Humans & Soil ^(Swe) of itself : in itself 3-5 March 2022

Programme

Live music, spoken word and eclectic dance remind us of the body's quest to be free.  

Marit Shirin Carolasdotter is a choreographer whose work is characterised by a commitment to the history and present of indigenous peoples. With Sami roots from Jämtland and a Kurdish background from Iraq, she takes on the oppression of the Sami and the despotism that affects most indigenous peoples.   

Her first full evening work, of itself : in itself, is a personally charged performance of dance, music and poetry. With the help of spoken word artist Juvvá Pittja, the political weight of the performance is reinforced. His words highlight the struggle of the Sami people and the dancers' energetic and eventually exhausting choreography embodies the quest for the right to their own bodies.

With the stage buried under 1000 litres of soil, an urgent work is created where the dancers' feet, deeply embedded in the earth, explore body memories inherited from previous generations. A mapping of how our ancestors' knowledge is rooted within us, echoing the bodily oppression they endured.

Marit Shirin Carolasdotter

Marit Shirin Carolasdotter is a choreographer and dancer based in Umeå. She has a master's degree in International Performing Arts from Stockholm University of the Arts, and since her education at the former DOCH in 2015, she has worked as a dancer in Belgium, Austria, Japan, Germany, Greece, Denmark and Iceland.

Through her multi-year project 'Humans & Soil', Shirin's research, practice and international collaborations have explored bodily rights and our relationship with the land we walk on. Her work is sophisticated, uncompromising and leaves nothing to chance.