{{short description|American dancer}} {{about|the American dancer|the American clubwoman|Jane Farwell Smith}} {{Infobox person | name = Jane Farwell | image = <!-- just the filename, without the File: or Image: prefix or enclosing brackets --> | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1916|01|18|mf=y}} | birth_place = Ridgeway, Wisconsin, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1993|04|06|1916|01|18|mf=y}} | death_place = | other_names = | occupation = Folk dance and recreation leader | alma_mater = Antioch College | spouse = Jergen Hinrichs | children = Mr. and Mrs. Roy Farwell | parents = | known_for = }} '''Jane Farwell''' (January 18, 1916 – April 6, 1993) was an American folk dancer and recreation leader. She specialized in Scandinavian dancing.
== Early life and education == The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Farwell,<ref name="ct">{{cite news |title=Dodgeville Girl Is Leader At Antioch College |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/32552400/jane_farwell/ |accessdate=9 June 2019 |work=The Capital Times |date=February 25, 1938 |location=Wisconsin, Madison |page=13|via = Newspapers.com}}</ref> she was born on her family farm near Ridgeway, Wisconsin.<ref name="fdf" /> After graduating from Central High School in Madison, Wisconsin,<ref name="ct" /> she created a major in "rural community leadership"<ref>{{cite news |title=Dodgeville Girl Will Graduate at Antioch |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/32616018/jane_farwell/ |accessdate=9 June 2019 |work=The Capital Times |date=June 23, 1938 |location=Wisconsin, Madison |page=15|via = Newspapers.com}}</ref> and graduated with honors in 1938 from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio.<ref name="fdf" />
== Career == In 1938, she was a physical education instructor at a high school in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania.<ref>{{cite news |title=Gymnastic Exhibition To Feature P.-T. Program |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/32551606/williamsport_sungazette/ |accessdate=9 June 2019 |work=Williamsport Sun-Gazette |date=January 24, 1938 |location=Pennsylvania, Williamsport |page=2|via = Newspapers.com}}</ref> Soon thereafter, she became an extension recreation specialist in West Virginia, working with Oglebay Park's Oglebay Institute.<ref name="fdf">{{cite web |title=Jane Farwell |url=http://www.socalfolkdance.org/master_teachers/farwell_j.htm |website=Folk Dance Federation of California, South, Inc. |accessdate=9 June 2019 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20190609020800/http://www.socalfolkdance.org/master_teachers/farwell_j.htm |archivedate=9 June 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> She took a four-month leave of absence from that position in 1943<ref>{{cite news |title=Ridgeway Girl to Work at Arizona USO Club |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/32619138/jane_farwell/ |accessdate=9 June 2019 |work=Wisconsin State Journal |date=November 29, 1943 |location=Wisconsin, Madison |page=14|via = Newspapers.com}}</ref> in order to become program director of a new United Service Organizations club in Tucson, Arizona.<ref>{{cite news |title=City's War Workers Program Is Outlined |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/32620680/arizona_republic/ |accessdate=9 June 2019 |work=Arizona Republic |date=December 8, 1943 |location=Arizona, Phoenix |page=5|via = Newspapers.com}}</ref>
Deciding that folk dancing was going to be the main thrust of her recreational program, she became "the 'Johnny Appleseed' of folk dance camps",<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pittman |first1=Anne M. |last2=Waller |first2=Marlys S. |last3=Dark |first3=Cathy L. |title=Dance a While: A Handbook for Folk, Square, Contra, and Social Dance, Tenth Edition |date=2015 |publisher=Waveland Press |isbn=9781478629511 |page=240 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7dM_CQAAQBAJ&q=%22Jane+Farwell%22+dancer&pg=PA240 |accessdate=9 June 2019 |language=en}}</ref> establishing the country’s first folk dance camps, including those in Ohio, New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. She is credited as one of the founders of the modern folk dance movement, whose enthusiasts in the United States came to number in the thousands.
In 1955, Farwell married Jergen Hinrichs, a young farmer from Germany, who was doing an internship on her father’s Ridgeway farm. The couple moved to Germany where she lived in Ostfriesland for 11 years. Throughout Germany, and in Switzerland, Scandinavia, the Netherlands, and Turkey, she continued to teach folk dancing and to study European folklore. In 1956, Jane was invited to tour Japan together with four other well-known folk dance leaders.
