Noveau, August 2000

There is no mistaking the Swedish heritage of Rita Leydon—a tall, handsome and engaging woman whose looks are complemented by a warmth and intensity that make her immediately accessible. Spend a short time with her, and you realize she is passionately involved in the life she and her husband, Chris, are living in Bucks County.

Born in Sweden, Rita came to the United States as a girl forty years ago. Her parents settled in southern New Jersey, a destination for many Swedes arriving in this country in the last century. As a teenager, she developed her first crush—on an “older man,” she offers—a dancer, as it turned out, with the Swedish Folkdancers of New York. While the relationship lasted only a year, it was through him that she was exposed to the seductive charms of her homeland's music and dance. She was hooked.

An Irresistible Pull

However, several decades would go by before Rita gave herself fully, again, to the pull of her Swedish roots. In the meantime, other “sirens” wooed her. While in her early twenties, she could be found flying gliders at Van Sant Airport. Adventuresome, bright and a daredevil of sorts, she caught the attention of Chris Leydon—a part-time resident of Bucks County whose parents owned a farm in Lahaska, PA. Chris and Rita were married in 1973. Rita would go on to pursue a career as a graphic designer and freelance writer.

In the intervening years, Chris Leydon earned his own high points for creativity and individualism. Today, he is recognized as a world-class restorer of vintage Grand Prix race cars—a business he started in 1973.

The Original Spark

Five years ago, Rita admits, her spirit was in need of stoking. Not surprisingly, she turned back to the first ember that ignited her artistic self—dance. Embracing her Swedish roots once again, she set out to learn hambo, the national dance of Sweden. Immersing herself in lessons with gusto, her enthusiasm was infectious, and soon Chris was dancing alongside her. Their life together hasn't been the same since.

What has evolved since 1995 has been surprising to them both. Chris—“truly the musical one,” Rita notes—took to the enterprise with as much commitment as his wife. “I guess you could call us enthusiasts and collectors of vintage Swedish dances,” Rita states. The Leydons know between seventy to eighty Swedish dances; each of which reflects a distinct “dance dialect” of Sweden, many from the late 1700s. They have traveled often to Sweden to take courses, and have been instrumental in getting Swedish dancers (“the cream of the crop,” says Rita) to come to the United States to teach.

The Dance

Quick, quick, slow, quick, quick, slow, turn, turn, turn, turn. So go the calls for schottis, one of the many gammaldans (the Swedish word for old-time dancing) enjoyed by those who join Rita and Chris to learn the turning dances that are traditional in Sweden.

The complete term is gammaldans stugan, a stugan being a traditional cottage of red-brown wood with white trim and a tile roof (similar, oddly enough, to those found in Spain). Along with the schottis, gammaldans includes variations of the hambo, snoa, waltz, mazurka, polska, and polka.

It sounds like great fun, and it is—this evening of Gammaldans Stugan at the Buckingham Friends School gym in Lahaska, PA. The experience of folk music and turning dances—lyrical, flowing, and driven by a passion inherent in the bygde (Swedish for village) boy-meets-girl dances of the old country—brings a lively part of the cultural heritage of Sweden to Bucks County.

Turns and Spins

The Leydons’ class / dance starts simply, with a sort of rhythmic walking, then incorporates some individual turns, and gradually includes spinning as partners. For this, sturdy arm control is necessary. It's sort of like a waltz but without that little hiccup, so it's much more graceful—like a single rotating and revolving, four-footed being.

If someone is having a hard time picking up a step, Chris or Rita might say, “Pull your center of gravity down. Bend your knees. Keep your back straight, head up.”

The music is upbeat but not fast; it's flowing and folkish but not intricate. The sound is that of a nyckelharpa, a traditional Swedish instrument that dates back at least six hundred years. Nyckel means key; harpa is probably an old generic word for a stringed instrument. And a nyckelharpa is a stringed instrument but it also has keys that slide under the strings. It looks a bit like a narrow violin with a fat neck. Nowadays, a chromatic nyckelharpa has three melody strings, one drone string and twelve resonance strings along with thirty seven wooden keys that are pressed with the left hand while the right hand wields a short bow.

From near extinction, with only about one dozen aged players, the nyckelharpa's popularity has blossomed since the 1960's. Now there are probably ten thousand players of the instrument, with 140 of them living in the United States.

No Experience Required

Who joins Rita and Chris at their dances? All sorts of people. No experience is required. Neither is a partner. Age is irrelevant. On a recent evening, a young woman of thirteen and a couple in their sixties were among the dancers. So was Rachel Hall, a musician who spent time in Norway studying traditional music. Back in the United States, she was delighted to discover a taste of Scandinavian customs at the Leydon's classes. Her skirt swirls as she spins, and she looks happy to be dancing. Later, she takes up her concertina and her partner his violin to play the music of a traditional Norwegian song while the others dance. She's been attending these classes since April. “Chris and Rita are great teachers!” she says.

