Silesian Dance Theatre contemporary style has emerged as the result of Polish folklore research, exposing this country mentality, history as well as location. These elements have impact on movement and quality values. We are working on the development of the technique and style, adding the elements of other cultures. For two years we have focused on the culture of the northern Europe countries, including Iceland, Norway. We have established contact with the Samovarteateret (Kirkenes Norway), Iceland Dance Company and Association of the Independent Theatres in Iceland (Reykjavik, Iceland) and we are about to realize mutual artistic projects, based on a tight cooperation with dancers, choreographers and other professionals. Project venues: Bytom, Poland, Kirkenes, Norway, Reykjavik, Iceland. The aim of the project is to cooperate with the artistic institutions from Iceland and Norway, common performance production, it’s presentations, contemporary dance teachers’ exchange. Within the project Dance Bridge the following activities are to be performed:

• Silesian Dance Theatre – choreography: Soffia Sigridur (Iceland)
• Silesian Dance Theatre – choreography: Bente S. Andersen (Norway)
• Iceland Dance Company (Iceland) – choreography: Jacek Łumiński (Poland)
• Samovarteateret (Norway) – choreography: Bente S. Andersen (Norway) and Anna Piotrowska (Poland)

• Presentation of the created performances during the festivals organized by the particular partners.

• Organization of dance workshops in Norway, Iceland and Poland with the participation of Norwegian, Polish, Iceland teachers

Cooperation between festivals organized by the given partnerships (companies’ exchange, organization of additional events i.e. photography exhibition, seminars, lectures, children community outreach projects, integrated dance projects as well as elderly programme).

DANCE BRIDGE is supported by a grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Financial Mechanism and the Norwegian Financial Mechanism.

No tags

Samovarteateret is a theatre company organized as an A/S. Since the beginning Samovarteateret has produced performances where the performers are working in the crossing-point betweeen text, movement and music. The first 10 years we collaborated a lot with artists from Russia, Finland and Sweden. The last years our network has expanded to include artists from the Baltic States, Barcelona and Caucasus. We explore the meetings of the different languages and cultures that takes place on stage. In our international productions the artists often speak their own language on stage. Samovarteateret has also, since the beginning, produced newly-written performances for youth, based on stories they can relate to and som of the challenges youth are facing today. A samovar (a russian tea-boiler) literally means self-brewer. It’s hot, beautiful to look at, and you can fill it up and draw upon. It constantly simmers. This is the way we believe that a theater should work, hence our name: Samovarteateret. We have our offices and stage at Scene 2 in Kirkenes 1420 km in air-line from Oslo, which equals the distance between Oslo and the North-Italian border. Kirkenes and Sør–Varanger kommune share borders with Russland and Finland. This has always been an international community.

www.samovar.no

No tags

The Iceland Dance Company, ID, is the national dance company of Iceland. It is an independent public institution with residence at the City Theatre in Reykjavík, one of Europe’s finest theatres for dance. ID is responsible for developing, creating and nurturing contemporary dance and choreography. The company consists of ten to fourteen dancers, all sharing a background in classical training but retaining a pronounced individuality. ID puts special focus on new creations in dance as well as developing partnerships and collaborations with other artistic sectors, in particular music. ID is recognized as a contemporary dance company on a world-class scale. The company has consistently built a repertoire of choreography by many of Europe’s leading modern choreographers. Parallel, ID, has led the development of Icelandic choreography and nurtured the talent of Icelandic choreographers who have consequently received attention from abroad. The combination of these two developments has created a unique position for ID on the international dance market. Not only does it hold a repertoire of choreography by Europe ´s best but also the talent of new emerging Icelandic choreographers, hosting an element of excitement and surprise for a market always on the search for new discoveries. Rui Horta, Jirí Kylián, Didy Veldman, Jo Stromgren, Jochen Ulrich, Richard Wherlock, Itzak Galili, Stijn Celis, Rami Be’er, Jorma Uotinen, Ina Christel Johannessen and Alexander Ekman are among those who have worked with and been commissioned to create new work for the company as well as Icelandic choregraphers Erna Ómarsdóttir, Lára Stefánsdóttir and Ólöf Ingólfsdóttir, to name a few. Iceland Dance Company has given numerous outstanding performances in major international dance theaters and festivals worldwide including the Holland Dance Festival, the VIA International Arts Festival in France, Les Hivernales in Avignon, France Tanz im August, Berlin, Impulztanz, Vienna and Harbourfront in Toronto as well as important performances in Beirut, Prague, Copenhagen, Brussels, Glasgow, Shanghai, Beijing, New York, Geneva, Vienna and Berlin. All together Id has performed in 32 countries, 46 cities over 70 performances from 2001. At home, Id offers an annual season of performances at the City Theatre as well as holding regular choreographic workshops to support young and upcoming choreographers.

No tags

SL is the Association of Independent Theatres in Iceland. The association is a grassroots organization, with around 60 members – some are operating all the time, some are not. Like anywhere the theatre groups come and go but a strong base of around 25 groups is now in place. There has been a big change in the Icelandic theatre scene in the last 10 years and the SL groups are becoming stronger and stronger. In the year 2006-2007 over 255.000 people saw performances from the SL groups in Iceland and abroad. That is a huge part of the overall attendance to the theatres in Iceland. Members of SL have been a strong force in new writing for theatres in Iceland. In recent years SL members have produced new plays that the Icelandic public wants to see. Big part of the working field for Independent groups is touring in Iceland and abroad. SL has seen great successes in recent years and last year the independent groups scooped up most of the major prizes at the Icelandic Drama Awards, Griman. SL has, on behalf of City of Reykjavik been operating for the last 13 years Tjarnarbíó – a theatre and cinema located at the centre of Reykjavik. Tjarnarbíó will be re-opened in 2010 after a major reconstruction that will change the possibilities and create a new platform for Independent theatres in Iceland in the near future.

No tags