“Summer’s lease hath all too short a date.” Except for the “hath” part, it might be a description of summer in Copenhagen, but it’s Shakespeare, Sonnet # 18: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” In other words, carpe diem, live it up. Perhaps put the quote on a T-shirt and you’re sure to get a dancing partner at ‘Dancing at Faelledparken’, now in its eleventh year.
Though it’s advertised as ‘Dancing with the Danes’ on many tourist attraction websites, a slogan that may not initially do much to heat up your blood, the description of some of the dancing that will be taking place at Faelledparken from June 18 to July 19, every Monday to Thursday, may do something for you. Tango (the current fave rave) starts things off, and then for a month the dance types alternate between salsa, folkdance, bollywood (that should be a mid-section body challenge), rumba, ballroom, African dancing, and everybody’s ‘winging it’ favorite, Swing Dance.
All this is for free, with instruction given and live bands. Food, drinks, and the usual body of enticements will be offered too. Among the highlights are: the opening night on which Navina Ostergaard will teach the Argentine tango, with Malmø’s live orchestra Orquesta Tipica Tangarte; salsa on the following night, taught by Stine Ortvad with DJ Ruben Hererra; bollywood with Murari Lal Saini and DJ Mik Lal on Thursday June 21; Signe Frydenlund and Peter Wurtzen demonstrating the charleston at the swing night on Monday June 25. Swing fans can also look forward to July 9 when Kati Eriikka Arikoski and Eric Underbjerg will be teaching the Lindy Hop, DJ-ed by Per Mogensen, with another event planned for the 16th. Meanwhile, for those of a romantic bent, Mads Pedersen of Nordvest Ballroom will both teach and be DJ for ballroom dancing on July 2.
The main organiser and promoter of this event is the Culture and Leisure Committee of the City Council and you can get fine-tuned details including the DJ and instructor for every night at their website or Facebook page, and also a mini-map. If arriving by car, there is nearby parking; by bus, take the 1A, 3A, 6A, or 150A.
If you’re a cautious type, and want to know what you’re getting into before you might potentially go splat in a pratfall, highlights of some earlier events can be viewed on YouTube, including a very rainy evening last year, which nevertheless didn’t seem to deter the dancers from enjoying themselves. Also, they say there’s a brand new dancefloor this year on which you can strut your stuff.
At first it may seem odd that the dances are being held on a weeknight. But when you think about it, it makes sense going directly to work instead of falling asleep on your sofa. And with the variety of dance genres offered, even if you’re not Fred Astaire, there will be something to suit your style.
Summer Dance in the Park
Faelleparken, Cph Ø; starts Mon, ends July 19; Adult sessions Mon-Thu 19:00-22:00: Tango on June 18 & 27, July 18, Salsa on June 19, July 3 & 10, Folk dance on June 20, Bollywood on June 21 & July 19, Swing on June 25, July 9 & 16, House on June 26, West African on June 28, Ballroom on July 2, Samba on July 4, Rumba on July 5, Kizomba on July 11, African clubbing on July 12, Linedancing on July 17; Kids sessions on Thursdays only: under-sevens 12:00-12:45, over-sevens 13:00-14:00, Streetdance on June 21, African on June 28, Dancehall on July 5, Bollywood on July 12, Capoeira on July 19; www.kk.dk/sommerdans
