Carol Ann Sersland

Carol Sersland

Carol Ann Sersland learned the Telespringar (or spring dance from Telemark) from her father, a life-long folk dancer who emigrated from Telemark, Norway to Minneapolis in 1924. Carol grew up in an environment where Hardanger fiddle (the instrument used to accompany the dance) music and Telespringar were a normal part of her family's social activities. She started dancing and performing Norwegian dances when she was five years old with the Sons of Norway Junior Dancers. Her first performance of Telespringar was with her father at the 1968 Nordic Fest in Decorah, Iowa. They danced to the highly regarded Hardanger fiddler Anund Roheim. They were also invited to perform in Washington, D.C. at the Smithsonian Institution's Folk Life Festival in 1974 and 1976.

Carol traveled to Norway to attend the International Summer School in Oslo and then spent a year studying folk music and dance while attending a Folk High School in Telemark. Here she heard her first "kveding", or folk songs sung in traditional style (unaccompanied), and learned her first tunes while living in the mountains.

Carol is the leader and dance instructor with Det Norske Folkedanslaget (a Norwegian folk dance group in Minneapolis). She has taught Telespringar and Telegangar at numerous dance workshops and has received first prize placement in folk dance competitions in Norway. She is a founding member of the Hardanger Fiddle Association of America, and has served on the Board as an Officer and Director