Words by

Ish Sveinsson Houle

Photo by

Joana Fontinha

The Improvisation for Dance Enthusiasts collective reflects as they approach some busy Dansdagar

Interested in dance, but intimidated by having to call yourself a dancer before enrolling in a class? Improvisation for Dance Enthusiasts might just be what you’re looking for. The collective, made up of Janosch Bela Kratz, Linde Hanna Rongen, Yelena Arakelow, Magdalena Tworek, and Meeri Mäkinen, asks only that you come curious and enthusiastic about dance, no prior experience necessary. For the past four-and-a-half years, the group has held at least one activity a week; they facilitate workshops, create handbooks, and present performances.  

They self-refer as “Dance Enthusiasts,” and I meet these Dance Enthusiasts in their home base, Dansverkstæðið, as they sit around a table, sip coffee, and tell me about themselves. Their group was born out of the meeting of Yelena and Linde, but quickly grew beyond just the two. “The concept in the beginning was to invite others to teach,” Yelena explains, “to create a pool of teachers to facilitate and gather and share our knowledge with others.” 

From there, it was about describing themselves. I ask how their name came to be and the group laughs, as I learn the conversation happened at the very table we’re currently sitting around. “We were talking about who it is for and who feels addressed, or who we want to come to dance,” Yelena remembers, adding, “when it’s called a dance workshop, many people feel a bit intimidated.” Janosch shares, “If I speak for myself, it actually helps me to connect to it more because I’m not coming from a professional dance background. Calling myself a dance enthusiast really helps me.” 

What is dance improvisation? 

Specifically, they work within the genre of dance improvisation. “It’s not necessarily about doing a certain movement in a certain way, but more about creating scores, like in music,” Yelena explains. Like in jazz, there are pre-determined structures before a piece begins, but much room for change and experimentation within the performance. “You react in the moment. It’s not something predetermined, it’s something that is being instantly produced,” Yelena concludes. 

“I think it’s really interesting, the question of ‘in what setting can dance improvisation live, and what can it bring,’” notes Magdelena. The group has certainly put this question to the test; they have facilitated dance improvisation in a variety of settings, from a museum to a library, from Öskjuhlíð to Nauthólsvík. She continues, “In the way we facilitate, it’s not about how you move, ever. And there’s never something that you do wrong, or something that you do right.”  

Because so much of what occurs within improvisation is spontaneous and uncontrolled, the group is extremely intentional about ensuring safety and comfort. One point where this stands out is the group’s use of guidebooks: zine-like, palm-sized booklets that offer explanation, instruction, or suggestions for their performances. These hold information for both the participants and audience, they’ve made books named How_to_share the dance floor and How_to_be an audience. “The booklets guide people to be playful. It’s a nice whisper in the ear for the audience,” Linde says of them. 

Dance Days 

The group has been busy preparing for Dansdagar, the annual celebration of dance that happens this year from May 19-24. L.E.A.F., or “learning through ecological art forms” in site-specific performances, and REFLECT are both ongoing projects, sponsored by Erasmus+, that the group will present as performances and workshops during Dansdagar. Excitingly, they’re also debuting an educational platform, a website coded by Janosch, that helps anyone build scores for facilitating dance improvisation.  

After Dansdagar, they’re excited for what is to come. “We are really excited to collaborate. Challenge us to your spaces!” they say. What happens when you challenge a Dance Enthusiast to your space? They leave me with an anecdote: “One person actually tried [Improv for Dance Enthusiasts] because they saw someone dancing wildly on the dance floor. They asked, ‘How can you dance so well?’ And then they were like, “I went to Dance Enthusiasts.”  

If you want your moves worthy of compliments on 12 Tónar’s dance floor, join Improv For Dance Enthusiasts over Dansdagar, or follow them on Instagram @improv_for_dance_enthusiasts to know what they’re up to.