No, not a story about a little guy who lives in a blue world, but a show about the melancholic feeling connected to the colour, inside and outside. It’s an abstract dance show performed by ten young women from the Juniorkompagniet. It takes place under water, though there isn’t any water on stage, but merely an abstract space in a parallel world. The idea behind the show arose from an interest in water in general.
“It’s the feeling of being underwater. It’s an entirely different world down there, and we don’t know what’s hiding. It’s like a parallel world to our own, which I find really interesting,” says Emma-Cecilia Ajanki, who is one half of The Mob, the creators of the show.
The other half is Julia Giertz, and they’re both graduates from the National School of Contemporary Dance in Denmark. Since they created The Mob in 2007, they have created several shows, performances and installations, and even an electro-pop concert, using the body as the primary source of communication. This show is the first in which they have divided the tasks: Ajanki is in charge of the choreography and Giertz is in charge of the music.
Ajanki explains that the colour blue holds the show together, both with an underwater theme and through the different universes of the colour.
“This melancholic feeling you get underwater is so beautiful that it almost hurts, and the colour of blue both symbolises the water and the feeling of being blue,” she says.
But the show is more than that – it’s also about the individual in and outside of the community. Through movements, music and surreal landscapes, the show asks the question “Does the individual exist because of or despite of the group – or not at all?”
The ten young women dance together as if they are synchronised swimming underwater accompanied by the sound of water, synthesisers and Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker. They follow each other’s movements over and over again.
“Other than the different universes of blue, the show is also about identity. What is identity? And the synchronised movements will show that only through the identical can you find the small difference,” explains Ajanki.
It’s safe to say the show will send you on an emotional melancholic journey, where questions about community and identity will be posed as the young women float together in the exotic underwater world. “It’s going to be a journey for the audience through different universes of blue that everybody can relate to,” promises Ajanki.
The dancers from Juniorkompagniet are girls ranging from the age of 14 to 18 who challenge their artistic expressions through their meetings with the professional choreographers. The company has existed since 1999 as a stepping stone to a professional dancing career, putting on two shows a year at Dansescenen.
The show isn’t aimed at a certain age group, just to anyone who would like to experience this parallel universe and is willing to come and be blue.
Blå
Stor Carl, Dansescenen i Dansehallerne, Pasteursvej 14-24, Cph V; starts Fri, ends June 9, performances at 19:00 Fri & Sat, June 7-9; tickets 35-70kr, www.teaterbilletter.dk; info@dansescenen.dk, 3329 1010; duration 30 mins; www.dansehallerne.dk
