In Stockholm lies Folkoperan (The People's Opera). Folkoperan wants to show people there are different ways of looking at opera as an art form, and for the last three years they have created something called Opera Showroom, when people can come and experience newly created works for free during two days.
One of the operas that was part of Opera Showroom was Amforta, and after two auditions I was happy to hear I had been chosen to be one of six ballet-girls in the piece. Amforta is a new work created by Mellika Melouani Melani and Bengt Gomér, directed by Mellika, and with music written by Jonas Forssell - one of Sweden's biggest opera composers. Amforta is a very strong, and a bit scary, work that mixes opera, ballet, and the reading of texts written by women who has been through hard times and being treated very badly by the people who were supposed to help them when they really needed help. The work is very feminist in the way it confronts the symbols of male dominance in our society, and asks the question whether it would be possible to replace the male heroes with female ones. Can the wounds of Jesus and Amfortas be carried by female bodies?...
Here is me trying on my costume, and after that we set to work! We had only three and a half day to put all this together before the premiere, and I'm very impressed over the fact that we actually did it! But everyone, from director Mellika, to all the people on stage, and the wonderful people behind it worked amazingly well together, and everyone were so nice! No opera divas here... Haha!
During the whole dance sequence we were supposed to shake like aspen leaves, reaching for the audience for help, before we very cruelly pushed away one after one of us and shot our fellow ballerinas to death...
After dying on our battlefield, the Valkyries came to bring our fallen bodies to the afterlife in Valhalla. In Nordic mythology this is the place the valkyries brought the male heroes that died in battle, and where they then spent the afterlife partying.
We were all lifted from the ground with the help of balloons fastened around or wrists. And off to Valhalla we went!
Here is me wondering what the hell the valkyries are singing about, trying to get the party started. And yes, that's a beer in my hand! After a while we released our balloons and relaxed though, after which we indulged in the buffet rolled out on stage, eating chips, popcorn and other goodies like we had never eaten before. Then came la grande finale, and it was over...
Ballerina group pic after the second show! After working so closely and intensely together for five days, it was sad to say goodbye after only two shows... But the audience really loved it, and some people reacted so strongly to it they had to leave in tears before we had come even halfway through the show... But with my "little" pain problem, and thinking I might never even be able to walk normally again nine years ago, I'm so happy I have come so far I was able to actually dance ballet at an opera! A bit achy now though. But it was so worth it!!!
To learn more about Folkoperan, and upcoming shows, please visit their website here, or their Facebook page here!
PS. Next fall I'll be back at Folkoperan as a nude model in La Traviata...
All stage photos by Markus Gårder.
