SHARING THEIR SECRETS
Over the past 50 years, Anne Ma and Jan Erik Usterud have made a significant mark on the 100-year history of Sørland folk songs.
The hospitality of Anne Ma and Jan Erik Usterud is as warm as a traditional folk song from Southern Norway. Here, hugs and cake are plentiful, and the dark winter evening feels like a bright and cheerful summer night.
Health issues have put an end to both of their music and performing careers. That’s why they were thrilled to be asked to serve as mentors for *To i båden – sørlandsvisa 100 år*.
The performance marks the 100th anniversary of Johan Halvorsen setting Vilhelm Krag’s Southern Norwegian poetry to music, thereby launching the soft folk song tradition. On stage are actors Ann Ingrid Fuglestveit-Mortensen and Lars Emil Nielsen, along with guitarist Svein-Helge Vikse.
When we started rehearsals that morning, I was pronouncing my consonants very stiffly
Anne Ma Usterud on singing a Southern Norwegian folk song for the first time
With hard consonants
Three years have passed since Anne Ma retired and left her acting career at Kilden . She is glad to be free of the nerves and grueling performance schedules. Even though she will be sitting in the front row of the audience at this premiere, she braces herself: After 50 years as the leading lady of Southern Norwegian folk songs, many memories and emotions will come flooding back.
– It’s going to be very moving, with lots of sniffles and tears. I’m so grateful that Ann Ingrid and Lars Emil are the ones putting on the show. I’m very fond of both of them.
Anne Ma has been performing since she was 11. At the age of 16, she performed her first traditional song from Southern Norway on live television, with Roald Øyen as the host.
– I’m originally from Trøndelag, and when we started rehearsals in the morning, I pronounced my consonants very stiffly.
She laughs heartily.
– I was quickly told to sing in dialect. Oh, I was so nervous! But when the broadcast started, I sang with soft consonants for the first time. It felt really strange, but I managed it.
But a Southern Norwegian folk song is so much more than just a dialect. It is poetry, atmosphere, identity, local culture, and nature.
“It’s a sort of mini-novel, with a nice humorous undertone. The script portrays the laid-back Southern Norwegian in a warm and charming way. You have to really own the story to convey it well. But these actors certainly can,” says Anne Ma.
A Love Story
Anne Ma is the presenter. Jan Erik is the songwriter who has set between 40 and 50 songs from Southern Norway and revue shows to music.
They met on their way to their first day of classes at the music conservatory in 1970, and it was love at first sight.
As elsewhere in the country, folk singing flourished in Southern Norway in the 1970s. The Usteruds continued to thrive; for a full 50 years, they have shared, refined, created, and preserved the region’s musical treasures.
The couple would never run out of work.
“We still get requests that we have to turn down. Of course we miss being on stage. We’ve done so much together. That’s why it’s especially nice to be able to contribute to this project,” says Jan Erik.
Now he and Anne Ma have shared their musical experiences and secrets with the actors at Kilden, and together with them have created an entirely new production. This is hardly the end of the story.
Text: Nina Zachariassen
Photo: Jacob Buchard
TWO IN THE BOAT – 100 YEARS OF SØRLANDSVISA
Opens February 14 and runs through April 28.
Advisors: Anne Ma Usterud and Jan Erik Usterud
Direction/Dramaturgy: Endre Sannes Hadland
Starring: Ann Ingrid Fuglestveit-Mortensen, Lars Emil Nielsen
and Svein-Helge Vikse[ult_buttons btn_title="READ MORE AND BUY TICKETS HERE" btn_link="url:https%3A%2F%2Fkilden2020.wpengine.com%2Fforestilling%2Fto-i-baden%2F%3Futm_source%3Dartikkel%26utm_medium%3Dweb%26utm_campaign%3Dknapp%26utm_term%3Dtoibaden||target:%20_blank|» btn_title_color=»#ffffff» btn_bg_color=»#7a3434″ btn_bg_color_hover="#5e5e5e" btn_title_color_hover="#ffffff" btn_icon_pos="ubtn-sep-icon-at-left"]