Country: Avernakø, Denmark
Type: couple dance
Formation: open circle of couples,, waltz hold, facing LOD
Step: polka,
reeltrin (jig)
Sheet music:
(1) Foreningen til Folkedansens Fremme (FFF)/ 'Mortensstykket' Gamle danse fra Avernakø og Korshavn.
1 udg. København: Foreningen til Folkdansens Fremme, 2001, pp.18-19.
(2) may be danced to eg 'Forgangen nat' 358:465
(3) Foreningen til Folkedansens Fremme (FFF)/ 'Forgangen nat' Gamle danse fra Avernakø og Korshavn.
1 udg. København: Foreningen til Folkdansens Fremme, 2001, p.20.
(4) may also be danced to eg 'Tappenstreg' Århus tappenstreg or
Tappenstreg
Recordings:
Mock, John 'One evening having lost my way' Revolution (2001 Green Hill Productions) [YouTube];
Osterholz, Renate mm 'Forgangen nat' Liflig sang cd 1 track 5 [Dancilla];
'Tappenstreg'Jensen, Thomas & Århus By-Orkester [YouTube];
Lang Linken 'Århus tappenstreg' Lyst track 15;
Prinsens Livregiments Musikkorps 'Tappenstreg' Danske marcher [YouTube].
[or any polka with appropriate structure (AABB or AABBCC,A=B=C=8) and tempo]..
| Bars | Part | Dance progression: |
| 1-4 | (a) | Polka & jig: Couples turn once round CW moving in LOD with 2 polka steps [1-2].
These are followed by 4 jig steps [3-4] on the spot, M beginning with L foot, W with R foot.
Alternatively, turn once round CW moving in LOD while dancing the jig steps [3-4]. When danced to the tune of 'Forgangen nat' this is danced over 8 bars [1-8], eg with 4 polka steps and 8 jig steps. |
| 5-8,1-8 | Repeat (a) three times. | |
| |:9-16:| | Repeat (a) four times. | |
| |:17-24:| | Repeat (a) four times.
Repeat as desired. |
Provenance: documented by both Viggo Hertel in 1909 and again with H.C. Michelsen in 1911. There are a number of written descriptions of the dance,
some of which are 'clean copies' written after returning from the trip [to Avernakø]. About half of these descriptions contain a note
that the dance is done to the tune 'Forgangen nat'. That tune is however not included in the transcriptions of music from Avernakø. There is,
on the other hand, a transcription of a tune entitled 'Mortens dans', to which Mortensstykket could also be danced. The tune 'Forgangen nat' is from
Mortensen's collection, in which it has number 394 and is entitled 'Tappenstreg (Forgangen nat)'.
The tune is likely an English folk tune. John Gay, who used the tune [variation of 'Walpole' aka
'One evening having lost my way', air XLVI]
in his Beggar's opera from 1728, often used folk tunes in his works.
In Denmark the tune is known from the mid-1700s and has been used for martial music as well as for theatre music. The tune 'Forgangen nat' must
have been very popular right up through the 1800s as it has been used for dance music all over the country.
Source: Foreningen til Folkedansens Fremme (FFF)/ Gamle danse fra Avernakø og Korshavn.
1 udg. København: Foreningen til Folkdansens Fremme, 2001, pp.18-20.
Translation: Laine Ruus, Oakville, 2023-05-12.
Tillbaka till innehållsförteckningen/Back to table of contents