Reykjavík Grapevine - 25.08.2017, Blaðsíða 40

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The Epistemology
Of Circulation
The thoughtful movements of ‘Dear Human Being’
Words: Hannah Jane Cohen Photo: Julie Rowland
“I had a daughter nearly three
years ago,” Valgerður Rúnarsdót-
tir, choreographer of ‘Dear Human
Being,’ a new contemporary dance
show premiering at Tjarnarbíó in
September, tells me. “After that,
I started to think about not only
myself, but the next generation,
and about how I have lived my
life.” Valgerður pauses—as she
oft does—picking her words care-
fully and deliberately. “It was that
newfound thought, that aware-
ness, which sparked ‘Dear Human
Being’.”
Dissonance and
devastation
The project is based on the idea
of circulation, specifically that
between humans and nature. “Hu-
mans are polluting so much and
withdrawing so much from the
Earth. Because of this, we must
ask, is this circulation going to
continue or are we interrupting
it too much?”
While this idea could no doubt
spark thoughts about ideology,
Valgerður assures me that the
piece has no intention of being
deliberately indoctrinating. “We
are not trying to preach anything,
but rather just explore it. Dance
is an abstract art form and peo-
ple can read the piece in different
ways.”
This dissonance—bet ween
everyday actions and the devas-
tating effect one knows they have
on the Earth—is difficult to rec-
oncile for anyone living in modern
society. Valgerður discusses this
extensively. She drives a car and
travels by airplane, which obvi-
ously contributes to environmen-
tal instability. “We are really the
privileged people of the Earth. We
have air and fresh water, but we
usually take that for granted.”
Breathe in, breathe out
The show deals heavily with the
idea of air—one portion centering
completely around breath. Rolling
on the floor, grasping each other,
even at one point forming a to-
tem pool, a trio of dancers moves
around with their faces stuck
concretely in an opened mouth
pose—as if they were gasping for
breath, after almost drowning.
It’s an unnerving sight, almost
grotesque.
“Breathing is circulation. You
cannot live without oxygen, even
though it seems like a normal
thing that we don’t really think
about. You just do it,” she tells
me. “For me, that links into pol-
lution. The air is becoming more
and more polluted and causing a
lot of damage in countries that
have problems like dryness and
war. Even in Iceland, it’s becom-
ing more polluted.” The dancers
tackle this idea head on, using
their bodies as powerful physical
manifestations of it. Arching their
backs as they take deliberate gasp-
ing inhales, you cannot help but
become aware of your own lungs.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
Using an explosive
environment
The environmental effects of in-
dustrialisation are not just ethe-
real ideas to Valgerður and her
team though. Their practise space
for ‘Dear Human Being’ was in the
now-lost Dance Atelier, located
directly next to a construction
zone. “There were these explosions
outside all the time that were very
annoying and distracting. We had
to almost work around them.” The
coincidence feels almost poetic—a
dance about humans affecting
their environment being affected
by other humans affecting their
environment.
The team took the distractions
and ran with them. Áskell Harðar-
son, who produced the music for
the piece, recorded the explo-
sions and integrated them into
the soundtrack for the show. “You
have to use the environment you’re
given,” Valgerður says, smiling.
Of course—as is evident in the
piece—she means you have to use
it thoughtfully and sustainably.
The show will run on September 1st,
3rd, 7th, and 16th at 20:30 at Tjar-
narbíó. Tickets are 3.500 ISK.
Dear Human Being
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i8 Gallery
Tryggvagata 16
101 Reykjavík
info@i8.is
t: +354 551 3666
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17 August - 30 September 2017
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