Reykjavík Grapevine - feb. 2022, Blaðsíða 11

Find today's events
in Iceland!
Download our free
listings app - APPENING
on the Apple and
Android stores
Sámi National Day Films
Film Screenings
February 6th - 16:00 to 20:00 - The
Nordic House - Free (sign up online)
The Nordic House is celebrating
Sámi National day on February 6th
by screening a selection of films in
collaboration with the International
Sámi Film Institute. The afternoon
will start with short films, followed
by a screening of ‘Eatnameamet—
Our Silent Struggle’, directed by
indigenous filmmaker Siv West.
The films shed light on the Sámi
people’s long fought battle against
assimilation, colonisation and
eradication. JG
Authentic Finnish Sauna
Finnish Culture Day
February 27th - 13:00 to 16:00 -
Brei!holtslaug - Free Entry
Finns: we’re not sure how to feel
about them. Do we trust these
guys with their weird vowels and
unnecessary amount of trees? But
there is one thing Finland definitely
gets right, and that’s sauna.
Luckily for us the Finnish Embassy
is celebrating ‘Kalevala’ – Finnish
National Culture Day – by inviting
us all to the pool to check out
authentic Finnish sauna traditions.
Expect birch twigs. JG
Hyperpop Galore!
Inspector Spacetime With Young
Nazareth
February 5th - 20:00 - Priki! - Free
Entry
Live music is back, baby! And who
better to celebrate its welcome
return with than dancepop darlings
(and Grapevine Music Award
winners) Inspector Spacetime?
The happy trio are basically party
incarnate, and this concert is the
ideal way to firmly shake off those
January blues. Come along to Priki!
on Saturday and we guarantee
you’ll dansa og bánsa with the best
of them. Just make sure you get
down early because it’s going to be
rammed. JG
Dancin! Between The Cracks
Hvíla Sprun"ur explores the crevasses in our
own personal "laciers
Words: John Pearson Photos: RAX
Iceland's glaciers are a rich source of symbol-
ism. We observe these majestic ice caps melt
and recede as a stark reminder of the climate
crisis. At the same time, they are some of
the last areas of land largely untouched by
human encroachment, representing a truly
wild Iceland. And the glaciers can also act as
a broader metaphor for our existence, their
cracks and crevasses reminding us of the risks
of being human.
'Hvíla Sprungur' is a new performance by
the Iceland Dance Company that opens this
month at Reykjavík's Borgarleikhúsi!. The title
translates as 'Rest Cracks', but its given English
title of 'Crevasses' points more accurately to the
focus of choreographer Inga Maren Rúnarsdót-
tir's work. The set, designed by Júlíanna Lára
Steingrímsdottir, and the dancers' costumes
comprise photos by celebrated Icelandic
wilderness photographer RAX, (Ragnar Axels-
son).
Two of the four performers—Ásgeir Helgi
Magnússon and Emilía Benedikta Gísladót-
tir—shared their thoughts and experiences
just before the premiere performance.
"It's amazing to work with Inga Maren," says
Ásgeir, when asked how the show was develop-
ing. "It's so good to have somebody orchestrat-
ing who really knows what they want, but is
open to suggestions."
"It's been a really fun process," Emilía says,
"and so nice to be able to come to work during
this strange COVID time. So it's been a blessing
to gather here, create something beautiful and
have fun."
Mind the gap
In this work, Inga Maren dives within herself
to look at her personal weak points—her
cracks and crevasses—and asks: what are
the breaches in her own personal glacier into
which she falls? And considering wider society,
as it traverses the metaphorical glacier: how
do we travel together in a way that enables us
to pull each other up when we inevitably fall?
And how do we avoid falling in the first place?
These questions take on physical expression in
'Hvíla Sprungur'.
The dancers have also been making personal
connections with the core ideas of the piece,
as Emilía explains: "Every single one of us has
been trying to dig into our own past a little bit
and find our own stories, so we've been going
through that as well. Sometimes the snow goes
over the crevasse, so you don't see it. And also
with ourselves, maybe we have a problem that
we don't really show. But it's there."
Ásgeir sees the timing of this project as
particularly significant. "I think that COVID
has become, for many people, a bit of a revela-
tion that they are stuck in a crevasse of some
sort. You're forced to face your personal things
because you can't really go on with life as usual."
Chilling imagery
The set is based on glacial imagery from
photographer RAX. The scenery is the same
design as the dancers' costumes, which allows
the performers to hide on stage.
"I think that comes from Inga's own child-
hood, and the memories that she was working
with," Ásgeir explains. "A need for self-protec-
tion. How can you blend into the background?
Like the ptarmigan in the winter, turning white
to blend in with the snow."

The icy stage set is powerfully striking. "Some-
times when we have the glacier around us, we
feel really cold suddenly," Emilía observes. "And
often the people who are watching also feel
cold!"
Old collaborators, new
collaboration
The project is an opportunity for old friends
Ásgeir and Emilía to work together again, for
the first time in years, and to work with new
friends.
"It's great for us, the old ones, to be with the
young ones," Emilía laughs, referring to fellow
dancers Erna Gunnarsdóttir and Sigur!ur
Andrean Sigurgeirsson. "They keep us on our
toes!"
The music for 'Hvíla Sprungur' is an evolving
piece based on the composition 'Quadrantes' by
Óttar Sæmundsen and Stephan Stephensen, a
former member of Gusgus. In fact, the project
is also a four-way reunion for Inga, Stephan,
Ásgeir and Emilía, who all worked together on
the project 'Journey', a collaboration between
Gusgus and the Iceland Dance Company back
in 2015.
Emilía and Ásgeir are excited to bring 'Hvíla
Sprungur' to the stage. "This piece is going to
be very audience friendly. It's really dancey, and
it has beautiful music!" says Emilía.
So come and experience 'Hvíla Sprungur'.
Just bring a decent coat and some mittens.
Performances are at Borgarleikhúsi! on February
4th, 10th and 18th at 20:00. Tickets cost 4,450 ISK
and are available from tix.is
CULTURE
NEWS
A disappearing dancer