Uaajeerneq
‘Uaajeerneq’ - the Greenlandic Maskdance is the oldest dramatical expression among the Inuits in Greenland. The tradition has been approximately alive for around 3000 to 4000 years, and for the last centuries especially on the eastern side of Greenland.
“In the mask dance the dancer is eliminating the self as much as possible, by changing and deforming face and body, to reach the spirit level”
In the beginning, the Mask Dance was mainly used for fertility rituals, but as times passed it changed more into entertainment – in connection to shamanic seances and to get through the dark wintertimes.
The Mask Dance contains 3 dimensions and 3 elements. The dimentions are: A state of human being, animal world and the world of spirits. The elements are: fear, erotic and comedy (clown). This is the basic content of the Mask Dance, where the dancer changes between these elements, depending on the response they get from the audience. In the Mask Dance the dancer is eliminating the self as much as possible, by changing and deforming their face and body (with make-up, a stick and a string), to reach the spirit level, where the borders between human being and animal, female and male evaporate.
“The black colour stands for the unknown, dangerous and magical part. The red colour stands for life, love and temperaments. The white colour stands for innocence, clearness and purity”
The colours of the mask and costume are black, red and white, and have all symbolic content. The black colour stands for the unknown, dangerous and magical part. The red colour stands for life, love and temperaments. The white colour stands for innocence, clearness and purity.
The performance has two parts, all together about half an hour long. The first part starts in front of the audience where I transform, in other words, painting myself into a Mask Dancer. Meanwhile, I tell the history of the Mask Dance from my culture. In the second part I perform the Mask Dance.
Mer info om mina maskdans föreställningar finns under ‘performance’ och via rubriken ‘workshops’ och sedan ‘maskdans workshop’ kan du läsa mer om det hela.
All photos: Hans Olof Utsi
'Uaajeerneq' and Sámi Lávdi at the Delhi International Arts Festival 2016
British Museum's 2020 exhibition ARCTIC: CULTURE & CLIMATE, MAGNETIC NORTH features Indigenous artists from around the Arctic Circle.
My part starts 11 min. into the video and efter 19 min my mask dance part starts in the Abisko nature park.
