The Shaman's Dream/The Dream of the Shaman

The shaman's Dream by Stella Polaris is inspired by Nordic mythology. It is a ritual celebrating life, nature and history, and can be adjusted to suit stage, room and occasion. The performance is easily played outside, preferably at night, and has on many occasions been held as the finale of workshops where the participants themselves applies the masks and themselves become part of the magic.

About The shaman's Dream: The aristocrats of ancient Nordic times where often people with magical skills and as such were named shamans and priestesses. They were believed to be able to transform into different animals in order to heal themselves and others around them. They lead ceremonies where the mythology was enacted and explained, exposing the very depth of the Nordic folklore.

The shaman's Dream creates a world as it might have been staged until Christianity entered the Nordic part of Europe and put an end to ancient rituals.

The shaman's Dream by Stella Polaris is preferably held outdoors at night. Amplified traditional sami yoik accompany three birds of death who move fire at the stage. The Shaman enters the circle, sees the birds and lets out a cloud of smoke and out of nowhere Odin's ravens Hugin and Munin appears scrutinizing the area from high stilts. The shaman is puzzled, lets out more smoke as the priestess joins the music accompanied by a bear and three musicians. The Shaman produces more smoke and four horses enter the arena. The horses resemble Sleipner, Odin’s horse, and are soon to be joined by two howling, hungry wolves. This spectacle upsets the Shaman and the whole scene reaches a crescendo as he falls to the ground surrounded by flinching sparks. He gathers his strength and chases the animals off and as he is left alone centre stage, he is accompanied by all actors performing ethnic dances, acrobatics and a show of fire.

The shaman's Dream by Stella Polaris was supported by the Norwegian Ministry for Foreign Affairs/MFA (travel grant/performing arts).

Source: Stella Polaris, stella-polaris.com, 01.08.2010, http://www.stella-polaris.com/en/performances/a-travel-to-the-ancient-north