Grade level: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, p, e, i, t.

Excerpt from Folk-Dances and Singing Games: Twenty-Six Folk-Dances of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Russia The actual steps and figures of a folk-dance are far more easily described than its real essence - atmosphere - spirit. One may be fairly sure that the spirit of the dance is caught if the dancers laugh from sheer pleasure in the dance itself. The most practical suggestions I can make for catching the spirit of a dance are these: - 1. Have a musician who can feel the folk quality of the music and express it with charm and irresistible rhythm. 2. Pay particular attention to the expression-marks and metronome tempi of the music. 3. Pay particular attention to the instructions, given in almost every description, in regard to the general character, meaning and spirit of the dance. Intercourse with people of other countries has given me what knowledge I possess of their dances. I wish it were possible to express to every one of these people all my thanks for the pleasure and benefit which I have derived from their friendship. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.