Olof Misgeld

Sweden °1973
research interests: music, folk music, dance, improvisation, traditional music, tradition, music theory, Music analysis
affiliation: Royal College of Music in Stockholm, Sweden.
en

Olof Misgeld, born 1973 in Uppsala, Sweden is a traditional folk fiddler, researcher and senior lecturer at the Department of Folk Music at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm (KMH). He holds a PhD from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm with his dissertation Music-Dance Mediations: Performative Explorations into an Asymmetrical Type of the Swedish Polska (2024). The research is centered around the practice of playing for dancing within Swedish Folk Music tradition. Olof is strongly influenced by his studies of traditional playing styles from different parts of Sweden, where the relationship between music and dance is central. Exploring the expressional possibilities of oral tradition is central to his research, artistic and pedagogical work – with improvisation, in new ensemble forms and focusing on music and dance interaction. Olof’s has been awarded riksspelman for his knowledge in traditional music and his artistic portfolio includes performing as soloist and in ensembles Oleman, BLM, Bowing 9, Polska Dance Paths, Stockholm Vodou Orchestra, Fri Form Folk, and as musician and composer in theatre and contemporary dance.

research

research expositions

  • Motion, Music, Mediation: Bridging Tradition and Technology in Swedish Folk Dance-Music (2025) author(s): Olof Misgeld published in: Journal for Artistic Research
    This exhibition presents an investigation into the folk music and dance practice polska, involving a group of Swedish folk musicians and dancers. The investigation employs optical motion capture (mocap) to explore interactive music and dance performances and create innovative artistic expressions by merging traditional practices with contemporary media technology. As a musician working closely with the dancers he plays for, the author explores ways to mediate dance through the sonification and visualisation of movement data. The focus is on the fundamental connection between sound and movement in this performance practice, particularly showcased in the project's centrepiece, Dancing Dots. Documentations of this and other works included in the exhibition present live music and dance with sonic and visual displays derived from mocap data, asking how such multi-modal mediations can facilitate understanding of the interplay between movement and music and open new avenues for artistic expression in this folk music practice. The use of optical motion capture is contextualised as a means of mediating music-dance through narrow streams of movement data, and the exposition introduces a web tool for accessible sonification of folk dance. The exposition applies music and dance theoretical concepts in designing the movement mediations, examines their relevance in an artistic context, and grounds the results in a practice-based understanding of the rhythmic/metric framework of the Swedish polska. Download Accessible PDF
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activities

  • Olof Misgeld (2025)
    Degree: Doctorate, KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden), recipient: Olof Misgeld
    This thesis collects a series of works that engage with Swedish folk music, dance, theory and practice. The studies provide insights into the articulation of rhythm and meter in a local style of the Swedish polska and the interactions between such elements in music and dance performances. The studies exemplify a novel combination of diverse methodologies, including music and dance performance data analysis, design methods, and artistic methods in support of practice-led investigations conducted in close collaboration with the involved dancers. A preliminary concept for accessible sonification of motion captured folk dance is presented, focusing on contextually informed selections of movement parameters. This mediation of movement data through sonification plays a central role in exploring music theory concepts by applying them in artistic practice. The results illustrate the multidimensional character of sound and movement interactions within the local polska type. In addition, artistic works are presented that transcend the participatory performance context of polska dance and explore new artistic potential in the practice of playing for dancing in Swedish folk.