Interview with Katrine M.E. Strøm - Bakeriet
After seeing the dance performance Bakeriet, there was no doubt that we at SUS wanted to talk to someone involved in the performance. Just before Christmas, I (Une) was lucky enough to talk to Katrine M. E. Strøm - the actual creator of Bakeriet. She's the one behind the concept, script and direction.
Even though I've seen the show and know what it's about, I'm very interested to hear Katrine's description of it. "Loneliness, and that you are dependent on being seen before you die," she answers. "There's something broken about all the dolls, and I think that all people have something broken inside them. I wanted to bring out that vulnerability in that everything could come to a standstill if you don't see each other. It's something you rarely make children's theater about. "
When I ask where the idea came from, Katrine tells me that her mother loved to bake, and it was so exciting to come home to the smell of something freshly baked and then run to see what she had baked this time. It is the smell that has been the starting point for the performance, and Katrine wanted to create a performance for children with smell as an element.
I express that we were very excited by the smell of gingerbread, and then Katrine tells me that one of the first things they did was visit a bakery in the middle of the night, and that was a great source of inspiration. I ask what the most challenging part of the process was, and she replies that what can be challenging in any process is that there are so many different artists who have to adapt to each other, but the biggest challenge in this process was adapting the music to the movements.
Photo: Mariell Amelie Lind-Hansen
In our previous interviews, we've asked what a normal day looks like, so I ask Katrine too, and she replies first and foremost that it varies greatly. "There's a lot of paperwork, applications and reports, but when we're making theater, it's really fun. There are lots of rehearsals, and I get the best people I know of at the time to join me, and then we make the show. We work very intensely during the rehearsal period. In the weeks before, we usually work 14-16 hours a day and do nothing but work and eat, but it's a lot of fun because everyone has a common idea that it's going to be good. "
From experience, I know that school performances can often lose some of their impact, precisely because they are performed in a gymnasium where the ribs are the stage walls and the light from the fluorescent tubes spoils the atmosphere. This is not the case when Katma tours schools with "Bakeriet", because they bring all the equipment they need to build a small theater in the gym. Katrine also points out that she wants to bring theater to the small places that are never visited by theater otherwise. Finally, she praises the dancers, saying that they work very hard and are precise - something you rely on in this type of performance.
Thank you so much for the interview, Katrine. You make it sound really fun to work with performing arts!
Read our TankeSUS about Bakeriet HERE.