Freakshow Stockholm
Obstacles, what is that? Something negative that you want to get rid of, go past or beyond? Or perhaps something good, a must to reach happiness? Ann Lindberg choreographer for the dance theater Freakshow Stockholm wants us to open our minds.
Ann meets me outside the rehearsal room in Årstaberg, where the dancers is going to meet for the first time. Together with production designer and costume designer Anja Rühle with whom she has Nobody Dance Production, Ann wanted to explore obstacles. What it means to people, and how different our obstacles look like depending on who we are.
– We should explore our own obstacles to be able to reach development, says Ann. I think a man who has everything, which does not face any adversity or difficulty will not be happy.
She believes that once we see the obstacles we encounter in life, we can decide how we want to relate to them. It may be physical barriers that are built into our infrastructure, such as a staircase into the cafeteria or a narrow door. But it can also be psychological barriers in our social structures as the fear of standing out or fail.
Six dancers from different backgrounds are included in the Freakshow Stockholm. Such as 71-year-old Siv Andersen who has danced all her life and refuses to quit. Or Henrik Wenner and Jenny Wikström as Ann got in touch with trough Riksförbundet Sällsynta diagnoser (National Association of Rare Disorders.)
Ann instructs the dancers in a friendly but firm voice.
The dancers prepare for draging themselves over the floor. From the left: Henrik Wenne, Jenny Wikström, Calle Stenbäck, Louise Kvarby och Siv Ander.
- Now drag yourselves across the floor to the other side only by using arm strength, she says. At the same time, you shall say out loud what you can do. On the way back you’ll say what you want to do instead.
The dancers crawls across the floor and voices bounces off the white walls. It looks exhausting to pull yourself across the floor while talking at the same time.
– On the way back I kept thinking of how much I want to fall in love, I couldn’t let go of the idea, says Henrik Wenner.
Ann chooses to take Henry’s wishes of love in to the next improvisation exercise. Henrik must stand at the front with his back to the others. Ann asks him to show through dance how he thinks it feels like when being in love. The other dancers then interpret his movements in their own way.
Caroline Bonaldi, costumeassistant, is drawing the dancers.
The concentration thickens the room and the dancers’ bodies move, somethings in sync, sometimes with their own interpretations.
- I’ve seen other shows where they deal with different disabilitys, but I do not think they take on the subject for real, says Ann. In Freakshow Stockholm, I show that most people meets obstacles in life, and that it is important to dare to show them.
Freakshow Stockholm premieres March 3 on Dramalabbet.
The show (which had the working title of Obstacles) is partly funded trough Crowdculture.
