Iceland review - 2015, Qupperneq 18

16 ICELAND REVIEW
1. What is Church of Dancy?
It was a one-time event as part of the
Reykjavík Dance Festival 2014 where about
200 people gathered in my neighborhood
and were invited to visit my neighbors’
homes and dance. My neighbors were play-
ing their favorite music and the audience
visited the different apartments with differ-
ent music and in the end, everybody was
dancing.
I wanted to celebrate this safe community
we live in, to celebrate each other and each
other’s bodies. I was also trying to get the
shyness out of people. It’s always easier to
dance when everyone else is dancing. The
only thing to do is participate.
2. What’s the dividing line between
a dancer and a non-dancer?
I would like to say there is no line. Everyone
is a dancer. But I guess that’s not true.
Dancers are highly trained and work in
theaters and perform. Non-dancers are peo-
ple who aren’t aware that they can dance.
3. Have you worked with other
non-dancers?
Last summer I worked with musicians, hav-
ing them dance and do a technique called
shaking, where you just shake—small or big
movements, to music or against music, one
body part or the whole body, or even organs
and feelings. It’s quite spiritual but also very
physical and hard. You get sweaty and empty
your body, or that’s the goal.
4. What’s the difference between
movement and dance?
I think movement and dance are the same
thing. The reason I like to work with non-
SACRED MOVES
trained bodies is to see how they react to
movements or dance. It’s easy to lead peo-
ple through a dance if they’re not trained.
In fact, it can be harder with trained danc-
ers because they can be too ‘correct’.
5. Is there a movement culture or
style that’s specific to Iceland?
I do think culture inspires movements.
Maybe people in Iceland are a bit shy to
dance and that makes the movements min-
imalistic.
6. How do you use music in
your pieces?
It depends on the project, but recently
I haven’t been working with music very
much. I want to emphasize the dance or
the choreography. It’s so common to have
dance and music together. Some pieces do
have music, if it helps the work. But some-
times it’s just not necessary and silence is
better.
7. What’s your background?
I graduated from the Iceland Academy
of the Arts in 2011. I started out in bal-
let and modern dance, and then moved
on to contemporary. I’m leaning more
towards choreography now—social chore-
ography, choreographies of daily life and of
non-dancers.
8. How did you find your way as
an artist after graduation?
I’ve been very lucky. Somehow I just met
the right people. It can be hard to find col-
leagues that you can work with. I’ve been
quite outgoing. It’s important not to be shy
Dancer and choreographer Ásrún Magnúsdóttir was nominated for the 2015 DV Culture Prize for her project
Church of Dancy. Rachel Mercer asked the 26-year-old ten questions about her work and what defines dance.
or scared. And of course, I’m lucky to live
in Reykjavík, where I was born and raised.
I have a really strong network here.
9. What’s important in a collabora-
tion?
My closest collaborator is Alexander
Roberts, co-director of the Reykjavík
Dance Festival. We’ve been developing
a working style together for the last two
years. I don’t like to work alone at all; I
like to work with people. Usually we go
into the studio and dance, but we also talk
a lot. We’re quite critical of each other.
We’re not shy to ask questions, but also
give support. It’s important not to com-
promise anything. It’s not personal. It’s
just to make the work the best it can be.
10. What’s next?
I’m working now with the Icelandic
Dance Company to produce a show with
a group of children with disabilities from
Klettaskóli, which will premiere on April
21 in Harpa [Concert and Conference
Hall]. It’s called Stjörnustríð 2, which
means ‘Star Wars 2.’ The idea is that it’s
everything that didn’t make it into Star
Wars. The kids are all in wheelchairs so it
should be quite amazing.
I’m also working with Alexander and
another collaborator, Aude Busson, on a
project, which is slightly more conceptual
than my previous work, less about chore-
ography. We’re going to work with chil-
dren and how they deal with huge world
topics like war, Africa, Google, Israel, IS.
These are topics that nobody can handle
and we want to explore them with the
kids through movement and dance and
games. *
PHOTO BY PÁLL STEFÁNSSON.