Sionna Seminar: Norwegian Traditional Music and Dance: From Tradition to Contemporary Practice
This seminar introduces Norwegian traditional music and dance through the work of visiting scholars and practitioners Siri Mæland and Stian Roland from Universitetet i Sørøst-Norge (USN), Rauland. Drawing on their research, teaching and artistic practice, the session will explore approaches to dance analysis and transmission, and the ways in which traditional practices move from social and pedagogical contexts into choreography and staged performance.
The seminar will consider the relationship between tradition and contemporary artistic practice, asking how embodied and inherited knowledge can become a resource for creative practice while negotiating the particular constraints of working within heritage forms. This discussion will extend to a developing Creative Europe project, involving the Irish World Academy, which seeks to build capacity for choreographic innovation and professional practice within traditional dance across Europe.
Combining presentation, examples from practice and open discussion, the seminar will open broader questions around tradition, transmission, creativity and innovation, and the possibilities for developing contemporary performance practices rooted in traditional dance. Admission is free and all are welcome.
Dr Siri Mæland is an Associate Professor specialising in traditional dance, ethnochoreology and dance analysis. She has extensive experience in higher education, research and curriculum development, and has worked extensively on the transmission, documentation and analysis of Norwegian traditional dance.
Stian Roland is a traditional singer, folk dancer and educator, and serves as Course Director of the BA in Folk Dance at USN. A former Head of the Department of Traditional Arts and Traditional Music, he has worked extensively in the performance, teaching and promotion of Norwegian folk dance and folk music, and is a Norwegian champion in traditional couple dancing.
Admission is free and all are welcome.
