Hallingdans

Although I am breaking a lot of traditions with my wedding, I am very fond of my Norwegian heritage and would like to incorporate my heritage as much as possible into the details of my ceremony and reception. Although I am not the most agile dancer, I really admire Norwegian folk dancing. Since I was a child, my favorite traditional dance has been the 2,000-year-old hallingdans. The dance is usually (and conveniently, for my part) performed by young men at weddings and other special events.

Despite its overwhelming masculinity, the halling is an incredibly entertaining dance to watch and crowds often get involved by cheering on the dancer or one of several dancers. The halling is an acrobatic, athletic competition between male dancers. I imagine the groom had to prove his strength and agility in order to win over his bride. I wonder if Alex has the skills to dance the halling? Perhaps I should test him…

Hallingdans has several notable acrobatic dance moves, one of which is known as hallingkast. In this move, a woman becomes involved with the role of holding a hat high on a stick or something similar, and the male dancer is supposed to kick down the hat. Hallingkast is the ultimate test of strength and coordination, since the hat is supposed to be held 7-9 feet above the floor. Below is a video of a Norwegian dancer doing the hallingdans according to tradition.

The hallingdans recently witnessed a modern revival after Alexander Rybak won the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest. His winning song, “Fairytale,” was inspired by the traditional dance and is often performed in collaboration with the Frikar Dance Company, whose founder is known as the “reinventor of halling.”

The dance was also recently featured on the Norwegian version of "So You Think You Can Dance." The video is in Norwegian, so if you're like me, you'll be mesmerized by the language and Norwegian accents.

What do you think of incorporating heritage and family traditions into your wedding or reception?

Kransekake: Norwegian Wedding Cake

I grew up in a distinctly Norwegian household. Many “old world” traditions have been passed down from my great-grandparents to my generation. My sister got married nearly two years ago, and I was designated as the one to bake and assemble the traditional Norwegian wedding cake. Now, this isn’t a cake in the traditional American sense. Kransekake literally means ring or wreath cake. It is made up of 18 rings of decreasing size stacked on top of each other to form a cone-shaped tower.

The dough is made of almond, butter, confectioner’s sugar, and egg yolks. The rings are essentially almond-flavored cookies -- hard on the outside, chewy on the inside. After assembly, the rings are decorated with icing and can also be adorned with miniature candies and Norwegian toothpick flags. For my sister’s wedding, I decorated her cake with the toothpick flags and placed a bottle of Moscato d’Asti beneath the tower.

As my own wedding approaches, I will likely make my own kransekake for the occasion. No one in my family has quite mastered the cake like I have. It’s a very tricky baking and assembling process. If the rings are not cooked long enough, the tower will collapse in on itself. If the rings are cooked too long, they will look too dark on the outside. The rings all have to be baked at the same temperature for the exact same amount of time in order for the rings to be consistent in color.

Want to try it out? Click here for a recipe, or purchase a cake here.

Kransekake decorated with candy and flags

The kransekake I made for my sister's wedding in June 2009 (you can see the top of the wine bottle barely poking out of the top).

My sister's kransekake at the head table.