Reykjavík Grapevine - 14.01.2005, Qupperneq 20

Will the real
MARLENE DIETRICH
please stand up?
Dancer/choreographer/director/
singer and general creative lady
Erna Ómarsdóttir of Íslenski
Dansflokkurinn has never been
afraid to take on something new.
Together with the equally multi-
faceted Slovenian Emil Hrvatin, who
amongst other things is head of the
production and publishing company
Maska, and edits a magazine of the
same title, she is currently developing
“We Are All Marlene Dietrich
FOR,” a work of contemporary
dance to be performed on five
dates between the 4th and 11th of
February at the Borgarleikhús on
Listabraut. The music is by Belgian
group PONI.
Global military awareness
Erna and Emil have taken the
position of the wartime icon as
a starting point to explore the
relationship between art and
war, artist and soldier. Marlene
performed to American troops, but
was equally loved by the German
army, though she refused to perform
to them, and regarded her art, the
entertainment of the forces, as a
political instrument. “Being an artist
means being an entertainer, it is
something we cannot forget, it is like
being Icelandic, or Slovenian; though
we may not like it, it is integral to
who we are,” states Emil with a
contagious enthusiasm.
Soldiers get in for free
So with that in mind, and with the
backdrop of a current global military
awareness, they set out to create a
work aimed towards an audience that
is not their usual one, an audience
that generally favours entertainment
over artistic interest, an audience
of peace keeping soldiers, and to
that framework add the political
questions and angles appropriate to
the situation. Army staff and their
families gain free entry. For tickets
visit www.id.is.
Soldiers and contemporary dance. Weapon-wielding military
men and purveyors of the finer arts. Maybe not a mix that springs
lightly to mind, for the most of us at least. But what has Marlene
Dietrich got to do with anything? And why are we all her, or she all
of us?
by Anik Todd
20