© Märta Thisner
The selkie poetry reading
The Selkie Poetry Reading is a combination of the poems and songs from the legendary duo, Beauty and the Beast (not the Disney version!), in a stripped-down, intimate setting. The Selkie Poetry Reading plays with the contrasts between rawness and fragility, lust and disgust, body and seal (soul). Cutting the crap away and returning to the core they invite you to a pornographic dystopian poetry reading that merges the beauty of darkness and the in-between. The poetry also moves in and out of a mythical landscape where Amanda and Halla shapeshift between seal and woman. They will bring their instruments and some make-up and you just have to lean back, listen and perhaps float weightlessly to the sound of their muffled, dark and epic voices.
Credits
Choreography and poetry: Halla Ólafsdóttir and Amanda Apetrea
Light design: Björn Kuajara
Technician: Björn Kuajara
Music: Lune
Projection: Ester Martin Bergsmark
Set and light design: based on Chrisander Brun’s design in Sälkvinnorna
Administrative structure: Interim Kultur
Production: Sara Bergsmark (Johnson & Bergsmark)
Images: Märta Thisner
Co-production: MDT/Moderna Dansteatern
Supported by Swedish Arts Council
The Selkie Poetry Reading is presented in the framework of the network R.O.M (Residencies On the Move) at la Balsamine (Bruxelles, Be) at the invitation of Reykjavik Dance Festival, in partnership with le joli collectif – Théâtre l’Aire Libre (France), Santarcangelo Festival (Italy) and Théâtre Prospero (Canada). The network R.O.M is supported by the European Union in the framework of the program Creative Europe and by Conseil des arts de Montréal.
Beauty and the Beast
Halla Ólafsdóttir ”I am a dancer and choreographer with an MA in choreography from Stockholm University of the Arts. Working collectively and from a feminist perspective, I am often part of a choreographic duo to challenge the idea of the solitary (male) genius. My work draws on references from art and popular culture, recontextualizing familiar material to explore how meaning shifts when placed in a new context. I love to bend and blur conventions and clichés, exploring how politics and gender are projected onto body movements. I have collaborated extensively with choreographers Amanda Apetrea and Erna Ómarsdóttir as well as companies including Cullberg, Iceland Dance Company and Ballet Basel.”
Amanda Apetrea ”I am a Stockholm-based choreographer and performer with an MA in choreography from Stockholm University of the Arts. My practice engages with political theory, including feminism, sex-positivism, body-positivism and queer utopian thinking. I want to challange dominant power structures, exploring how norms shape bodies and relationships. Working collaboratively is central to my process; I am co-founder of ÖFA and part of Samlingen. I have created and performed works nationally (in Sweden) and internationally, including DANCERAMICS, There Will Be Men (2021), Primary Partner (2024), Pride and Prejudice (2021), and Fäbodjäntan (2026).”