You ask if a nonconformist dancer would change my situation in Iceland. It’s an interesting yet difficult question. In some ways there has to be an element in any artist that not only recognises the conformist tendencies of art but is able to absorb them and view them objectively in order to reject them. The problem with Icelandic dance discourse is that people are always trying to define what is and isn’t dance, instead of viewing each performance or act of physical movement by itself by its own merits. I think that if the conformist critics would open up their horizons a bit more and acknowleding the capabilities of dance in its full entirety, then the boundaries between dance, theatre and performance art would become much more fluid. By transcending these boundaries, I feel that the platform for artistic, physical expression becomes much bigger and the merit of our art much greater. So, I think that we should be aware of our conformist tendencies but still be unafraid to dismiss them or critise them to heighten our own expression. We sort of need the box, to be able to think outside the box.
answer from Hannes
Paloma Madrid 