Alix Cordray is an active Norwegian dance instructor in Oslo. She currently teaches three recreational groups and numerous workshops. Two of the groups, Hordaringen and Springar'n, perform regularly and have visited the US. Alix grew up in international folk dancing in the San Francisco Bay Area. She danced in and later directed Westwind International Folk Ensemble, and taught at the Mandala in San Francisco. She moved to Norway in 1975, where she has gradually focused more and more on Norwegian dance. Starting in 1977, she has toured the US teaching Norwegian dance many times. Alix is also a trained dancer, including extensive training in modern dance (Graham technique), an MA in dance from Mills College, RSCDS teacher certification, and university work in Norwegian dance in Norway.
Alix first learned Finnskogspols under the name "Elverumspols", a short third beat dance, at Scandia Camp Mendocino in 1980. Elverumspols was a reconstruction by Sverre Halbakken based on his own extensive research in a broad area including much of Østerdal. Through the years, Alix stayed in contact with Sverre Halbakken and has occasionally taught with him. Sverre has moved on to a newer reconstruction combining gangar and polsdans - which he calls "gammelpols". In the 1990s Heidi Arild and Sinnika Langeland did a different reconstruction and called it Polsdans fra Finnskogen, commonly referred to as Finnskogspols. Bjørn Sverre Hol Haugen has been the main teacher of that reconstruction. Alix has been involved in the study of short 3 dances since 1980 and is known for her teaching of Finnskogspols. Alix is involved in the efforts to revive "short-3" music and dance in Østfold (where she first lived in Norway). Alix learned to play two-row accordion during the 1980s Norwegian boom. For many years she played in a group associated with Hordaringen (where she teaches dance). Later, she took an interest in fiddle tunes on the two-row, many of which are quite different from the standard two-row repertoire. photo provided by the artist
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