Of Gods and Driftwood

The Norwegian dancer Kenneth Flak has a varied stage background ranging from Asian martial arts to mime and modern dance in addition to traditional theatre. He is active as a dancer, teacher, director, choreographer and composer in almost all the world. 

In Of Gods and Driftwood choreographer Kenneth Flak found inspiration in three gods from Norse mythology: Odin, the god of war and wisdom, Thor, the god of lightening, and Loke, trickster and god of mischief. The contrast between Odin's enormous desire for knowledge and Thor’s equally great urge to act, are put into perspective by the egotistical, duplicitous, and chaotic Loki; the joker of Norse mythology who always makes for new problems.

The Norse gods are extremely human, in every possible sense of the word, and with all possible weaknesses. The world in which these gods meet is one of cruelty, violence, and yet one of breathtaking beauty. What matters is survival, and failing that, to die in style.

In Of Gods and Driftwood Flak and his dancers explore what these characters represent in our contemporary society, and what they have to tell us in this day and age. God studies#3, a preliminary study of Of Gods and Driftwood, in which Flak performs the dance material he developed with Dansateliers, was chosen by the selection committee of the Dutch Dance Days as one of the highlights of the 2007-2008 season.

The music plays a significant part in Of Gods and Driftwood. All the music is newly written by the French composer Yann Coppier.

Of Gods and Driftwood was supported by Arts Council Norway, The Audio Visual Fund, Ministry of Education; Culture and Science in the Netherlands and the association Letterstedska Föreningen in Sweden.

Source:

From the program of the performance, BIT Teatergarasjen, Oktoberdans 2008. 10.08.2010: http://www.bit-teatergarasjen.no/ -archive