Vesterheim hosts a Foot-Notes dance on September 13 from 7:00-9:00 p.m. on the new Commons patio. Rain location will be inside the Commons. The Museum Building will be open that day from 9:00 a.m.- 7:00 p.m. and the Museum Store will be open from 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. and 7:00-9:00 p.m.

You’re in for a treat with this fantastic Decorah-area Scandinavian dance band. You can sit back and tap your toes to the music or join in on the dance floor. There will waltzes and two-steps, plus group dances and lots of community fun.

The Foot-Notes band was founded in 1991, and current band members include Beth Hoven Rotto, Jon Rotto, Erik Sessions, and Nina Sessions. Collecting tunes from a variety of local musicians, the Foot-Notes are known as bearers of Norwegian-American dance music traditions that reach back to the era of house parties and barn dances. They regularly perform in Iowa at dances in the historic two-room schoolhouse in Highlandville and at Nordic Fest in Decorah.

Presented in connection with the exhibit Hand Me Down the Fiddle: Norwegian Fiddlers, Fiddles, and Fiddle Tunes in the Upper Midwest open at Vesterheim through May 18, 2025. The exhibit features Norwegian and Norwegian-American fiddlers, fiddles, and fiddle tunes from the Upper Midwest. Check vesterheim.org for a full schedule of exhibit-related events.

The exhibition and events are supported by a Scandinavian Folk Arts & Cultural Traditions in the Upper Midwest grant from the American Scandinavian Foundation (ASF) and a generous gift to the Vesterheim Annual Fund from Carol Birkland and Tom Woxland, and Peter Dahlen and Mary S. Carlsen.