Saturday, August 9, 2008

Concert in Dalhalla

One of my favorite nights during our vacation in Dalarna was on July 26th. My husband and daughter stayed with the dog at the hotel while I took our parents to a concert in Dalhalla outside of Rättvik. WOW...such a marvelous setting! This concert hall is in an ancient lime quarry! No going underground this time...we could see the sunset, then the stars over head!
Polly, Carol, Robert and Barbro head into the quarry!
The man in the souvenir booth was very pleased to stamp my Park Book! I collect rubber stampings from famous places....mostly National Parks, World Heritage Sites, Museums, etc.
Check out this stage...right in the water of the quarry! GREAT acoustics! At night they use the walls of the quarry to create dramatic displays of color and design! This night's performance was a variety show hosted by Calle Moreaus. Opera, Folk, Jazz, R & B, Classical, Swing and RAP!!! what a mix with lots of comedy mixed in! (I was so proud of myself because I understood most of the jokes in Swedish!)
I took this photo to show you just how important FIKA is here in Sweden! As you can see there is a singer on stage (Babben) but over to the side the previous group is having FIKA on stage! Yes, they are drinking coffee and eating cookies at tables on the stage! They made many jokes about it during the evening! Actually, it is rather nice for the performers to relax after their bit and watch the next couple of acts close by rather than behind the scenes.
Swedish RAP STAR, Dogge Doggelito y el Primo, were also a part of the show! This crowd was a bit on the older side of life so I was skeptical about how they'd be accepted here. He rapped out his usual stuff but had made changes in the lyrics to mention the local area. And they are wearing the cute traditional costumes of Dalarna! Who wouldn't love them?
Blurry with excitement photo... this rapper won the hearts of the crowd! They even got up out of their chairs and DANCED to his music! I've never see Swedes be so wild in public!
Guess what?! During the 30 minute pause I got to talk with Dogge Doggelito in SPANISH while he was signing autographs and selling CDs! His mother is Venezuelan married to a Swedish man. SO COOL! Not sure I like his regular rap stuff so much (you can YOUTUBE him) but it was exciting to clap to the rhythms and listen to his Swedish/Spanish lyrics !

I loved going to the concert with these hip folks! Despite all their aches and pains, they are still very young at heart! You should have seen them shaking to the rhythms! I couldn't ask for better parents or in-laws! Maya's groovy grandparents!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi,
Nice pictures. As always, beautiful scenery in Sweden! The concert location was awesome. Henrik said "oh, she got to meet dogge?" Doesn't look like you made it to the dalahast factory?
Neitha

Carol in Sweden said...

OH....I'm not finished yet! Dalahäst postings coming up!

We didn't make it to the Tomteland!
We drove up there, passed the "Troll Crossing" signs, got the schedule of events....BUT it was a hot & dry skin kind of day (30 c/86 f) and I didn't see or hear any enthusiasm from anyone else in our 7 person party. Including Maya...although the dog would have been happy to go with me I really didn't feel like draggin all the rest of them in just for ME! Afterall, it was for Maya! Next time...I think it would be wonderful to go without so many adults hoovering over the kid!

thanks for posting...I have a lot of lookers to my site but no one spends the time to comment.