We were lucky enough to interview Silje and the rest of the dancers from "I wish her well" with Panta Rei Danseteater. It was incredibly fun to hear their story behind the performance because it made us think more about what they wanted to express, and we understood the plot better. The answers also gave us a greater insight into the dancers' everyday lives.
When did you start dancing? What was your dream or goal back then?
I think for me it started when I was 4 years old, and so did Julie. Berit and Kari started when they were 6 years old. For most of us, we've been taken dancing by our parents, but then it became an interest. You thought it was fun, and you wanted to keep working to get better. We all attended a dance program in high school for three years, and after that we decided that we wanted to try to become dancers. Then you apply for education. It's been a dream to the extent that we've made an active choice to continue and try to make it happen.
Do you decide for yourselves which shows you want to attend, or how does it work?
You usually go to an audition to try to get a job, and it's often the case that which offers you get determines which shows you're involved in. You can say yes or no when you get a job, but most people would say yes.
Was there anything special that made you join "I wish her well"?Yes, "I wish her well" is made by Panta Rei Dance Theater. Julie and I have been dancing in Panta Rei Dance Theater for three years, and Kari has been with the company for two years, and Berit joined this year. So the reason why we are in "I wish her well" is that we were asked by the company if we wanted to do that performance, and we all said yes.
What is "I wish her well" about for you?
Well, yes. "I wish her well" is in two parts, one before the break and one after the break. And it has the theme of women and the close women's stories that we've heard told by our grandparents or mothers or other women close to us. That's the first part, and the second part is specifically about the choreographer's grandmother. She wrote diaries when she was young, and the second part is based on those diaries. The theme is, in a way, women and the intimate stories of women that we don't necessarily see in the big historical picture, but that still matter.
How much work goes into a show like this? When did you start rehearsing, how much do you practice each week?
We've had about 9-10 rehearsal weeks on this piece, but it's spread over a whole year. Then we work Monday to Friday 7 hours a day and that's a regular rehearsal day for us. We worked a lot on it.
Who are the voices that talking in the background?
In the first part, we, the dancers, are the voices in thesoundscape, apart from the singer. The singer Hilde Marie Kjersem does that. The stories are told by the dancers, and our composer has conducted interviews where we tell the little stories. In the second part, the choreographer's grandmother is the voice we hear on the slide. She is also the one who wrote the diaries. She reflects and thinks about the stories in the diaries and what she thinks about them now that she is 80 years old.
Are you satisfied with the performance?
Yes, we are. It seems so now that we've just had the premiere, and received very good feedback on the premiere. Right after the premiere, we're going on tour in the cultural school sector in Buskerud, and here too we've received very good feedback. We think it's great fun to be able to do these performances and we like it.
What does a typical day look like for you?
An ordinary day, yes. Now that we're on a school tour, we drive out to the school we're performing at, and then we have to set up our equipment. We have a sound system and dance mats and things like that with us. After that, we have to warm up and put on make-up and costumes. Then we run a performance and then we usually only run one part. We usually do part 2 and have a bit of an arrangement around the performance, so we last about 45 minutes. Then we have a break and run another show. It's basically two shows a day, and when we're done with that we set up all the equipment and then we leave. And then there's a new school day after that.
Are you friends in your spare time?
Yes, we are. We're good friends. We don't always hang out so much when we're at home in Oslo, but when we're on tour we have dinner and breakfast together.
FUNFACT! One of the dancers eats almost his own body weight in chocolate in one year. We love chocolate 🙂
Was there anything special that made you join "I wish her well"?