While their peers may be spinning on their heads practicing their latest break dancing moves, or too cool to dance at all, a large multi-age group of students meets every Monday at the Sons of Norway Hall in Poulsbo to work on their hambos, polkas and other traditional Scandinavian circle folk dances.

No Scandinavian event is complete without an appearance by the Leikarringen Dancers in their colorful folk costumes, who range in age from kindergarten to high school seniors. There is also an adult group.

A contingent of the youth and adult dancers will perform June 24 at Midsummer Fest at Waterfront Park in Poulsbo.

Lisa Moseng has been leading the student dancers for more than seven years, since her own children were young, but it was not her first choice of dance.

“I always did ballet growing up,” she said. “So when the kids (two girls and a boy) were young I figured it was time to put them in ballet.”

It was her husband who suggested an alternative — Scandinavian dancing.

“He said, ‘When’s the last time you danced ballet? Folk dancing is something they can do their whole lives,’” Moseng related.

She soon found herself teaching the youngest dancers, then moved up through the ranks as her children and her skills grew.

She said there are around 150 children in the program, with about half from Poulsbo and the rest from other parts of the county. The Sons of Norway-sponsored program is the only one in Kitsap County and the largest by far in the Puget Sound region, Moseng said.

“It may even be the largest program outside of Minnesota,” she said.

So what attracts kids more tuned in to iPods than polkas to the traditional style of dancing and quaint costumes? Simply put: it’s fun.

“They just have a ball,” Moseng said.

Unlike ballet classes, which may host a single male student, the Leikarringen lessons are usually evenly populated with boys and girls.

“My son loved it,” Moseng said. “It makes it easier to interact with girls. It’s a healthy interaction with other kids. They learn that it’s OK to be friends with a boy or a girl, and to hold hands as dance partners.”

She noted it can be tough to entice younger teen boys into classes, but that high school seniors are more likely to join, having overcome their adolescent awkwardness.

It also helps when they see this is no sissy dance. The dances can be very athletic and require advanced gymnastic skills. The more demanding dances were developed during long Scandinavian winters as a way for young men to show off their athletic prowess to the girls, Moseng said.

Dance moves include clapping hands in mid-pushup, Kosak-style high kicks and a favorite move called “kicking the rafters.” For this one a girl stands on a chair and holds a hat on a stick, about a foot over the boy’s head. He then tries to kick it off the stick — without falling flat.

The younger Leikarringen Dancers perform at area care centers while the teens travel to Vancouver and Victoria, B.C. once a year to perform at schools.

Locally their big show is at Viking Fest, but they will perform this weekend at the Sons of Norway Midsummer Fest at Waterfront Park. Look for them at 5 p.m. at Kvelstad pavilion, followed by the adult dancers.

Midsummer Fest activities listed

Midsummer Fest, the Scandinavian festival marking the first day of summer, takes place June 24 at Waterfront Park in Poulsbo. It kicks off at 4 p.m. with greetings and Norwegian singing, followed by the raising of the maypole, or “majstang,” which is accompanied by singing and dancing.

The Viking Village will once again be set up in Waterfront Park and there will be old-fashioned children’s games such as tug-of-war and gunny sack races.

At 7 p.m. the Sons of Norway Vikings lead a torchlight parade through the park, culminating in the lighting of the bonfire in the park firepit, which will undoubtedly lead to more singing and dancing.

The Nordleik Trio provides music throughout the event, with Jane Landstra on vocals, hardingfele and violin, Ken Embrey on trekkspel (accordion) and hardingfele and David Denze on cittern and wooden flute.

New this year will be a menagerie of uniquely Scandinavian animals, including a Norwegian forest cat, an Icelandic horse, a Norwegian elk hound, a buhund, lundehund and vallhund, which are Spitz breed dogs.

And, of course, there will be the popular dogfish tossing contest and tasty Scandinavian foods served at the Sons of Norway Lodge adjacent to the park.

The event is free and appropriate for all ages and heritages. It is co-sponsored by the Poulsbo Sons of Norway and the Historic Downtown Poulsbo Association.