Reykjavík Grapevine - 01.02.2019, Page 40

Finding A Voice In
The Void
‘What Will We Sing About’ dives deep into
the psyche of eight dancers
Words: Hannah Jane Cohen Photo: Art Bicnick
Dance
‘What Will We Sing About’ will happen
on February 8th, 14th, 24th, and 28th
at 20:00 at the Reykjavík City Theatre.
Tickets are 5,900 ISK and can be bought
at tix.is .
Iceland Dance Company’s newest
show, ‘What Will We Sing About?’
is an elusive journey into the hu-
man psyche, choreographed directly
around the personal experiences and
inner worlds of the eight dancers in-
volved. Conceived by Belgian choreog-
rapher Pieter Ampe, the piece involved
months of preparation in order for the
group to get to know each other viscer-
ally. This knowledge was then used to
build the piece from the ground up.
Pure intimacy
“It ’s been an intimate journey,”
dancer Una Björg Bjarnadóttir says
softly, when asked about the re-
hearsal process. “We’re touching on
subjects that are very human. We’re
going to vulnerable places. The last
two to three months probably had
the most sharing I’ve ever done.”
While she speaks delicately, it’s
clear that this process has touched
a nerve. The piece is poignant for all
the dancers, but it pushed Una in par-
ticular far beyond her comfort zone.
“For many of us, we are opening our
voices and singing,” she explains.
“I haven’t sung in front of an audi-
ence much in my life and it is an ex-
tremely insecure and fragile place.”
Anything is possible
For Pieter though, this sensitivity
is exactly what he hoped for. “They
aren’t trained singers, so they are dis-
covering… and within that discovery,
anything is possible,” he says expres-
sively. When Pieter speaks, he oscil-
lates between passionate and poignant
insights on the show, whilst apologis-
ing that he can’t explain it better. It’s
clear that, like Una,
‘What Will We Sing
About?’ brings out
h i s i n s e c u r it i e s .
The goal, Pieter
explains, is to let
the audience join in
and connect with the
dancer’s emotional
bareness. “For an au-
dience to feel so wel-
come on the stage and feel such a part
of the show that they don’t mind that
someone is singing off-tune… we want
to step back and watch something sur-
prising and beautiful be born,” he adds.
The collective
Shota Inoue, a Japanese dancer in
his debut show with the company,
found his passion through the inti-
mate connection of the group. “We
are individual but part of a collec-
tive and working here on being in-
dividual within a collective,” Shota
explains methodically. He’s a serious
man, with clear reverence and respect
for the work the dancers have done.
“We are all different human be-
ings,” he continues. “How we grew
up, our nationality, our family, our
childhood, our education, but every-
thing makes you who
you are now, and to
bring that individu-
ally into a group is
ha rd to prac t i se.
Someone will start
to cry in the process,
or start to scream.
It ’s real sharing.”
Pieter finds similar
meaning in this cre-
ated community. “To support some-
one, to know a lot of information about
them,” he explains. “You say, well this
is amazing, that was tough, I know you
went through shit, I also went through
shit.” But, he emphasises, the show is
not therapy. “It’s also fun. It’s playful.
We are asking the big questions here,
but it’s generous.”
40The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 02— 2019
Fun kids, chilling
Culture
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“We’re touching on
subjects that are
very human. We’re
going to vulner-
able places.”