Bronwyn Bird, who is thirteen and very light on her feet, heard about the Leydons’ classes from a neighbor. For her, dancing the Swedish steps in the evening mirrors the two hours she spent doing Irish dances that morning. In between perhaps she played her nyckelharpa or her accordion, which she had been studying for more than five years.

The dancers are twirling around the floor when suddenly Chris slaps the side of first one foot, then the other, with a startlingly loud crack. A new element has been added. It's tricky because the slaps must occur on the fourth and sixth beats of the eight-beat music. “You bring your foot up to your hand,” he explains, “not the other way around.” Everyone tries it. “Traditionally, only men did the slapping,” notes Rita, “but in this day and age, everyone does it.”

The course the Leydons are offering in Lahaska—as a neighborly service to the area they call home—addresses their belief that music contributes enormously to the social fiber of a community. They have also taught a four-session course each year at the Swedish Museum in Philadelphia. Each September, they take part in the Heritage Dance Festival in Plymouth Meeting, PA, and can also be found performing as a dance duo at the Scandinavian Festival at historic Waterloo Village, NJ, on Labor Day. They will also be performing at the Bucks County International Day Celebration at the Middletown Grange fairgrounds in Wrightstown, PA, on Sunday, September 17. The pair wear authentic Swedish costumes created by Rita for these events. Each piece of the apparel she has made represents a special part of her life.

The Lure of the Nyckelharpa

What else could these two creative people be up to? Remember the nyckelharpa we spoke about before? The Leydons, with no prodding necessary, will tell you today that the music of this traditional instrument has taken precedence over everything else musical in their lives. They have immersed themselves in its history, instruction and promotion.

Both Chris and Rita play the instrument. And while in Sweden during the past year, Rita met the current World Champion player, Peter Hedlund, who helped her to purchase a top-notch nyckelharpa. Rita has plans in the future to produce videos about the renaissance of the instrument for an American audience. Perhaps they're most proud of the fact that of the 140 players of the nyckelharpa in the United States today, Bucks County—with its four known players—can boast the highest concentration nationally!

In summing up their love of Swedish music and dance—and the joy of sharing it with others—Rita could not be clearer. “It's a selfish gesture on our part,” she states. “To share dance, to show our instruments and to talk about what we love is the best thing this side of heaven.”

