Røros Pols
The Røros Pols is one of the favorites dances on the program at
BUL events in Trondheim.
It is a couples dance from
Røros
in the Trøndelag region of central Norway.
The Pols is danced to 3/4 music with very distinct emphases on both the
first and third beats. The basic step is
"on beat 1 step left, on 2 pause, on 3 step right"
following that rhythm, but with the body bouncing slightly to all 3
beats to keep time.
These notes are based on my observations whilst attending the
BUL Introductory
Course in the Røros Pols, held on 3-5 Oct 1997, and taught by
Endre Bakka, and
Monica Emmerud.
Dance Description
- Open Promenade
-
- Start the dance standing side by side, with lady on mans right, mans
right hand holding ladies left. Travel forward using the basic step of -
1 left, 2 pause, 3 right. nb. the right foot is stepped, not dragged
during the pause beat. Continue as long as wanted.
- The man then crosses ahead of the lady to swap sides, changing hand
hold behind his back to have ladies left hand in his left.
- The lady crosses back ahead of the man, under their raised left arms.
As the arm is lowered, the man tucks his right arm under the ladies left
to hold her left wrist with his right hand, still maintaining the left
hand hold as well. Continue travelling forward with this hold, ready to
enter the left turn.
-
nb. other variations are possible here, including having the lady swivel
across on front of the man, etc.
- Entry to Left Turn
-
- Man small left step (with stamp if wanted), pause (with a slap of
right hand on right leg if being showy), small right forward;
whilst firmly guiding lady across in front of him to end just ahead and to
his left facing against line of dance, man still facing forward.
- Lady steps left, turning, right across.
- Change hold to have mans left hand on ladies right hip, mans right
hand on ladies left shoulder, ladies right hand on mans left arm, left hand
on mans right hip.
- Left Turn
-
- Man: 1 left forward, 2 swivel on left, 3 right to side, 4 swivel on
right, 5 extend left to cross behind and continue turn,
6 right small step across and forward, ending facing line of dance.
nb. [Teaching aid - drill "step, swivel, step swivel, step, step" in line]
- Lady: 1 left back against line of dance, 2 close right, 3 left small
forward step turning sharply to left, 4 right forward with rise, 5 left forward
with lower, 6 right to side; ending backing line of dance to mans left.
nb. Hint to help get rise and fall in these steps was to think of RF as
having a limp. Whilst the timing is even, the rise and fall makes it appear not.
nb. [Teaching aid - drill "back close step and step step" in line]
- do a complete 360 degree turn in 6 beats (2 bars)
- nb. all steps are to outside of partner, so hold has you almost side
by side, facing opposite directions.
- Exit from Left Turn
-
- during last turn, mans moves right hand down to hold ladies left hand.
- at end of turn man uses last 2 left and right steps to turn on the spot
and stay on the inside of dance, with lady on his right and with his right arm
raised.
- lady turns on last two left and right steps to end on the outside,
ready for the first pivot.
- Ladies Pivots
-
- Man travels forward stepping - 1 left, 2 pause, 3 right;
holding his right hand a little above ladies head with palm down.
- Lady - 1 pivot on right foot with feet together,
2 left forward, 3 right forward and starting pivot;
with left hand held just above head, palm up, under mans hand for support.
- repeat several (but not too many) times.
- man signals exit by lowering right arm to waist height during last pivot.
- Close Promemade
-
- change hold so man has right arm around ladies waist with hand on her
right hip, lady has left hand on mans right shoulder, with mans left hand
folded over ladies right hand extended out to front.
- travel forward both stepping 1 left, 2 pause, 3 right.
- continue as long as wanted (and room has stopped spinning :-)
- Entry to Right Turn
-
- Man on last promenade forward, step 1 left, 2 pause, 3 strong right
forward; body falls slightly forward as lead, also loosen right arm hold
so right hand is now on middle of ladies back.
- Man steps 1 left turn across in front of lady, 2 close w/o weight
continuing turn with a dip, 3 right forward; transferring left hand to
ladies right shoulder.
- Lady travels forward for last promenade as usual left, pause, right.
- Lady enters turn with 1 left forward, 2 right forward, 3 left turning
across in front of man ready to commence turn step.
- Right Turn
-
- Man steps 1 left turning across, 2 close w/o weight still turning
and dip, 3 right forward.
nb. [Teaching aid - drill "left dip right"]
- Lady 1 close w/o weight and dip, 2 right forward, 3 left turning across.
nb. [Teaching aid - drill entry run "left right left", then "dip right left"]
- continue as long as wanted.
- to exit roll out of last turn with man on inside, lady on his right,
letting hold slide out to hand in hand to restart.
Misc Notes
The length of the various figures can be freely varied. I generally found
I was dancing the sequence in 32 bars with 8 for open prom and entry to
left turn, 8 for left turn, 8 for exit into ladies swivels then close
promenade and 8 for right turn and exit.
I divided the dance into a number of parts for ease of description, though
this may well not be how its viewed locally. Some of the terminology
I've used is based on Australian colonial dances, as I don't know the
Norwegian equivalents. Any errors in comprehension or description are,
of course, mine.
These notes were compiled by
Lawrie Brown
who very much enjoyed his
sabbatical
visit to Trondheim
in 1997, and the opportunity to learn some Norwegian dancing.
They were last updated on 22 Oct 97.