Folk music, improvisation and dance

In the synergy between music and dance, the boundary between receiver and sender of artistic expression is blurred, and it is obvious to investigate/develop improvisational techniques to gain a greater understanding of art and wordless communication, primarily from the musician's perspective.

The key issues of the project are as follows:

-How does this wordless communication between musicians and dancers work?

-How does the communication affect the musician's and dancer's expression?

-How does play and improvisation affect the expression of the performers?

-How can improvisational techniques inspire and fertilize dance and music respectively?

-How does the unique and immediate synergy of folk music with dance affect the musician's creativity?

The project explores different improvisational techniques and theories used in folk music. It involves conservatory teachers from folk music programs in Stockholm and Helsinki who have studied the areas of improvisation and music-to-dance.

The aim is to promote innovation and development in folk music for a greater variety and flourishing of creative expression, and to explore how improvisational techniques can create and develop the most direct contact, wordless communication and synergy between music and dance.

Based on these studies, Kristine Heebøll will try to uncover which improvisational tools are best for folk music to open up creativity and at the same time clarify the influence of dance on the language of music, even if the music is played without dancers.

The ambition of this project is to strengthen desire, courage, curiosity and self-understanding in relation to development and experimentation in the entire folk music community, thereby promoting a further increase in quality and quantity in the field. It will also increase the visibility of folk music in the public cultural landscape, so that a greater awareness of our musical heritage can contribute to an understanding of identity and provide a human ballast in a distinctly globalized society.

The project was funded by the Danish Ministry of Culture.

Kristine Heebøll is researching the relationship between folk music, improvisation and dance with special attention to the development of the musical expression. In folk music the borderline between sender and receiver dissolves in the synergy between music and dance. To achieve a better understanding of this artistic cohesion and its speechless communication Kristine will research and develop improvisation techniques and document the interplay between musician and dancer.

The goal is to achieve a better understanding of how improvisational techniques can create and enhance the communication between musician and dancer, the speechless communication and the synergy between music and dance, and through this understanding to create new and more varied ways of creative expression in folk music.