First Sami production at Norway's National Dance Company
The dance performance BIRGET; ways to deal, ways to heal, premiered at the Norwegian Opera House in Oslo on Thursday. The performance is the result of a collaboration between choreographer Elle Sofe Sara, scenographer Joar Nango and the dance company Carte Blanche. Birget is a Sami expression and means to manage or succeed in an environment that is changing - something that harmonizes the show's theme.
Carte Blanche initiated collaboration
Carte Blanche is Norway's National Company for Contemporary Dance and works with innovation, presentation and development of contemporary dance in Norway and abroad. Annabelle Bonnéry is artistic director at Carte Blanche and is the one who initiated a collaborative project between Elle Sofe Sara, Joar Nango and the company.
"It was very interesting to meet Elle Sofe and Joar and begin by understanding their different perspectives and common ground in matters related to Sami culture and values - and how they develop their artistic work based on that. I knew they were already working together and thought it could be very interesting to propose a collaboration between them and the 14 dancers in the company in a performing arts project.” explains Bonnéry.
The Fosen case and the truth and reconciliation commission
With abstract symbols in the use of materials, movements and tools linked to the thinking behind the birgen, Sara, Nango and Carte Blanche want to raise awareness of and encourage touching on questions related to Sami challenges.
"The way of thinking about the mountain and how we should manage in today's climate is the starting point for the performance. In the scenography, Joar has used things we have found on the plains and at home, and the same applies to the theme. The Fosen case and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission are current challenges we face today. We have also worked a lot with our own starting points as artists and people - me, Joar and the dancers in the company who come from different parts of the world." says Sara.
Don't teach, but encourage
In the development work, the company traveled to Kautokeino to get to know the thematic landscape of the performance. At the same time, it was important to Sara that the performance should not teach but rather encourage reflection on the way forward. Both Sara and Bonnéry describe the collaboration as a process that has shaped the performance as a whole.
"We encouraged the artists to dialogue and to get to know the moments and voices that are part of the performance better. In the play, there are several perspectives also within the Sami, both from Elle Sofe's and Joar's different starting points, but also those we have spoken to who have told their different stories about trauma and experiences. With the company's different cultural backgrounds, the theme also became more universal - because of the exchange where we met and listened to each other's different perspectives, shared references that we may individually have about traumatic events and thoughts about how we could all approach the theme." says Bonnéry.
An important learning process and a big step
THE BIRTHDAY; ways to deal, ways to heal, is the first performance where Carte Blanche works with Sami voices in key positions. A step forward for Sara, who says that this has been a very important learning process for her both personally and as an artist.
"The new experiences in the work and the knowledge in this project as well as all collaboration partners are something I appreciate and take with me further. It is of great importance to me as an artist, but also the fact that Carte Blanche brings the performance to a larger arena where more people can discover my art - and that is a big step forward." says Sara.
Possibility of more Sami collaborations
Whether there will be more Sami collaboration projects with Carte Blanche is not impossible, according to Bonnéry.
"We have multiple goals with the art we present to the world. But we don't know if there will be more Sami projects yet, but there are certainly possibilities. Our projects depend on relevance at the same time as we want to see a collaboration with the project's individual artistic voices. I felt it was a good moment in Elle Sofe's artist career to meet us now.
It's about all that – time, subject matter and their artistry.” concludes Bonnéry.
THE BIRTHDAY; ways to deal, ways to heal will continue to tour in Norway this season and then move on to international stages and hopefully Sápmi in 2024 and the years to come.
