JOIK

In the production JOIK by Haugen Produksjoner modern contemporary dance met traditional joik. In addition humour was used to help new listeners find a way into joik, but also for the Sami there was knowledge they may not have had beforehand. "Joik is something that comes when words no longer suffice", it is said.

JOIK by Haugen Produksjoner was built around two mainly independent stories. One was the story about the reindeer calf and its wandering through the seasons. The other story was directly connected to the characters who used parts of their personal stories and backgrounds.

The story was based on a classical triangle between the wholly Sami (Marit Hætta Øverli), the half Sami (Mikkel Gaup) and the not Sami (Anne Katrine Haugen). The not Sami is the stereotypical girl who loves everything that is Sami, and who uses it to lure information from the wholly and half Sami about their culture. JOIK by Haugen Produksjoner discussed Sami weddings, personal joiks used as a pick up technique, a stereotypical person from Finnmark who doesn’t like the Sami, the belt dance, Sami clothing codes, jackets and money, shamanism and not least, the Sami joiking and clothing police, an effect which discussed the unwritten rules inside the Sami community in a humorous manner.

The wholly Sami Marit told how joik came to her after she had disliked it for many years. She found it ugly, believed it to be a sin against God, and she mostly thought of it as something drunkards did. Only when she became a mother she experienced that the joik was the most direct expression of her emotions and joy from motherhood. When the words no longer sufficed, joik came to her.

There were three main dance numbers in the piece, in addition to several smaller dance acts. The dance around the ritual Sami rune drum was about the attraction of the unknown, the forbidden and mysterious. The belt dance was a dance act all three took part in, based on an old tradition about finding a girl through hitching her belt and pull her towards you. One could grab more than one girl at the time like this, and if the girl was interested in the boy, she would be aided by having a strong belt, if she was not, she would have to try to get away. In this Anne Katrine Haugen used elements from ballroom dance and coupled dance.

Another dance was the dance of mourning, in which Anne Katrine used the Japanese silk blanket as a prop. She let herself drown in it, be captured by it, hiding in it, and eventually, it became a comfort for her and Marit (who joiked the mourning mother) both.

JOIK by Haugen Produksjoner had its world wide premiere during the Northern Lights Festival in Tromsø 2009.

JOIK was supported by Arts Council Norway (independent performing arts), Arts Council Norway (The Cultural Rucksack), the Sami assembly Sámediggi, The Fund for Performing Artists and the county of Finnmark.

Source: E-mail from Haugen Produksjoner, February 13 2011

"But what really lifts the performance and make it more than banal, is that all the performers have nice jester abilities. They make fun of the myths about the Sami. They joke with the conflicts within the Sami. And if one breaks with what is allowed, the joik police and the clothing police can both show up with penalties. (…) Otherwise Anne Katrine Haugen again demonstrates that she is a good, present dancer with great charisma, and I would like to hear more of Marit Hætta Øverli’s expressive, musically good joik."

Bladet Tromsø, Helge Matland, January 31 2009

"The subject is exciting and interesting. The music is good, the songs and the joiks capture the attention. And most of the dance sequences are excellent too. One tells the story about a family who is about to move their reindeers from the winter area to the summer area. We are told stories about traditions, about dangers meeting the family and the reindeer because of wolfs. We are also served beautiful dance and stories about the significance of joik – and why one makes joiks for humans and animals. It is very much filled with new knowledge even for us who know some beforehand."

Nordlys, Bjørn H. Larsen, January 31 2009

"Those who weren’t there missed a great performance. The mountain plateaus and the powers of nature visualised in parachute silk waving over tents, jackets and dance, work very well. Klemet Anders Buljo sews the production together with rhythms, guitars and backdrops of sound, providing some kind of completion to the piece."

Magne Kveseth, Altaposten, February 23 2010