SCENEKUNST: Sälkvinnorna av Amanda Apetrea & Halla Ólafsdóttir

At dusk in the darker stage of twilight, we see the outlines of their bodies. They lie there, on stage, stranded in a muddy quagmire, the seal women. At first glance, they look paralysed. They are stuck in a hybrid body of seal and woman. They grunt and snort. We do not know if these are sounds of pleasure or torment. Perhaps both at the same time…

In "Sälkvinnorna / Seals", Amanda Apetrea and Halla Ólafsdóttir explore horniness, desire, the body and animality/femininity. They have nurtured these physical practices through work with their rock star alter egos in Beauty and the Beast (2011) and in their latest more poetic performance DEAD (2017). The seal women give expression to bodies that are shameless, sexually agressive, grotesque and that dare to take up space through their dance and with their voice.

"Sälkvinnorna / Seals" by Amanda Apetrea and Halla Ólafsdóttir is a dance performance that moves in and out of a mythical landscape within which Amanda and Halla shapeshift between seal and woman. With sound by Lune, a set design by Chrisander Brun and cinematography film by Ester Martin Bergsmark, the Seal women float weightlessly through a muffled, dark and epic soundscape.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the EACEA can be held responsible for them.