Reykjavík Grapevine - 08.10.2010, Page 38

24
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 16 — 2010
‘Transaquania – Into Thin Air’ premiered yesterday. It might not have been ready
We caught up with Erna Ómarsdót-
tir, Gabríela Friðrikdóttir and Damien
Jalet as they were rehearsing their new
piece ‘Transaquania – Into Thin Air’ and
asked them all about it.
“Normally we are never ready,” a
flushed Erna Ómarsdóttir tells me when
I ask how the preparations are coming
along. “We never look at the premiere
as something finished or perfect. It’s a
goal, but it would be boring to have ev-
erything ready. Often it is when you are
confronted with the audience that the
performance reveals itself, and from
there the piece will continue to grow
and develop. Of course we have to be
sensible—so in this case everything will
be pretty much in place, but you have
to leave room for the piece to grow.
You hope that you have put it together
in such a way that something beautiful
can happen – and a sort of magic can
take place.”
“I agree with Erna,” Damien Jalet
chimes in, “even after a hundred shows
the work will still be growing. It’s al-
ways a great step to see that a piece
suddenly works for itself. You start to
understand its needs, and start to see
the bigger picture of all the scenes get-
ting together. It’s like seeing the pic-
ture of an unknown puzzle appearing
clearer and clearer. We have something
to show you for sure...”
What is Transaquania – Into Thin
Air about?
Erna: It started with a performance in
the Blue Lagoon last year, where we
wanted to create our own mythology
of the Blue Lagoon about these crea-
tures we call Transaquanian. Now it is
as if the Lagoon has dried up and these
creatures that lived there are venturing
onto dry land.
Damien: Yes I think after our project
in the Blue Lagoon—where we experi-
enced what it was to dance in water;
how breathing becomes a struggle,
and where your body floats—we re-
ally took oxygen and gravity as central
themes. And it is still a story of muta-
tion and of evolution—looking at how
human nature finds its roots in the ani-
mal and vegetal world, and how we are
a part of something much bigger than
culture or civilization.
Gabríela Friðriksdóttir: I feel also that
creating a certain universe gives you
so much space for surprises—it al-
lows things to grow inside it. Even by
just finding a space and giving the first
creatures a name, like Transaquanians,
it starts to evolve by itself. This story
or fiction of an evolution becomes our
way of thinking, it becomes our daily
lives and that’s how it starts to grow
naturally. It mutates and it is reborn and
it dies—and it’s sucked into a black hole
and spat out again.
What have been your main influ-
ences and sources of inspiration?
Damien: Gabríela, Erna and I have some
common gods: Jan Svankmajer, David
Attenborough, Tarkovski... we also had
a few images of certain things includ-
ing a population residing on an island
in Japan that live permanently with gas
masks, because of the possible gas
eruptions from a volcano they are living
on, the recent discovery of an animal
that doesn't need oxygen to live, cos-
monauts in zero gravity and the open-
ing scene of 2001 Space Odyssey...
Gabriela: Also the Sun, the Moon and
all the other planets. As well as the ele-
ments: earth, fire, water, air and space.
Transaquania has been created by
three of you in collaboration, can
you tell us a little about how you
work together?
Damien: It’s very intuitive and I think
the three of us really rely strongly on
intuition whether we work together or
not. What is really inspiring for Erna
and I is seeing what Gabríela creates—
the costumes and sculptures—because
they become a departure point for us to
create movement, or a scene, or a new
species. Sometimes Gabríela has an
idea of a costume and we realise after-
wards that it fits perfectly into a scene
we started to work on. So we never talk
too much.
Erna: Often Damien and I do not even
need to speak and we are working
like kindred spirits. Then on other oc-
casions it can be difficult and Damien
and I fight like cat and dogs. But that’s
why we do it—it is a total collaboration.
Obviously Damien and I have focused
more on the choreography and Gabríe-
la on the costumes, but the process is
very close.
Gabríela: I think all three of us just love
to work. There is this satisfaction in the
process that is so generous and inspir-
ing. We always try to be completely
open to changes and possibilities
whilst working on a piece, and the life
with all its elements joins into this col-
laboration also—adding to it humour,
pain and joy.
Now we’re working with the danc-
ers from the Iceland Dance Company
and they add their personalities, with
their humour, pain and joy as well.

“We Are Never Ready”
dance | Dance Dance
For more information on Keðja go to www.Keðja.id.is.
For all other dance information go to www.dance.is
“We never look at the premiere as something finished
or perfect. It’s a goal, but it would be boring to have
everything ready. Often it is when you are confronted
with the audience that the performance reveals itself,
and from there the piece will continue to grow and
develop
Transaquania premiered in Borga-
leikhúsið yesterday—with further
shows planned tonight, and then
every Sunday until the end of No-
vember.
In addition to this Erna Ómarsdóttir,
Valdimar Jóhannsson’s and Shalala
will perform a dance piece entitled
‘Teach Us to Outgrow Our Madness’
at Norðurpóllinn on Sunday Octo-
ber 10, at 2 pm and 6 pm.
Transaquania – Into Thin Air and
Teach us to Outgrow Our Madness
are both being performed as part of
Keðja—a huge, one off dance con-
vention taking place this weekend
in Reykjavík. For further details
about Keðja and other events taking
place check out www.kedja.id.is.
Words
Alexander Roberts
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