This project is inspired by the collaboration between the two of us and by the journey we took together around Iceland. For me, it was inspiring to travel through my own country alongside a foreigner. It allowed me to see familiar things through the eyes of a guest. We approached this project with an open mind, following instinct and intuition, hoping they might lead us somewhere meaningful as fellow human beings sharing a landscape of impressions.

Across the Icelandic countryside, sheep and their lambs roam freely beneath the endless daylight of summer. Lambs are born in the spring and sent to the slaughterhouse in the fall, never knowing the reality of winter. They never experience the cold, frozen world of snow and ice.

“Would you rather be a black sheep or a white sheep?” Reijo asked me?

In Inuit tradition, whenever a hunter kills a seal, he whispers “thank you” into the ear of the animal. It is believed that the seal’s soul will return in the next seal that is born, and that the hunter is only borrowing the body of the animal. The soul is born again and again.

Perhaps this is also true of the Icelandic lambs, and of all animals humans kill for their own use. We should therefore treat them with respect, so that these souls do not lose their innocence or begin to feel exploited and dishonored.

In a way, I am drawn to this naïve — some might say innocent — understanding of the cycle of life. Yet innocence and sincerity will always prevail in the end.

Nature is powerful and follows its own course, without intelligence or rhetoric. Nevertheless, it always seems to be right.

During our journey around the country, we became increasingly aware of contrasts everywhere around us — from beginning to end. Black and white, male and female, fire and water, meat and vegetables. Contrasts appeared everywhere. In this work, we therefore present both simple and complex oppositions.

— Sigrún Hrólfsdóttir, 2005

Performance in Öskjuhlíð, a natural green area in the center of Reykjavík. The title means “It Happened” in both Finnish and Icelandic. The project was a collaboration between dancer and choreographer Reijo Kela and visual artist Sigrún Hrólfsdóttir.

In the spring of 2005, NordScen — the Nordic Center for Performing Arts — organized a project in Iceland called Break the Ice. The initiative aimed to bring together artists from the performing and visual arts. NordScen’s co-organizers in Reykjavík were the Icelandic Dance Company, the Iceland University of the Arts, and the Federation of Independent Theatres. They assisted in the project, and performers came from the academy’s departments of music, fine arts, and performing arts.

Sigrún and Reijo did not know each other before being selected to collaborate by NordScen. One aspect of the collaboration was a five-day journey through the Icelandic countryside. “This trip really inspired us, and we decided to base our piece on the ideas we developed during the journey and the things we experienced there.”

Reijo then returned to Finland, and in August 2005 the two met again in Reykjavík for two weeks to create the performance. The result was Tapahtui / Það gerðist.

Performers:

Ásgerður Gunnarsdóttir
Herdís Anna Jónasdóttir
Katrín Gunnarsdóttir
Lamb
Melkorka Helgadóttir
Reijo Kela
Sigrún Hrólfsdóttir
Stefán Benedikt