Our Stories / Oqaluttuaatigut//INTERNATIONAL

The performance Oqaluttuaatigut// Our Stories is a collaboration and co-production between Naleraq Lights Productions( Greenland)and teater freezeProductions (Denmark). The two production companies have been working together and co-produed in all ways- economically, artistically, and organizationally, since 2019 primarily in Nuuk. Their theater pieces tour in Greenland, Denmark and internationally, with Greenlandic  artists. This is their seventh production together.

Meet the Greenlandic rapper and actor Josef Tarrak and actor Else Danielsen in a heartwarming and strong performance about the meeting and confrontation between generations in Greenland. Meet the Greenlandic rap, the texts and stories , the old and the new knowledge, all put into a mythical and present installation scenography. It is a performance about the youth, their life and dreams, being global and the understanding of oneself and world. About the elderly woman’s battle to let go of history and move on with life. About her childhood in the colonized Greenland, a childhood formed by assault, love, forced contraception, adoption, nature, and music.

The performance digs into the taboos that must be dissolved, for the youth to be able to move on, understand themselves, their life and country. And for the elder to open up and talk! Through the dialogue, the pain and joy, the young man and elder woman gain a larger understanding of each other and the life they need to find together. Throughout the whole performance the rap will be a huge part of the story being told. It’s the voice of the youth and the voice of the postcolonial Greenland. Through opening up they transform from being victims to regaining the power of their own history and narrative.

In the collaboration was also MIO,The National Greenlandic Center working for children rights, Nuuk High School students.The performance is based on interviews with young and old Greenlanders.

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LISTEN TO CONNECTED PODCAST

• ART HOLDING SPACE FOR TABOOS - Art has an extraordinary capability to unfold and hold space for taboos. What happens with the art and with the taboos in society when this happens? Do we even have taboos today? We invited two Danish companies that are working with taboos in the work that is presented at CPH STAGE's International Days. And an intercultural collaboration between a Danish company and a Greenlandic company - facing the taboos in the colonial history. Starring: Andreas Constantinou (SHROUD), Louise Beck (LOL - Laughing Out Lonely), Hanne Trap Friis (Freeze Productions), Naleraq Eugenius (OUR STORIES / OQALUTTUAATIGUT), curator Anna Teuwen and artistic director Aniko Racz.

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LANGUAGE

‍English, rap will be in Greenlandic translated into English.

CONTEXT

The performance shares stories that must be heard, it deals with both love and traumas, and it wants the generations and countries to heal through information and awareness. Young people have seen the play, they say they want to know more, they debate, they laugh and they cry. For audiences outside Greenland, the performance will be an eye opener to what it is like to be a young man in Greenland in a global world. It is also a generational dialogue between to ages and how they see their lives based on their experiences as colonized and in a commonwealth. What traumas have been inflicted on the Greenlandic people by the Danish Commonwealth like urbanization, misunderstood considerations of forced adoptions and contraception. But especially the ‘Them and Us’ and history of degradation of a nation by its colonizers. However the performance is also filled with joy, laughter, dance, and the bright sides of life and there is much love for Greenland and for the people of Greenland.

COMPANY

All artists involved in the projects are Greenlandic, all texts are written by Greenlandic artists, and our production is co- produced and developed in Nuuk. The performance is made in collaboration with The National Advocacy for Childrens Rights of Greenland (MIO) Teater freezeProductions was established by Hanne Trap Friis, who is the artistic leader and director in the company. We explore the different genres, we mix them, and we emerge into the words, the music and the dance. Whichever suits the performance and the narrative we want to show. We do dynamic, heartily and often very touching performances. We want our theater to touch, to create reaction and dialogue, to be a statement and to involve the world around us.

INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY

Our Stories has been translated for English, and is ready to tour primarily in Scandinavia, Canada, and North America. However other countries may as well be interested.We seek connections with both festivals, and other venues who have interest in both the indigenous peoples situation, as well as in the music based theater, and theater for and about the youth. We both inform and entertain therefore both the debate areas within the field are interesting as well the artistic areas.

CONTACT PERSON

Hanne Trap Friis hanne@freezeproductions.dk

TRIGGER WARNINGS

Some of the subjects in our play are - due to the issues it adresses, about matters that were/are  harmful in colonial time - such as the spiral scandal and adoption. However they are all treated with delicacy and musicality.

AUDIENCE TARGET GROUP

From 14 and up

FORMAT AND SUSTAINABILITY

The performance is low tech, light scenography, and only travels 4 persons. The scenography travels light, and is mostly made from reused materials and goods.

SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY

Besides the environmental sustainability from this year we would also like to emphasize the importance of communication and an awareness on one more very important aspect which is social sustainability.

In our work creating our performances we emphasize and support an ongoing awareness for each involved on and behind the stage.

We worked closely with both the older generations’ perspective and the younger generations’ perspective on life, love, loss and dreams and that work was also represented in our group structure of different generations, with both empathy and love throughout the whole process.

We choose to create open talks about the subjects we implement in our work, and the artists have both sayings and direct influence about this and about the ways of our work and the work in general on a daily basis. We make sure before having a public invited to our shows that we have different experts- both artistically and also mentally/ socially to give us feed back and more awareness.Diversity in all ways- and awareness of colonial structures is an essential part of our work, and implemented in our values and our aim in the essence of our performances, and we are very sensitive to these matters and anything that can be observed or seen as ignorance will be talked about in a safe space.

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