ABSTRACT
This chapter examines three theatrical performances of Halling and explores the strategies and agendas that shaped the choice of music and movement within these re-stagings. It aims to show how the image of the agile male Halling dancer served as a nationalist strategy that produced an idealized representation of 'Norwegian-ness'. Halling has been performed throughout Norway in a variety of contexts, with roots identified at least as far back as the fifteenth century and likely to the Middle Ages. The character Veslefrikk dances Halling steps to the same musical phrase throughout the ballet creating an aural and visual leitmotif. One of the strategies used by the producers of Fairytale was to capitalize on the image of Halling as a nationalist male dance of virility, strength and friendly competition. Hansegaard and Frikar have become 'super agents' for transporting traditional Halling into a theatrical setting.
