The Revival of the Swedish Folk Dance 
By Yngve Hedvall 
It is summer and evening at Stockholm’s great open air museum, 
the famous Skansen on Djurgarden hill. The bells have just rung 
the hour of nine from the numerous church towers that rise boldly 
from the silhouette of the lovely city as it lies there, half encircled by 
shining waters, dreaming its dream of greatness. The tooting of auto¬ 
mobile horns and the clanking 
of street car bells are heard only 
as a soft, confused medley of 
sound. The sun has disap¬ 
peared behind the Solna woods, 
but a pale yellow light lingers 
in the west while the sky over¬ 
head is still a bright blue. The 
soft dusk of the Northern sum¬ 
mer night, of which the poets 
have so often sung, is beginning 
to wrap the white-stemmed 
birches and the dark spruce in 
its magic veil and throws a 
glamour over the tine old peas¬ 
ant houses that speak to us of 
Sweden’s past. The birds have 
gone to rest, and although the 
crowds are gathering in this 
favorite haunt of Stockholm, a 
sense of peace and quiet hovers 
over the scene. 
Suddenly a violin sings 
through the stillness; it is the 
first note of a rhythmic melody 
which sends a thrill through the 
crowds; the nyckelharpa, the 
quaint old Swedish stringed instrument, adds its peculiar strain; the 
wooden floor resounds to the merry tramping of feet. It is the folk 
dancers who are beginning the evening’s entertainment. Dressed in 
bright costumes designed with a revelling in color and a joy in the 
beauty ot the human body which modern tailored modes have for¬ 
gotten, the young people are swinging round in time to the music. The 
fig ures of the dance follow one another in quick succession; they are 
lull of life and character and easily understood by all. Their fresh 
charm and quick movements not only fire the eyes of the dancers with 
Dressed for the Dance in Typical Swedish 
Peasant Costume 
