Reykjavík Grapevine - jun 2023, Page 19

19 Culture
An interactive exhibition for the whole family,
located at Ljósafoss Power Station,
just a 50 min drive from Reykjavík.
The Energy Exhibition is open every day
from 10 AM – 5 PM. No admission fee.
landsvirkjun.com/energy-exhibition
Powering the Future
Energy Exhibition
WORDS Rex Beckett
IMAGE Art Bicnick
The field of dance in Iceland
has long been a thing of mystery. But
over the past decade, it’s emerged
from the underworld with remark-
able speed. The Iceland Dance
Company (IDC) celebrated its 50th
anniversary on April 29 – it’s the un-
official “anniversary of dance” in Ice-
land – and the contemporary dance
department at the Iceland Uni versity
of the Arts are just sending off their
thirteenth graduating class. The
dance scene has bloomed thanks
to a strong community that fosters
sharing, collaboration and explo-
ration. It’s these values that under-
score the new Dansdagar (“Dance
Days”) festival, hosted by the IDC
and the independent dance studio
Dansverkstæðið.
“Dansdagar is a celebration. The
driving idea was to embrace the
dance community, gather, dance,
sweat and share,” says Erna Ómars-
dóttir, artistic director of the IDC and
an icon of dance and choreography.
“To use these few days to create
an atmosphere of energetic and
interesting dance workshops. To
allow people to go from one type of
dance class or dance workshop into
another, getting inspired by each
other, sharing information, ideas and
experiments together. ”
She describes the festival as an
opportunity for people in the dance
community and those connected to
it to break out of their comfort zone
and explore what and who else is
out there.
Loosely modelled on festivals like
ImPulsTanz in Austria and Deltebre
Dansa in Spain, Dansdagar is the
first such workshop-based dance
festival in Iceland. “These are the
biggest summer workshops and it
is always such a great atmosphere,”
Erna says about the aforementioned
events. “It’s such a melting pot of
dancers coming from all over the
world – teachers, choreographers
and dance artists. The dream was to
make a mini version of this in Rey-
kjavík during the brightest time of
the year. Also, to shake a bit, shake
up the habitual and get people into
the theatres during the summer-
time.”
Dansverkstæðið and the IDC will
share their spaces, studios and
stages to host the workshops and
performances, with some desig-
nated for professional and pre-pro-
fessional dancers, and others fully
open to the public. The event fills a
gap in the dance world that has only
recently begun to open. “Perhaps
the need was not there before as
the scene was much smaller,” says
Tinna Grétarsdóttir, general man-
ager of Dansverkstæðið. “Now that
we have so many more freelancers,
there is a need.”
As everything goes in the dance
world, the event is a seed they are
planting that they hope will get wa-
tered and grow through community
adoption and participation. “Dance
is definitely growing and becoming
more and more accepted,” says
Erna. “I believe the scene will grow
stronger in the upcoming years. We
hope that this will grow into a huge
festival in the future with dance art-
ists gathering from all over the world
to share their knowledge and skills.
It could become something truly
amazing. There’s so much talent in
this scene and we need to nurture
this. Dance has something unique
to give.”
Dansdagar takes place May 29 to
June 2. Follow IDC and Dansverk-
stæðið for more details as they
emerge.
Dance Dance, Sweat and Share
The new festival Dansdagar pops the safety bubble