Spring Tour

NORWEGIAN DANCERS 2008 SPRING TOUR

Thursday, March 20, 2008

An early morning started us off at Stoughton High School at 2:15 AM. After final instructions and organizing our equipment and luggage, we packed up the Coach bus and headed to the Milwaukee Airport. We checked in to our gate and boarded the airplane. After a short plane ride, we landed in Denver overlooking the Rocky Mountains. After a quick bite to eat we were off to our first performance at Stetson Elementary School in Colorado Springs, with a breathtaking view of the Rockies right outside. The Dancers were lucky enough to get a chance to visit the Air Force Academy and even got to stand at the altar of their famous and beautiful Cadet Chapel. We then made our way to a Sons of Norway Lodge, where we performed and met our home-stay hosts for the next few nights. The group split up into our home-stay vans, and were whisked away to a much needed night of rest.

Friday, March 21, 2008

We were awoken early again, and regrouped before heading to our first performance of the day at Fremont Elementary school in Colorado Springs. After a short break, we drove to our next performance at Midland International Elementary School. The group headed off to Sonic for a much needed lunch before we went to the Colorado Springs Senior Center for our last performance of the day. After finishing that performance, we were lucky enough to get to go to Garden of the Gods…complete with clear blue skies, and some of the most beautiful scenery most of us had ever seen. The day was finished off with dinner and a show at the Flying W Ranch. The Dancers grabbed dessert at a creamery, and then were split again into home-stays for the night.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

After saying goodbye to our first home-stay families, we regrouped and drove to our first performance of the day at the gorgeous Boulder Ballroom. We then had some time to play at a nearby mall. We broke apart to eat lunch, shop, and relax for a little while. Our second performance of the day took place at the Gold West Senior Residence, they truly appreciated our performance. The group was taken to the Sons of Norway – Trollheim Hall in Lakewood, where we danced for a wonderful crowd. Dinner was graciously provided for us, and we met our second home-stay host of the tour. We were split into different home-stays and went to bed early!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

The dancers celebrated Easter together by starting off at Bethany Evangelical Free Church. We were warmly welcomed into their congregation for the day. After the service a delicious pancake breakfast was provided. We took a short break at The Cherry Creek Mall to call home and wish our families a happy Easter. We went to the Life Care Assisted Living Center for our first performance of Easter Sunday. The Dancers were rewarded with lunch from Old Chicago, pizza has never tasted so good. J After being dropped off at our next performance at the Cherry Creek Retirement Village, the wonderful Dancer parents surprised us all with an Easter egg hunt on the grounds. We consumed our chocolate and sweets, danced for the group at the Retirement Village, and broke off into our home stay groups for the night.

Monday, March 24, 2008

The day started out at Adams City Elementary/Middle School in Commerce City. We were joined by the Eagle Airs and the Mariachis, two performing groups from the Adams City High School. After the Eagle Airs sang, we danced for the enthusiastic crowd which included the Mayor and members of the City Council. Never before have we seen kids get so excited about us! They were cheering, clapping, and smiling the whole time. After we finished our performance, the Mariachis played, sang, and danced for everyone. We were very fortunate to eat lunch with the two groups we saw that morning. The Norwegian and Mexican cultures were mixed together when we taught them some of our dance steps, and they taught us some of theirs’. It was a great experience for everyone, full of food, laughter, and new friends. The next step of the trip took us up into the Rocky Mountains. We drove to Winter Park where we got to shop and check into our hotel for our last two nights. We stayed at the YMCA Snow Mountain Lodge, nestled right in the Rockies. Our last performance was given to an enthusiastic group at the YMCA lodge. Most of us took advantage of the hotel services and went rollerblading or played basketball at the gym before drifting off to sleep.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

After a delicious breakfast at the lodge we got to have our day of fun. We split into two groups: skiing or tubing. After our fun in the fresh powder of the Winter Park Ski Resort, we changed into something nicer and went to Maggiano's for our last dinner together on the tour. As tradition has it the dancers perform skits, highlighting the more humorous aspects of the trip. It was girls vs. guys, with the guys being champions. We packed our belongings and went to bed.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

We headed to the Denver Airport, loaded up the airplane, and headed for HOME!

Although it felt great to get back home and see our families, we will always have wonderful memories from Colorado. We thank everyone we met along the way for making our experience great, and an extra thank you and hug to our home-stay families, for being so generous and kind. A really BIG thank you to the parent chaperones for working so hard and supporting us so much on the tour…without you the tour would NOT have happened, mange tusen takk!

2007 Spring Tour - Naples Florida

The Stoughton Wisconsin High School Norwegian Dancers “good will ambassadors” will be touring in the Tampa/Naples communities March 29 through April 2nd. The group began in 1953, performing for their home community at Syttende Mai (Norwegian Independence Day). Today, they share their talents all across the United States, entertaining young and old and leaving all with a warm appreciation for their Norwegian heritage.

SPRING TOUR 2006 (recap)

The Stoughton Norwegian Dancers once again departed the confines of Wisconsin to make their annual Spring Tour. This year the group made its first ever trip to the nation’s capital -Washington D.C.

As is tradition, 23 dancers, 10 chaperones and various other companion travelers departed during the wee hours of March 23rd from the High School on a tour bus in order to catch a flight from Chicago O’Hare’s airport. The troupe touched ground in Washington DC, caught a quick lunch after gathering their gear and headed to downtown Washington for their first performance at Thomson Elementary, the adopted school of the Norwegian Embassy. They were met at the school by an envoy of the US Ambassador from Norway.

Remarkably, the group was able to make two more goodwill performances that day before heading off to their home-stays for the evening. One was for a homeless gathering at a downtown church. The other was for an inner city school arranged by the office of Tammy Baldwin. Both groups were utterly delighted with a style of dancing that they never even thought existed.

The Dancers performed 10 other times over the next several days including other schools and retirement homes, the VA Hospital and the famous Union Station. The highlight performance of the entire trip was a picturesque venue at the Tidal Basin stage for the annual Washington DC Cherry Blossom Festival directly in front of the Jefferson Memorial. Several hundred milling onlookers stopped and were fascinated at the Dancers elegance, grace and athleticism that has become the trademark of our community.

In between performances and right before they returned, the group was able to see and experience many of the historical memorials and monuments of Washington DC. They also were taken on tours of the massive Washington National Cathedral, the Norwegian Embassy (where they met the Ambassador), the Capitol Building and even took a trip to nearby Annapolis for a tour of the Naval Academy.

The group returned a week later on March 29^th with the satisfaction of knowing that they have once again able to leave their indelible mark on other parts of the country. One really has to partake in this experience to truly appreciate how the Stoughton Norwegian Dancers touch the lives of so many people where they travel. Tears are shed, hope is given and goodwill is spread everywhere. Stoughton should truly be proud of these high school participants who do such a great job of being our worthy ambassadors to the rest of the country.