2026 Spring Swedish Weekend Alternate Instructors
Due to delays in the visa process, Folklore Village has arranged for the following instructors to teach at Spring Swedish Weekend in the event that the planned instructors, Stig & Helen Eriksson & Christer & Kristina Samuelsson, do not receive their visas in time to join the event.
Jerry Walsh, Dance
Jerry Walsh has studied, performed, and taught Scandinavian folk dancing for 40 years.He readily shares his knowledge, offers helpful tips to improve dance technique, and adds just enough mirth to ensure that dancing is, above all, fun.
Bygdedanser, translated as “village dances,” are his passion. The dances date back hundreds of years; they are known in Sweden as polskor and in Norway as pols, springar, and springleiks.
Jerry honed his skills during more than a dozen trips to Scandinavia to study folkdance with Nordic tradition bearers. He also completed a five-year testing process in Sweden, earning the “Big Silver” medal for his demonstrated dance expertise.
Jerry cofounded–and for 30 years co-directed–Springdans Northwest, an annual folkdance camp sponsored by Skandia Folkdance Society in Seattle, WA.
Peter Michaelson, Fiddle
Peter Michaelsen has been a folk musician for over 50 years, focusing on the fiddle traditions of Scandinavia for more than 35 years. He plays both “normal” fiddle and Norwegian hardingfele (Hardanger Fiddle), and also plays the munnharpa (mouth harp). He has made numerous trips to “the old country” to study and perform. In 2002 he was awarded a bronze medal in the Swedish National Competition for folk musicians (the Zornmärket), and he has played with several well-known Swedish groups, including the Boda and Falun Spelmanslags. He’s been on the staff of several annual music/dance camps in the US, including Scandia Camp Mendocino, Nordic Fiddles and Feet and Lark Camp. He has also toured nationally — including as musician for a troupe of Swedish dance teachers — and has played for countless dances and workshops. He’s known for his broad repertoire, his knowledge of traditional regional styles and harmonies, and his dance fiddling.
Becky Weis, Nyckelharpa
Becky Weis has played and studied nyckelharpa on both sides of the Atlantic. She is known as a teacher and a player for dancers, and has fun teaching and making tunes danceable. Becky guides playing with technique tips, and likes the spirit of getting a good tune going.
Becky is also a scholar in the Swedish nyckelharpa tradition, the subject of her doctoral dissertation in ethnomusicology. She serves on the board of directors of the Twin Cities Nyckelharpalag, and teaches both nyckelharpa and hardingfele at St. Olaf’s College.