Stakkars Per aka Lottistå

Country: Norway

Type: couple dance
Formation: any number of couples in open circle, M facing out of circle, W facing in, Waltz hold, with ML hand vertical, WR hand on top of partner's hand with fingers inside his grasp (samdanstak 1).

Steps: bytomfotsteg frå hamborgar/galopp (change step), hamborgar, galopp, gåsteg (walk)
Use either bytomfotsteg frå hamborgar and hamborgar, or bytomfotsteg frå galopp and galopp, in parts (a) and (b) respectively.

Sheet music: (1) Semb, Klara/ Norske folkdansar: turdansar. Oslo: Noregs Boklag/Det Norske Samlaget, 1991. pp. 293, 295, 417. (2) Semb, Klara/ Norske folkdansar III: slåttar til turdansane. Oslo: Noregs Boklag, 1970. pp. 44-45. [Same tune used for all versions.]

Recordings: Brekken Spellmannslag 'Stakkars Per' Storbrekkingen [YouTube]; Dyvik, Siri et al 'Lottistå frå Nordhordaland' Norske turdansar 3: turdansar fr&qaring; Vestlandet track 20 [YouTube]; Nyhus, Sven 'Stakkars Per' Felklang frå Rørosvidden [YouTube]; Spillemandslauget Østjyderne Nordiska legestuemelodier track 04 [sites.google.com/] & track 09 [sites.google.com]; Sørnæs, Hilde et al 'Lottistå frå Østfold' Norske turdansar 4: turdansar frå Austlandet 2 track 07 [YouTube]; Tre Begrædelige Piger 'Stakkars Per' Til deg [YouTube]; Vårdal, Vegar et al 'Stakkars Per' Norske turdansar 5: turdansar fr&qaring; Trøndelag track 05 [YouTube]; Vårdal, Vegar, Jo-Asgeir Lie & Torgeir Johannesen 'Stakkars Per' Danseslåtter Fra Finnmark track 05 [YouTube]; Aage Grundstads Ensemble Norske Tur Og Folkedanser 3 track 02 [YouTube]. [A number of other recordings on YouTube feature 'Stakkars Per' played as a galopp, or polka. These may be more difficult to dance this couple dance to, in some cases they do not adhere to the AABB structure of the original.]

    Stakkars Per, aka Lottistå frå Østfold
Bars Part Dance progression:
1-4 (a) Starting with outside (ML/WR) foot, dance 4 long, slow walking steps toward the centre of the circle.
5-8   Dance 4 bytomfotsteg (change steps) backwards to place.
1-8   Repeat (a).
|:9-16:| (b) Starting with ML/WR foot, dance 16 hamborgar or galopp steps, moving in LOD.
    [Repeat from (a) as desired.]

See YouTube video with Folkedanslaget Springar'n, 2019

Provenance: First published in the 1925 edition of Norske folkdansar II with a note [by Klara Semb] that "I documented Tantoli, Stoppen, Fingerpolka and Lottistå in Austfold several years ago but did not include them in the first edition. These dances were still commonly danced in the rural areas." In the 1948 edition, it was replaced by 'Lottistå frå Nordhordland'.
This is one of the very few couple dances danced to only one tune that we have. But Klara Semb's version is different from other regional versions in our country. The name 'Lottistå' derives from the German 'Lott ist tod', but the dance is most commonly known as 'Stakkars Per', and the name 'Lottistå' occurs seldom. Secondly, we don't have the quick change-steps backwards. In the popular tradition for which we have documentation, quick side-steps are danced instead. It is possible that the difference is due to the disappearance of less common variants since Klara Semb documented the dance, but it can also be due to the influence of contacts with folk dance activity in Sweden and Germany.
The tune was first published in Norske folkdansar III in 1924. In 1952 Semb wrote that this and several other 'single-tune' couple dances were found all over the country and that she transcribed them in 1924 from memory. The first part of the tune differs markedly from other common Norwegian variants, but there are parallels with among others, Swedith and German sources. Possibly the same considerations apply here as apply to the dance description itself.

Source: Semb, Klara/ Norske folkdansar: turdansar. Oslo: Noregs Boklag/Det Norske Samlaget, 1991. pp. 293-294, 417.

   
    Lottistå frå Nordhordland
Bars Part Dance progression:
1-4 (a) Starting with outside (ML/WR) foot, dance 4 slow walking steps forward in LOD. Both M and W bow slightly forwards on the 1st and 3rd steps, and straighten up on the 2nd and 4th.
5-8   Dance 4 bytomfotsteg (change steps) backwards to place.
1-8   Repeat (a).
|:9-16:| (b) Starting with ML/WR foot, dance 16 hamborgar or galopp steps, moving in LOD. M starts with a stamp on L foot on beat (9:1), swinging partner in to face him on first step.
    [Repeat from (a) as desired.]

See YouTube video with Folkedanslaget Springar'n, 2020

Provenance: First published in the 1948 edition of Norske folkedansar II, replacing the variant from Østfold which had been included in the two prior editions. The two versions are very similar. It is thought that this version is a revision of the Østfold variant based on information Klara Semb received at a course, rather than a separate description, since these versions are uncommon.

Source: Semb, Klara/ Norske folkdansar: turdansar. Oslo: Noregs Boklag/Det Norske Samlaget, 1991. pp. 295, 417.
See also:
-- Semb, Klara/ Norske folkedansar II: rettleiing om dansen. Oslo: Noregs Boklag, 1971 pp. 263-264.

   
    Lottistå frå Austfold
    In another version, from Austfold, in same start formation as Rugen, couples dance 4 slow walking steps toward centre of circle and 4 change steps backwards to place, and then polka. To the polka they sang the following:
    Lyrics:
Stakkars Per, stakkars Per
vil du byta kniva|kjerring
Vil no du, så vil nog eg,
og kom så du med dina.

Sjå dei to, sjå dei to,
sjå dei to forlibte,
gjev dei var, gjev dei var,
gjev ei alt var gifte.

Source: Semb, Klara/ Norske folkedansar II: rettleiing om dansen. Oslo: Noregs Boklag, 1971 pp. 263-264.

Also occurs in: Lotte gick/Lottes død/Laditå/Vrøvl i hatten [Danish version], Raatikko [Finnish version], Laditå|Lott ist tod [Swedish version]
Translation: Laine Ruus, Oakville, 2013-05-24, rev. 2022-08-04.

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