New dance hall opens in Copenhagen with Icelandic performance of “Romeo & Juliet Up Close”

Recently, a new 4,600 square meter dance hall opened in Copenhagen, featuring a performance of “Romeo & Juliet Up Close” by the Icelandic Dance Company, choreographed by Erna Ómarsdóttir and Halla Ólafsdóttir.

Dancer Lovísa Ósk Gunnarsdóttir expressed her excitement, stating, “This is a fantastic venue, spacious and welcoming. You can feel that it will become the heart of the neighborhood, along with its restaurant and café. It is a great honor for the dance company to be invited to Dansehallerne to showcase this beautiful work.”

Halla noted that the production was adapted to suit the new space: “We slightly modified the work for this new dance house, renaming it ‘Romeo & Juliet Up Close.’ We brought the audience closer to the performance, allowing them to feel the energy from the dancers even more. They go through a significant exorcism through Shakespeare’s text. For two hours, you get this experience directly.”

Danjels Andersson, the artistic director of the venue, emphasized the importance of promoting Icelandic contemporary dance on an international stage. He remarked, “When I arrived in Denmark, I was surprised to find that no Icelanders were engaged in dance here. You have fantastic dance artists to be proud of.”

Originally a Carlsberg brewery, the building’s conversion into a dance hall was a complex project that took eight years, led by architect Nikolaj Rahbek Ernst. Andersson described the building as a strong statement in support of contemporary dance.

In addition to the inaugural performance, two more Icelandic works are set to be showcased in Dansehallerne in the coming months: “Molta” by Rósa Ómarsdóttir and “When the Bleeding Stops” by Lovísa Gunnarsdóttir.