AVIAJA Dance
Speech/less

With a background in both Greenland and Denmark, choreographer Sarah Aviaja Hammeken explores the complexity of having roots in two countries. On one hand, it provides a richness of opportunities to feel part of multiple cultures. Yet, one may also experience not quite fitting in anywhere. But what makes one feel part of a community – or not? What cultural references does one carry? And what is it like to not fully understand or master the language, traditions, and rituals of a culture?

Another question is how it’s possible to handle having genes and cultures from two countries with such a violent history and relationship as Greenland and Denmark?

In this physical dance performance, Hammeken revisits the way myths, legends, and stories are shared in Inuit culture. A living culture of exchange among people, interpreted here through modern dance, song, and music. Qualities and themes of movement and sound are inspired by various mythical characters. Costumes are based on the colors white and red – representing the colors of both the Danish and Greenlandic flags. This offers many possible connotations, including the Arctic landscape and the bloody colonial history.

In the performance space, you will encounter two dancers and a musician, and as audience you become part of the performance.

Sarah Aviaja Hammeken is a choreographer and dancer trained at the Ballet Academy in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2019, she established AVIAJA Dance, where she creates performances drawing on her Greenlandic heritage. Hammeken is driven by a deep interest in engaging in dialogue with society through body and dance. Alexander Montgommery-Andersen is an Arctic artist from the Greenlandic diaspora, and a background in dance from the Bårdar Academy, Norway. He primarily works with a Nordic perspective and is deeply concerned with exploring how the body’s physical limits are expressed aesthetically and evoke emotional responses within the audience. Mathilde Rosengren Bruun is a singer, songwriter, and pianist. She is trained as a rhythmic singer from the Det Jyske Musikkonservatorium in Aarhus. Rosengren Bruun creates music under the name VELA in the electronic pop genre.

Artist

AVIAJA Dance

Title

Speech/less

Age

4. - 6. klasse

Practical info.

Venue: 'Speech/less' is conducted in a gymnasium or other large space measuring approximately 13x10 meters with a "soft" floor (not concrete, not carpet), which is clean and on the same level. The venue should not be a thoroughfare, and it must be heated to 20/21 degrees Celsius.

Number: For each performance, a maximum of 50 students and a minimum of two actively participating adults are required. The same adults must remain present throughout the entire performance.
Three artists will visit you.

Attire: Casual clothing suitable for movement.

Duration: Total 90 minutes per performance.

Type

For Municipalities, For schools, KORA

Credits

Choreographer: Sarah Aviaja Hammeken; Dancers: Alexander Montgomery-Andersen and Sarah Aviaja Hammeken; Composer and musician: Mathilde Rosengren Bruun; Costume designer and tailor: Parnuuna Kristiane Thornwood; Artistic sparring partner: Laura Navndrup Black.

Speech/less teaser
Statens Kunstfond (en)
Augustinus Fonden (en)

With a warm thank you to the funding bodies: Statens Kunstfond, Augustinus Fonden, Dronning Margrethe og Prins Henriks Fond, Nordens Institut i Grønland, Nordisk Kulturfond, Sermeq Puljen, Grønlands Tips- og Lottomidler, Kulturstyrelsens Kulturpulje til projekter mellem Grønland og Danmark. Furthermore, Speech/less' visit in Greenland is supported by NunaFonden and A. P. Møller Fonden.