Viljandi Folk Festival: Frikar

The ancient Castle Hills in Viljandi will echo with the sound of ancient and modern musical intruments as 200 performers from 12 countries gather in Viljandi this weekend to celebrate the 18th annual Viljandi Folk music festival. It is one of the largest festivals in the Nordic and Baltic countries dedicated to folk music and is expected to draw over 20, 000 visitors. The theme is dance - traditional folk dance as well as improvisation - and so the motto is "Dance comes from Within" - Seest tuleb uks tants". Here is the live video feed.

Latin rhythms will mingle with Estonian bagpipes as groups from Cuba, Latvia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Norway, Russia gather in five outdoor venues and three indoor stages. The festival will last for 4 days, there will be seminars, exhibitions, night classes and..."a genuine Viking ship, fire, sails, shadows, live music. The Estonian-Ukranian folk ensemble Svjata Vatra is inviting all festival guests to the beach of Viljandi Lake to enjoy the mysterious sail shadow performance. The story that will be played on Friday night at 23:30 is based on old runo songs, the plot of which is being conveyed with the help of shadows rising from the flames." See description here.

Among the international performers is the Frikar Dance Company, founded in 2006 by Hallgrim Hansegård, one of Europe's leading acrobatic dance companies. This exciting group of 32 dancers and musicians from Norway perform routines combining Afro-Brazilian capoeira (martial arts moves) and break dancing along with contemporary and traditional Norwegian folk dance techniques. They won the Best Choreography award in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2009 for backing up the winner, Alexander Rybak, a singer and violinist.

The name Frikar (Freaker), from Old Norse, is used for "a person who does not follow the conventions of society, which are difficult to cope with. They are also good at fighting and dancing. You feel free when you do not have to follow the conventions"... Read the article from Aftenposten.

Norwegian folk dancing can be dangerous; here is a description of the Halling, which dates back to medieval times:
"Many of the halling dancers were great athletes in their communities, and became famous for their ability to dance and throw themselves high up in the air. On the other hand, records show that a fair amount of the same dancers got into trouble, and many dance sessions ended in violence and manslaughter.This may be due to the adrenaline produced during the exercise. Dancing and honour were closely connected, and the dancers competed for the prize until one of them got hurt or killed. Some dancers were executed, others were taken to prison for their use of the knife." The Halling was also used for Alexander Rybak's winning performance at Eurovsision.

So it's not difficult to see why Hansegård would attempt to direct a performance like Tidarå, an outdoor full night dance performance under a raging waterfall with 22 dancers and musicians, From Aftenposten:
Twenty feet above the falls in the narrow gorge with steep cliffs on each side hanging only dancer in the red stoffremsene. He is not attached to the line, and he has a safety net. Under him, the froth flooding large waterfall. On stage are two men from the Red Cross, ready to rescue efforts. But can they actually do something or the other if something happens here?

Frikar will be performing ‘Mjølk’ (Milk), which features a meeting between three farm-boys on their daily commute to the milk ramp. The milk-collecting van fails to materialise and the three, bored guys are left to themselves. The show focuses on the surrealism that can unfold when three restless acrobats are left with nothing to do. Which, with Frikar, could be anything! Here is the performance.