STREAM LIFE!
The birds are gone, the fish are gone
words etched in our consciousness by the legendary minister of environment Christian Christensen (krF) in 1982.
In the 1960s, the Danish streams were straightened, all surplus water from agriculture quickly found its way into nature, and large quantities of manure, fertiliser, phosphorus and nitrogen from the agricultural fields flowed with it. Substances that still destroy, suffocate and kill life in lakes, streams, oceans and groundwater. The Danish water environment plan in 2003 was created to ensure that the next generation of citizens could drink the water, swim in the sea and catch fish in the lakes. Large parts of Skjern å in Jutland was re-amended and returned partly to its original meandering form in 2003, but far from all streams experienced an improvement. An audience-engaging performance walk in the forest and by the river - whether to choose a meandering or a straight path in life
Trailer Stream life!/ Å VIL LIV on its way...
DURATION
50 min.
DISTANCE
1 - 2 km.
PLACE
Skov + stream
AGE
10 years+
AUDIENCE
32/2-3 groups
RECOGNIZED BY
Danish Arts Agency
Performers
Stream Freja Schamburg Müller
Soldug Betina Birkjær
Hairpawndancer Siri Nitshke Seidler
Metamorphosis Marika Seidler
Metamorphosis singer Anna Kruse
Metamorphosis singer Gry Buhrkal
Artistic team
Idea, Stagedesign and Playwright: Marika Seidler
Dramaturgical consultant: Betina Birkjær
Concept: Marika Seidler, Betina Birkjær
Co-creative actors: Alaya Riefensthal, Betina Birkjær, Freja Schaumbürg Müller
Scenographer: Marika Seidler
Costumedesign and visual art: Marika Seidler
costumier assistants: Laia de Lemos, Yovka Petrova, Alexander Mapait Gomez Parbst
costumier attire: Fie Von Veer
Tralier photografer, editing: Marika Seidler
photo: Marika Seidler
Info
Read more about Å VIL LIV / Stream life!
Sensory audienceengaging live-art performance about the streams ecoclogical state
A river that flows in the landscape meanders naturally. In Denmark in the 1960s, 4,000 ha of meadows and bog areas were converted into farmingland with support from the Danish state. Skjern Å was straightened and dammed in the section from Borris to Ringkøbing. The settlement and cultivation had serious consequences for wildlife and water quality. From 1999 to the end of 2003, approx. half of the old natural area was recreated. The meandering brook and the wet meadows returned to the lower part of the Skjern Å.
Å vil liv is a place-specific audience-engaging performance walk, a sensory journey through the forest and on/by a stream. A journey of development from girl to woman, to make a choice, to walk the straight or winding path, to let go of something old in order to move on, and not to wait any longer.
Feel the stream in a small exclusive group, choose the straightened or meandering stream, as a way of life, become part of the landscape. Meet performers and singers along the way at the 4 stage stations, by the stream, in the stream, along the stream or when the stream is compleately gone... a tribute to all the streams that only are able to run straight and being kept tight on a leash...
The performance was originally created in collaboration with the open-air art museum Deep Forest Art Land south of Herning and the Green Girl Scouts DK. In connection with the Green Girl Scouts' 100-year anniversary for 100 Green Girl Scouts who stayed for a festival week at Deep Forest Art Land in 2019.