The National Ballet will for the first time perform a production with Kven themes. Choreographer Simone Grøtte's first work for the National Ballet's dancers will have its world premiere on April 14 at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet. The piece is called Tungrodd – Rahčamuš – Raataminen and is a personal story about resistance, anchored in Grøtte's Sami and Kven background.
The performance takes the audience to a kitchen in Northern Norway where Sami, Kven, and Norwegian languages meet. The audience follows a seven-year-old girl who listens to the adults' conversations from under the kitchen table. The performance explores what was said in a lower voice, in another language – or what perhaps was not said at all.
That these cultures stand side by side in a performance like this sends a strong signal and means a lot to me personally.
The adults' talk is in Norwegian, Sami, and Kven. The piece features newly composed works by Herman Rundberg, with contributions from among others Mari Boine and the Arctic Philharmonic. Simone Grøtte from Lakselv in Finnmark is known for the dance performance 'GLEMT'.
Grøtte has for over 15 years immersed herself in historical material as a starting point for new choreographic works. Her working methods include extensive interviews with contemporary witnesses from Northern Norway and Sápmi. According to Grøtte, the performance means a lot to the Kven and Sami community.
It feels like a way to preserve the cultures.
She also says it feels like a way to preserve the cultures. The specific historical inspirations for the choreography and the performance's duration after its premiere remain unclear, as do plans for international tours or adaptations.