Skandia Folkdance Society was founded by Gordon E. Tracie, January 9th 1949 for the preservation and teaching of traditional dance culture and music of the Nordic lands. Skandia members come from all sorts of backgrounds, so one doesn't need to be a Scandinavian to enjoy the activities.
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Gordon Tracie Music Collection (GTMC)
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Gordon Ekvall Tracie devoted over four decades to the study and promotion of Nordic traditional music and dance. At his death in 1988, Gordon bequeathed his extensive music, dance, and text collections to Skandia Music Foundation, with the request that the collections be kept together and made available to the public. Through the cooperative efforts of the Foundation and Nordic Heritage Museum (now the National Nordic Museum), the Gordon Ekvall Tracie Music Library was opened in March 1995 as a research archive of traditional Nordic music and dance. The name was changed to Gordon Tracie Music Collection (GTMC) in 2018 to better reflect the nature and mission of the collection.
The core of the Gordon Tracie Music Collection is the material collected by Gordon Tracie from the 1940s through the late 1980s, including audio and video recordings as well as written documentation of Scandinavian folk and traditional music, dance, costumes, customs, folklore and folk art. (Note: In this context, Scandinavia includes Denmark, the Faeroes, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.) The collection includes over 500 original reel-to-reel field recordings made by Tracie during his numerous research trips to the Scandinavian countries, as well as over 300 reels documenting conversations, dance programs, presentations and radio programs. While many of Tracie's important field recordings have been catalogued in detail, the cataloguing of the extensive materials in the GTMC is ongoing.
In addition to these important field recordings, the GTMC houses several thousand commercial and non-commercial recordings on a wide array of media, as well as photos, negatives, slides, posters, music and dance notations, and hundreds of texts and written works. Like much of the commercially recorded music in the GTMC, many of the books, monographs, periodicals, sheet music, and dance notes are now out of print and have become valuable to researchers.
Among the treasures are writings by Gordon Tracie himself, including outlines, notes, comments and manuscripts related to his extensive production of dance descriptions and articles on dance and music. Among other notable material is his 1961 booklet, The Folk Music of Sweden, commissioned by the Swedish Broadcasting Corporation. As part of Gordon Tracie’s legacy, the GTMC includes special collections of documents and artifacts from and about pivotal Northwest groups and personalities: Skandia Folkdance Society founded by Tracie in 1949; Nordiska Folkdancers which evolved from the original 1949 performing "Scandia Folkdancers”; the Skandia Music Foundation founded by Tracie in 1970 as a repository and guardian for his material legacy; and key Scandinavian folk music and dance personalities of the Pacific Northwest. Today, an endowment from the Skandia Music Foundation continues to support the maintenance and operation of the GTMC.
With Gordon Tracie's legacy as a valuable and extensive base, the GTMC has continued to acquire materials by donation, purchase, and commission. One of the GTMC's particular missions is the continuing documentation of Nordic folk music and dance in the Pacific Northwest.
Because the GTMC a research archive, materials may not be checked out but may be used at the Museum with archivist assistance. Some audiocassettes of these materials are available for listening. With very few exceptions, copies of materials may be made by staff for users' personal study or non-commercial use.
For researchers wishing to use the Gordon Ekvall Tracie Music Collection,
contact the Walter Johnson Memorial Library at the National Nordic Museum:
email: library@nordicmuseum.org
The core of the Gordon Tracie Music Collection is the material collected by Gordon Tracie from the 1940s through the late 1980s, including audio and video recordings as well as written documentation of Scandinavian folk and traditional music, dance, costumes, customs, folklore and folk art. (Note: In this context, Scandinavia includes Denmark, the Faeroes, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.) The collection includes over 500 original reel-to-reel field recordings made by Tracie during his numerous research trips to the Scandinavian countries, as well as over 300 reels documenting conversations, dance programs, presentations and radio programs. While many of Tracie's important field recordings have been catalogued in detail, the cataloguing of the extensive materials in the GTMC is ongoing.
In addition to these important field recordings, the GTMC houses several thousand commercial and non-commercial recordings on a wide array of media, as well as photos, negatives, slides, posters, music and dance notations, and hundreds of texts and written works. Like much of the commercially recorded music in the GTMC, many of the books, monographs, periodicals, sheet music, and dance notes are now out of print and have become valuable to researchers.
Among the treasures are writings by Gordon Tracie himself, including outlines, notes, comments and manuscripts related to his extensive production of dance descriptions and articles on dance and music. Among other notable material is his 1961 booklet, The Folk Music of Sweden, commissioned by the Swedish Broadcasting Corporation. As part of Gordon Tracie’s legacy, the GTMC includes special collections of documents and artifacts from and about pivotal Northwest groups and personalities: Skandia Folkdance Society founded by Tracie in 1949; Nordiska Folkdancers which evolved from the original 1949 performing "Scandia Folkdancers”; the Skandia Music Foundation founded by Tracie in 1970 as a repository and guardian for his material legacy; and key Scandinavian folk music and dance personalities of the Pacific Northwest. Today, an endowment from the Skandia Music Foundation continues to support the maintenance and operation of the GTMC.
With Gordon Tracie's legacy as a valuable and extensive base, the GTMC has continued to acquire materials by donation, purchase, and commission. One of the GTMC's particular missions is the continuing documentation of Nordic folk music and dance in the Pacific Northwest.
Because the GTMC a research archive, materials may not be checked out but may be used at the Museum with archivist assistance. Some audiocassettes of these materials are available for listening. With very few exceptions, copies of materials may be made by staff for users' personal study or non-commercial use.
For researchers wishing to use the Gordon Ekvall Tracie Music Collection,
contact the Walter Johnson Memorial Library at the National Nordic Museum:
email: library@nordicmuseum.org
SKANDIA FOLKDANCE SOCIETY
PO Box 17123
Seattle, WA 98127-0823
For telephone information, call (425) 954-5262
PO Box 17123
Seattle, WA 98127-0823
For telephone information, call (425) 954-5262