Greenland's first Nordic dance festival
Greenlandic polka, drum dance and mask dance met ballet, tango and hip hop when Greenland's Culture Centre Katuaq in Nuuk opened the doors for Greenland's first dance Festival, OuterVision 2010. The festival was organised by one of the most famous Nordic dance academies, the Norwegian Bårdar, in co-operation with Greenland's Culture Centre Katuaq, the Nordic Institute in Greenland, Greenland's Home Rule, Nordic Culture Fund and the Nordic Culture Point.
Alexander Montgomery-Andersen
During the festival, the dance company from Bårdar with its 11 professional dancers, was initiated in the secrets behind the traditional Greenlandic dance. Inter alia, they tried their hand at the challenging mask dance, which evoked laughter and surprised looks by the Norwegians.
200 children and young people participating in the festival
The professionals were also supposed to share their skills with young and promising Greenlandic dancers. All the workshops that took care of more than 200 registered children and young people in terms of ballet, hip hop, modern dance and funk were fully booked. In the afternoon, adults could try their hand at pair dance and tango in the cosy environment of the culture centre.
'We hope that the festival is going to stimulate the Greenlandic children to learn more about dance. In the course of one week, the young people will be able to try a number of different forms of dance and meet top professional dancers from other Nordic countries,' says the adviser and Greenlandic ballet instructor Ruth Montgomery-Andersen.
Chet Walker and 'Jazz on Jazz'
The famous choreographer Chet Walker has created a dance performance ’Jazz on Jazz’ which had its world première during OuterVision 2010. Chet Walker who also is the man behind Chicago and Sweet Charity has created 'Jazz on Jazz' especially for this Greenlandic dance festival. It has been performed twice in Greenland and will subsequently visit Norway.
Nordic Institute in Greenland (NAPA)
Written by Katja Nyborg katja@napa.gl
