Blood Club #6

Reviews

A club for everyone, there's blood

The Traveler shows the magic of ritual actions. Regardless of whether one understands their meaning or not. The magic of finding peace in harmony with others, through art and through community. And community is also on the program late Tuesday evening, where the Norwegian theater company Ferske Scener has invited to the performance Blood Club at Radar on Godsbanen.

Blood Club is, as the name suggests, a club for everyone who has blood. On arrival, we each get a small dot on the fingertip and put our personal blood print on a poster. On the tables around the venue are dishes with small bites of blood sausage and later the Norwegian heavy band Ondt blod will play for us. It promises to be an interesting evening in every way.

The three performers from Ferske Scener Kristina Junttila, Bernt Bjørn and Kristin Bjørn welcome us wearing Norwegian national costumes and traditional Sami clothing. They are our hosts, our guides, our club leaders. Sigbjørn Skåden, the fourth and last club manager, can also be seen on the big screen above the bar, who is on a Skype connection. Together, they represent four Norwegian archetypes, they let us understand. The purpose of the evening is for us all to come together for a common we. The community is constructed through joint karaoke singing, where the text of a Sami song, incomprehensible to Danes, is shown on the big screen. And it will then be strengthened through shared, emotionally charged experiences - hence Ondt Blod's appearance during the session.

Blood or spirit?

"One must be aware of one's roots, tribe and genes," declare the club leaders. But the big question this evening is whether it is the blood or the spirit that determines one's belonging. Can one be a true Sami, if one's blood is not pure?

During the following 2.5 hours, the four tell us about their genetic origins. We see the mapping of their individual DNA distributed by continent and country. As a starting point, all four are Norwegians, Sigbjørn is the most Sami of them all, but their genes reveal strong ties to everything from Finland to Kazakhstan to such a remote island as Melanesia. The audience is divided into four groups - of course to strengthen the community. The tall dark-haired ones, the short dark-haired ones, the tall light-haired ones and the short light-haired ones. Each group gets a long "inspirational speech" from their group leader, one of the four hosts.

The fronts are drawn up. The differences underlined. But is it the genes or the emotions that determine the relationship? Everyone gets the chance to change groups. Get the opportunity to feel where you really belong. Blood Club is thus not just a hackneyed invention for an entertaining evening. It is also a thought-provoking performance, which puts genetics and communities at the forefront. Top-of-the-line in a time where confrontation with the norms and power structures of the past is ubiquitous"

by Trine Wøldiche, for the performing arts magazine iscene.dk

Read the full article about IETM