changed their need for and joy in dancing. They lead weekly the Trollkretsen Scandinavian Dancers in Knoxville, Tennessee sharing their love of Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish village and old time dancing. They have studied, danced and taught these dances throughout the US. Study trips to Scandinavia have allowed them to experience the dances in their natural surroundings and develop a great appreciation of the dance and music culture of Norway and Sweden.
Meg has participated in the administration of the east coast Scandinavian music and dance camp since 1986 and was a founding director of Nordic Fiddles and Feet (2001). As such she was instrumental in developing the singing program for NFF. She is a retired piano teacher with outstanding music pedagogy training and experience who enjoys guiding individuals towards dance and music success. Bill furthered his quest to learn more and more about Norwegian and Swedish ethnic dancing by describing the dances in written form as a means both of learning the dances and of remembering the elements that play such a large role in bringing these dances to life. His 167 Swedish dance descriptions appear in a book called Glad i att dansa, which has attracted owners in the USA, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Italy, Britain, Australia, and Japan. These Swedish descriptions and some Norwegian ones are used at weekly dance evenings and special dance weekends and weeks throughout the world. The village or valley dances have brought joy to the lives of those who have played the music and those who danced them for the past two centuries. By studying the dances and trying to integrate what is learned with the music from the same locations, Meg and Bill experience and share some of the joy created by those who came before. It is like having a treasure map that can lead to the best of times. |
The musicians in Hale Bill & the Bopps have been on the Seattle area folk music scene for more than three decades. The groups they have performed in add up to a large portion of the Nordic music roster in the Puget Sound area, past and present: The Bopps can be heard on the soundtrack of two documentaries on aspects of Puget Sound history, "Port Blakely: Memories of a Mill Town" and "Finding Thea," a documentary on the life of Foss Maritime Company (Foss Tug) founder Thea Foss, both produced by Luna Productions (Lucy Ostrander and Nancy Healy). www.findingthea.com
In 1997 while Hale Bopp the comet was streaking across the sky, a newly constellated group of Seattle musicians made its first appearance, at the spring Equinox Ball in Vancouver, BC. Dubbed "American Currency" for that event, they then needed a new name back home for their next performance and came up with "Counterfeit Bill & De Menthe Sisters.” It was while walking across the parking lot after that dance, gazing up into the sky, that "Hale Bill & the Bopps" popped out as their third and final moniker. On their CD album of the same name you'll find a galaxy of tunes that reaches back to their joint and individual early repertoires and arcs up to their most recent -- traditional and recently composed tunes from the five corners of Scandinavia that made their flight from Nordic longitudes to Pacific Northwest quadrants. Woven among these are Pacific Northwest originals composed in the traditional vein by individual Bopps. The Bopps (from left in photo above, play/provide/bring): Leslie Foley -- Melody/harmony fiddle, nyckelharpa, vocals, rudder, chocolate Gina Boyd -- Melody fiddle, vocals, ignition, choreography, cookies Mary Nelson -- Melody/back-up fiddle, vocals, time/space continuum, healthysnacks Irene Myers -- Harmony/melody fiddle, vocals, navigation, menu Bill Boyd -- Piano, pump organ, melody/back-up fiddle, Hardanger fiddle, vocals, GPS, egg timer Hale Bill and the Bopps, modified from their Album Notes, c2008 |
Workshop registration form; Preregister by October 31 and save!
You must preregister for the Scandinavian Dinner

fallfest2018_registration.pdf | |
File Size: | 781 kb |
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Thank you for helping us publicize this event, especially the concert! Download and print the poster and registration form; give to friends and put up wherever you can: schools, churches, coffee shops, neighborhood stores, etc!

fall2018_poster_full.pdf | |
File Size: | 394 kb |
File Type: |
Concert: Friday, Nov 9, First United Methodist Church, 203 S 200 East, SLC |
Scandi Fest: Fri–Sun, Nov 9–11, E.W. Garbett Center, 700 N 200 West, SLC |
Last update: 1 Dec 2018