In 1966, Farwell returned to Wisconsin, and purchased the old Wakefield School near Ridgeway, on an acre of land which her grandfather had donated to the county back in the early 1880s. There she created and directed Folklore Village — the culmination of her ideas about festivals, folklore, dance, recreation, community, and the land.
In 1988, Farwell and her Folklore Village community realized their dream of building a larger space to house the cultural activities expressed through dance, music, craft, and foodways traditions—Farwell Hall, a large barn-like structure that contains an acclaimed dance floor, a certified kitchen, classrooms, a gallery, and office space.
== Death == On April 6, 1993, Farwell died of complications of cancer at age 77.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/32622620/jane_farwell/|title=Folklorist Farwell dies|date=April 8, 1993|work=The Capital Times|accessdate=9 June 2019|location=Wisconsin, Madison|page=7|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She deeded her family farm—lands and buildings— to Folklore Village, where her work to promote opportunities for individuals and communities to honor, experience, and support ethnic and traditional folklife continues to this day.
== Legacy == Festivals are the heart of Folklore Village. From 1947 (when she began the Christmas Festival)<ref name="wsj">{{cite news |last1=Worland |first1=Gayle |title=Dance like your great-grandma: Keeping traditions alive at Folklore Village |url=https://madison.com/entertainment/music/dance-like-your-great-grandma-keeping-traditions-alive-at-folklore/article_d244c8d7-dbe0-59b2-bd1f-3f8e8073073a.html |accessdate=9 June 2019 |work=Wisconsin State Journal |date=November 25, 2013 |location=Wisconsin, Madison}}</ref> to 1966, Farwell directed her original Festival of Christmas and Midwinter Traditions in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, in order to combat the growing commercialization of Christmas and the ignorance of increasing numbers of young people about the diverse pageantry, foods, and music of Christmas. Folklore Village continues to present some of Jane’s original festivals, as well as others that have grown organically from their diverse community base. In 2016, Folklore Village presented six festivals – a Spring Scandinavian Music and Dance Weekend, an English Country Dance & Music Weekend, a Cajun Music and Dance Weekend, a Fall Swedish Music and Dance Weekend, the 69th Festival of Christmas and Midwinter Traditions, and their newest festival – Sustainability Weekend. All embody Farwell’s original vision of a place where people can come to dance, sing, play music, eat, and live folk customs from the world over.
In 2016, Folklore Village celebrated Farwell’s centennial, recognized by the joint state legislature and Governor Scott Walker; and marked by special events, a reunion weekend, and the publication of the Folklore Village Cookbook.
== Publications ==
* ''Folk Dances for Fun'' * ''Folk Dancing for Fun'' * ''My Heart Sings''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.socalfolkdance.org/master_teachers/farwell_j.htm|title=Jane Farwell|website=www.socalfolkdance.org|access-date=2020-01-09}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}} * {{cite book|last1=Christensen|first1=Peg Eileen|title=Jane Farwell: Adult Educator and Social Recreation Leadership Trainer|date=1999|publisher=University of Wisconsin--Madison|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VvNsAAAAMAAJ|accessdate=27 December 2016}} * {{cite news|last1=Worland|first1=Gayle|title=Dance like your great-grandma: Keeping traditions alive at Folklore Village|url=http://host.madison.com/entertainment/music/dance-like-your-great-grandma-keeping-traditions-alive-at-folklore/article_d244c8d7-dbe0-59b2-bd1f-3f8e8073073a.html|accessdate=27 December 2016|work=Madison.com|date=November 25, 2013}} * {{cite news|last1=Worland|first1=Gayle|title=Setting the records straight at Folklore Village|url=http://host.madison.com/wsj/entertainment/music/setting-the-records-straight-at-folklore-village/article_7c859b5a-df42-560c-bd3a-b9b083d940dc.html|accessdate=27 December 2016|work=Madison.com|date=November 6, 2016}} * {{cite web|url=http://phantomranch.net/folkdanc/teachers/farwell_j.htm|title=Jane Farwell|publisher=Phantom Ranch|access-date=2006-02-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060126030751/http://www.phantomranch.net/folkdanc/teachers/farwell_j.htm|archive-date=2006-01-26|url-status=dead}}
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==External links== *[https://folklorevillage.org/jane-farwell-collection-recorded-music/ The Jane Farwell Collection of Recorded Music at Folklore Village]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farwell, Jane}} Category:Folk dancers Category:1916 births Category:1993 deaths Category:American female dancers Category:Antioch College alumni Category:20th-century American women Category:20th-century American people