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The Folk Dance Teams
Page 1

Please email us if you can identify persons whose names aren't noted below the pictures. If you recognize yourself or a relative, and in any way are offended by the picture being published, please send an email and the picture will be removed.

Please help us identify the persons on the photos.
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Gripsholm Around the World Cruise 1966.
Violinist and orchestra leader Franz Racz made 26 cruises around the world.
Many thanks to Sven Fürst, Crew Purser/Cashier on the Gripsholm 1965-1968, for this photo.

Liz Brokmose has identified the following folk dancers above:
First row left, Franz Racz, next Hanna
Left, 2nd row: José Martinez,  Christina Agerskov, far right Else Larsen
3rd row, second from left  Birgitta Palmer
Stewardess Lois "Lulu" MacNeil has identified Ann-Marie Wiberg,
second from right in this photo.


The Kungsholm Folk Dance folder,
early 1930's

The crew's folk dancing performances on board the SAL ships were introduced in the early 1930's by musician Jacob Velt, who had played music in movie theaters in Gothenburg before he joined SAL. During WW2, the Kungsholm was purchased by the US Government and turned into the troop transport ship John Ericson. The Drottningholm and the Gripsholm were initially laid up in Sweden before the exchange voyages started in 1942. The folk dancing ceased, and Jacob Velt emigrated to the U.S. Purser Hugo Billén organized the dancing teams again after the war.

The list of performers in the folk dance folder below include Stina van Ginhoven and Lennart Sundqvist, crew members on the Kungsholm and Gripsholm in the pre-war era. Stina's nephew, Dan van Ginhoven, has contributed the following information:

"Stina van Ginhoven and Lennart Sundqvist worked on the Gripsholm when World War 2 broke out. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, they left the ship, and Stina worked in the USA. Lennart served in the U.S. Army in the Pacific. They returned to Sweden after the war, were married, and had a son. They lived many years in Västervik, where Lennart was an engineer at Electrolux, and Stina was a gymnastics instructor. Later, they moved to Mariestad, where Electrolux has a plant. Today, Stina has passed away, and Lennart still lives in Mariestad. Stina van Ginhoven had three brothers and two sisters. Stina van Ginhoven was my aunt. Stina and Lennart are among the relatives that I remember with fondness from my childhood, they were happy and enjoyed their lives."
Dan van Ginhoven

"The infectious gaiety of the dancers as caught by the camera."

The dances given tonight are a presentation of the Kungsholm Folk Dance Team, a voluntary organization of the ship's personnel, of which each member has given part of his, or her spare time for the long rehearsals necessary to bring the dances to their present perfection.

It was formed when the ship's personnel discovered that among its members were representatives of each province of Sweden. The research to make certain that the dances, costumes, and music were absolutely authentic, was long and arduous.

Program:
1. Hand-clapping dance
2. Herrskapsvalsen
3. Väva vadmal
4. Träskodansen
5. Schottis
6. Västgötapolska
7. Långdansen - a Swedish Snake Dance.
 
The dancers this evening:
Stina van Ginhoven
 
Olle Cobbel
Kajsa Lindquist
 
Ingemar Stéen
Greta Samuelsson
 
Eric Sandström
Ester Hultgren
 
Gunnar Svärd
Britt Lindesjöö
 
Evert Malmberg
Signe Mårtensson
 
Arne Jupén
Margit Andersson
 
Rune Nilsson
Eva Jurell
 
Lennart Sundqvist
Kristina Ahlin
 
Carl-Olof Axén
 
The fiddler:
Baltzar Lundwall


The color pictures below have been contributed by Carl-Gustav Kruse's son Magnus Kruse

K-1. Colonial-West Indies Cruise
Gripsholm 1974


K-2. Mediterranean-Riviera Cruise
Gripsholm 1974

K-3. Luigi Poli in center

K-4. MS Gripsholm.
Monica Walkenfors (Evnell as unmarried) is the second
girl from the right in front of her dancing partner Kjell.



K-5


K-6. Lis Brokmose has identified the following persons, from left to right:
Lars Isaksson, piccolo, Birgitta Palmér (stewardess M-deck Aft), Lasse?, Kerstin Eng (stewardess B-deck),
Göran Bjurström, asst. Deck Steward, Gerd Mårtensson stewardess B-deck, Lille Sigrid (Pursers Office),
Kjell Nilsson, Bar Stew., Kjelle Deck Steward, Intendent Kruse, Sten Hedlund, Deck Stew., "Kerstin i tvätten",
Annemarie Ståle, Monika Benoit, Christina Areskough (Russel Terrier).
K-7. Center, right, crew members Anita Olsson (blue vest) and Luigi Poli, MS Kungsholm.
Back row, left: Werner Steinberger, Hans Schloegl, and Patrick Zeller.
Heinz Krapf, Birgitta Baumann, and Herbert Baumann are also in this photo.


K-8. MS Kungsholm World Cruise 1974
K-9. MS Kungsholm, South Seas Cruise 1969
Chief Purser Lennart Håkansson


Heinz Krapf, Sigrid Lundström and Captain Cook,
South Seas Cruise 1969


The following pictures have been contributed by Gunnar Hallert,
assistant waiter and assistant cabin attendant on the Kungsholm.

 


The pictures are from the Kungsholm South Seas Cruise 1965. The Folk Dance team was headed by Ragnar Ringborn, on the far right, and his son is on the left, next to the accordion player. Gunnar Hallert is in the top row, and below, with passenger.

 
 
 

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