The oldest, most traditional form of Norwegian folk dance is probably the men`s single dance. This particular dance is a dance where endurance, strength and acrobatic are the most important ingredients. The dance has been widely used across the whole country, but today the dance is mainly practised in the villages in the east of Norway such as Hallingdal, Valdres, Numedal and Telemark.

Thanks to much interest and new classes started by enthusiasts, the tradition is blooming again across the country. The rhythm of the dance is 2/4 or 6/8 beat, due to this quite fast, sharp beat it is very important to have an experienced musician. The musicians need to give the dancers enough energy to perform the various challenges/moves which are traditional to the dance such as the “nakkespretten”, “krukinger”, “hodestifter” and especially the “kastet”. “Kastet” is seen as the test of strength, which involves kicking an object that is held on a wooden stick about 230 to 280 cm above the floor. These days the most common object to use hanging off the stick is a hat.