Kindur // NNF2012, Epic Studios - 26.05.2012
"Such great joy and peace being achieved with simple physical dancing...well, it was life affirming." - Lizz enters the world of Kindur...
The Adventurous Life of Icelandic Sheep
Kindur is Icelandic for sheep. This was an interactive dance performance aimed at children, telling the story of a group of three sheep and their journey through the Icelandic seasons. The concept of it intrigued me, so I joined a packed house at Saturday lunchtime to see what is was all about. We all had white fluffy hearts attached to our chests as we entered...rather mysterious. The show began with 3 lithe and acrobatic female dancers setting the scene with a screen behind them showing the natural landscapes of Iceland; grassy, icy, stony.
The girls were meant to represent sheep, and their dancing was very cleverly choreographed to subtely suggest their identity despite wearing white trousers and coloured tops. The children in the audience were mesmerised as the colourful backdrop changed almost constantly to both cartoon landscapes and real ones, and the dancers used the whole floorspace. After about 10 minutes, our hearts all lit up, as if by magic...it was a very moving minute, a small reminder that we are all human and all together whilst still being separate. Through out the performance, various children’s hearts lit up and they were invited to come and join the dancers on stage, whether it was running through fields, creeping over ice, or jumping into mud. The sound effects and music were excellent, and the dancers were on some kind of interactive mat throughout which at some points could obviously map their movement, as they then appeared on the screen in colours (hard to describe!).
Also at one point, we all had to “baaaaaaa” loudly and when we did, flowers appeared on the screen according to how much noise we were making. The hearts we were wearing must have been some sort of sensor! Magical. Watching the children dance, and the dancers interact with them with no words being exchanged, but such great joy and peace being achieved with simple physical dancing...well, it was life affirming. Thanks to you Kindur, and well done for being so creative and inspirational. Here’s a video...
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