THE WORK
A work in endless progress. A chaotic search for ways to rise from our own ashes. A fairytale, a ballet, a stand-up, a piano concert and a cleaning-screaming exorcism all in one, at the tiny cellar of Þjóðleikhúsið.
Cinde(f***)rella is a multidisciplinary performance that invites the audience into a world where change relies on physical dedication, beauty emerges from struggle, and the fairytale's darkness is as important as its light.
Cinderella and the stepsisters reveal the imperfect human soul: cruelty, beauty, humour, vanity, vulnerability. Women trapped in the same constraining system, competing from desperation in a world where survival depends on male recognition.
The work honours Prokofiev's complex score while urgently addressing resilience, resistance and the possibility of rising from our own ashes. Using Erna and Halla's “Ballet Exorcism” methodology, developed through their Romeo & Julia cycle, they exorcise domestic labour, submission, aggression and desperation — transforming them into a fever dream where exhaustion meets ecstasy.
CREDITS
CREATIVE TEAM
Technical director & sound design: Valdimar Jóhannsson
Music: Prokofiev
Production: Ragnheiður Skúladóttir & Shalala
Co-production: Iceland National Theatre, Rosendal Theatre
Supported by: Artists' Salary Fund (Iceland), Nordisk Kulturfond
THE ARTIST
Erna Ómarsdóttir, former director of Iceland Dance Company, has for over 25 years created her own works, many through the Shalala company with her partner Valdimar Jóhannsson. Her practice moves fluidly between dance, performance and staged excess, incorporating voice, singing, breathing, screaming, cleaning and repetition as choreographic forces. Halla Ólafsdóttir is an Icelandic choreographer and dancer based in Stockholm, working collectively and from a feminist perspective. Saga Kjerulf creates and performs through collective forms of choreography, theatre, poetry and punk magic, and has worked with Marble Crowd, The Post Performance Blues Band and Iceland Dance Company.
MEDIA
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