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THE AMERICAN-SCANDINAVIAN REVIEW 
The First or Thirteen Figures in the Dal Dance 
lay telling’ about heroic deeds, or love, or the supernatural beings with 
v hich popular imagination peopled nature, or perhaps even the labors 
of daily life such as house-keeping or husbandry. The song was the 
main thing, the dancing and music were only there to enhance it. 
Gradually it became customary for all to take part in the singing, 
while they danced during the whole song, and thus the old ring-games 
and chain-dances originated. The former still survive in the games 
of children; the latter borrowed figures from tbe former and slowly 
developed, with examples from foreign countries, into real dances in 
the modern sense. Here as everywhere, they have traveled from the 
upper strata of society downward, and what we now call peasant 
dances in Sweden were no doubt the entertainment of the rich at the 
weddings and C hristmas balls and assemblies of the big estate-owners 
some centuries ago. 
The polska (reel) seems to have been the dance which followed 
the old ring-games and chain-dances in Sweden and which became the 
foundation for later development. It is characterized by strong 
emphasis on the accented beat. In the polska, as in almost all Swed¬ 
ish dancing, the man has the most active part. He places his hands 
at his partner s w r aist, while she rests her hands on his shoulders. It 
has been surmised that the polska was imported from Poland at a 
comparatively recent date, but later investigations seem to show that 
it is very old in Sweden and of genuinely Swedish origin. Although 
it is possible that some particular melody or figure and even the name 