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		Published in Nouveau Magazine August, 2000 issue photos by Top Kat Photography		The costumes and music are unique to each culture, but people all over the world tell the same stories through the universal language of dance. Swing & Sway the Swedish Way by Lynn Welden and Linn H. Jeffries There is no mistaking the Swedish heritage of Rita Leydon—a tall, handsome and engaging woman whose looks are complemented by a warmth and intensity that make her immediately accessible. Spend a short time with her, and you realize she is passionately involved in the life she and her husband, Chris, are living in Bucks County. Born in Sweden, Rita came to the United States as a girl forty years ago. Her parents settled in southern New Jersey, a destination for many Swedes arriving in this country in the last century. As a teenager, she developed her first crush—on an “older man,” she offers—a dancer, as it turned out, with the Swedish Folkdancers of New York. While the relationship lasted only a year, it was through him that she was exposed to the seductive charms of her homeland's music and dance. She was hooked. An Irresistible Pull However, several decades would go by before Rita gave herself fully, again, to the pull of her Swedish roots. In the meantime, other “sirens” wooed her. While in her early twenties, she could be found flying gliders at Van Sant Airport. Adventuresome, bright and a daredevil of sorts, she caught the attention of Chris Leydon—a part-time resident of Bucks County whose parents owned a farm in Lahaska, PA. Chris and Rita were married in 1973. Rita would go on to pursue a career as a graphic designer and freelance writer. In the intervening years, Chris Leydon earned his own high points for creativity and individualism. Today, he is recognized as a world-class restorer of vintage Grand Prix race cars—a business he started in 1973. The Original Spark Five years ago, Rita admits, her spirit was in need of stoking. Not surprisingly, she turned back to the first ember that ignited her artistic self—dance. Embracing her Swedish roots once again, she set out to learn hambo, the national dance of Sweden. Immersing herself in lessons with gusto, her enthusiasm was infectious, and soon Chris was dancing alongside her. Their life together hasn't been the same since. What has evolved since 1995 has been surprising to them both. Chris—“truly the musical one,” Rita notes—took to the enterprise with as much commitment as his wife. “I guess you could call us enthusiasts and collectors of vintage Swedish dances,” Rita states. The Leydons know between seventy to eighty Swedish dances; each of which reflects a distinct “dance dialect” of Sweden, many from the late 1700s. They have traveled often to Sweden to take courses, and have been instrumental in getting Swedish dancers (“the cream of the crop,” says Rita) to come to the United States to teach. The Dance Quick, quick, slow, quick, quick, slow, turn, turn, turn, turn. So go the calls for schottis, one of the many gammaldans (the Swedish word for old-time dancing) enjoyed by those who join Rita and Chris to learn the turning dances that are traditional in Sweden. The complete term is gammaldans stugan, a stugan being a traditional cottage of red-brown wood with white trim and a tile roof (similar, oddly enough, to those found in Spain). Along with the schottis, gammaldans includes variations of the hambo, snoa, waltz, mazurka, polska, and polka. It sounds like great fun, and it is—this evening of Gammaldans Stugan at the Buckingham Friends School gym in Lahaska, PA. The experience of folk music and turning dances—lyrical, flowing, and driven by a passion inherent in the bygde (Swedish for village) boy-meets-girl dances of the old country—brings a lively part of the cultural heritage of Sweden to Bucks County. Turns and Spins The Leydons’ class / dance starts simply, with a sort of rhythmic walking, then incorporates some individual turns, and gradually includes spinning as partners. For this, sturdy arm control is necessary. It's sort of like a waltz but without that little hiccup, so it's much more graceful—like a single rotating and revolving, four-footed being. If someone is having a hard time picking up a step, Chris or Rita might say, “Pull your center of gravity down. Bend your knees. Keep your back straight, head up.” The music is upbeat but not fast; it's flowing and folkish but not intricate. The sound is that of a nyckelharpa, a traditional Swedish instrument that dates back at least six hundred years. Nyckel means key; harpa is probably an old generic word for a stringed instrument. And a nyckelharpa is a stringed instrument but it also has keys that slide under the strings. It looks a bit like a narrow violin with a fat neck. Nowadays, a chromatic nyckelharpa has three melody strings, one drone string and twelve resonance strings along with thirty seven wooden keys that are pressed with the left hand while the right hand wields a short bow. From near extinction, with only about one dozen aged players, the nyckelharpa's popularity has blossomed since the 1960's. Now there are probably ten thousand players of the instrument, with 140 of them living in the United States. No Experience Required Who joins Rita and Chris at their dances? All sorts of people. No experience is required. Neither is a partner. Age is irrelevant. On a recent evening, a young woman of thirteen and a couple in their sixties were among the dancers. So was Rachel Hall, a musician who spent time in Norway studying traditional music. Back in the United States, she was delighted to discover a taste of Scandinavian customs at the Leydon's classes. Her skirt swirls as she spins, and she looks happy to be dancing. Later, she takes up her concertina and her partner his violin to play the music of a traditional Norwegian song while the others dance. She's been attending these classes since April. “Chris and Rita are great teachers!” she says. Bronwyn Bird, who is thirteen and very light on her feet, heard about the Leydons’ classes from a neighbor. For her, dancing the Swedish steps in the evening mirrors the two hours she spent doing Irish dances that morning. In between perhaps she played her nyckelharpa or her accordion, which she had been studying for more than five years. The dancers are twirling around the floor when suddenly Chris slaps the side of first one foot, then the other, with a startlingly loud crack. A new element has been added. It's tricky because the slaps must occur on the fourth and sixth beats of the eight-beat music. “You bring your foot up to your hand,” he explains, “not the other way around.” Everyone tries it. “Traditionally, only men did the slapping,” notes Rita, “but in this day and age, everyone does it.” The course the Leydons are offering in Lahaska—as a neighborly service to the area they call home—addresses their belief that music contributes enormously to the social fiber of a community. They have also taught a four-session course each year at the Swedish Museum in Philadelphia. Each September, they take part in the Heritage Dance Festival in Plymouth Meeting, PA, and can also be found performing as a dance duo at the Scandinavian Festival at historic Waterloo Village, NJ, on Labor Day. They will also be performing at the Bucks County International Day Celebration at the Middletown Grange fairgrounds in Wrightstown, PA, on Sunday, September 17. The pair wear authentic Swedish costumes created by Rita for these events. Each piece of the apparel she has made represents a special part of her life. The Lure of the Nyckelharpa What else could these two creative people be up to? Remember the nyckelharpa we spoke about before? The Leydons, with no prodding necessary, will tell you today that the music of this traditional instrument has taken precedence over everything else musical in their lives. They have immersed themselves in its history, instruction and promotion. Both Chris and Rita play the instrument. And while in Sweden during the past year, Rita met the current World Champion player, Peter Hedlund, who helped her to purchase a top-notch nyckelharpa. Rita has plans in the future to produce videos about the renaissance of the instrument for an American audience. Perhaps they're most proud of the fact that of the 140 players of the nyckelharpa in the United States today, Bucks County—with its four known players—can boast the highest concentration nationally! In summing up their love of Swedish music and dance—and the joy of sharing it with others—Rita could not be clearer. “It's a selfish gesture on our part,” she states. “To share dance, to show our instruments and to talk about what we love is the best thing this side of heaven.” top of page

Swing & Sway the Swedish Way