Karin Westberg Brennesvik

Takk for alt du gjorde for å inspirere folk til å jobbe med bygdedansen, du var et forbilde og har satt dype spor hos mange. Takk for samarbeidet med aktører i Seljord, særlig i forkant av landskappleiken i Seljord i 2011.. Hvil i fred Karin. På vegne av utøvere innen folkedans og folkemusikk i Seljord.

I first met Karin in '84 at Mendocino, and then joined the group at her first camp in Norway in '86. She opened the painted door, and filled our lives with joy and magic! The most inspiring teacher and mentor throughout the years, she has swept us away with her elegance, finesse, power, and delightful sense of fun. Her smile lit up every room, like a spirit on fire, which will live with us always. The gifts she gave so many, especially Arnhild and all the Norwegian friends who feel like family, the music and dance which soar in our hearts and soles, and the countryside, which feels like home. With endless love and gratitude.

Karin, Rich and I met you in 1988 and you changed our life and put it in an entirely new and meaningful direction. I learned so much from you, not only about Telespringar, but about life. Among other things you taught me that no matter how well we plan things out, things have a way of taking their own surprising and meaning-filled direction. You opened me up to take in whatever comes and go with it to discover what it has to offer. You taught me that the things we do are not what matters most, but how we do them and the people we do them with. Takk og klemm for alt, Karin.

We met Karen at a Telespringar workshop in Mill Valley California in about 1986. What we remember most about her was her insistence that we practice the basic step. We did for a full half day. It was the dance! Everything else in the dance she said was based on the basic step. Make no doubt about it, she was correct. Later we travelled to Norway to visit her at her house. She was very kind and showed us the school that she was converting into a dance studio. It had not yet been completed but we could imagine that it would be a wonderful space in which to dance. We stayed with her overnight. She did not have an extra bedroom so we slept on the floor on cushions from her sofa. We kept rolling off the cushions and it was a night to remember. We miss her wonderful smile and full acceptance of strangers like us who just showed up at her door on summer day in the late 1980's. We saw her on several other occasions here in the USA and Norway. She was always open and friendly to us when we met again. We were lucky to know her and her wonderful spirit for life and dance. Farnk & Jane Tripi Aug 26, 2020

Det er med vemod me høyrer at Karin er gått bort. Heilt sidan me var i lag i den aktive Oslo-tida, fekk vera med i eit strålande bryllaup, med mykje kontakt også etter at dei nygifte hadde drege til Kongsberg for å starte frisørforretning, var det bygdedansen og folkemusikken som samla oss. Kurs, kappleikar, konferansar, jamvel turnear og framsyningar på Norsk Høstfest i USA, der Karin gjorde ein formidabel innsats i mange år for å formidle norsk tradisjonskultur for eit stort publikum. Ho var oppteken av dei kvalitative sidene og dei særeigne verdiane i slåttespelet, dansen og kvedinga. Me vil takke henne og familien for ein stor og langvarig innsats i arbeidet for våre felles kulturverdiar. Signe minnet!