Meny
When Ewe Larsson from our ensemble Elefantöra participated in the festival week in Edinburgh, it became clear that travelling can be more than just new places - it can also be mirrors, opportunities for self-examination, and above all: catalysts for development. Here he shares his impressions from the trip, but also his thoughts on creating inclusive performing arts, encounters that touch, and letting experiences from a lab in Helsingborg lay the foundation for courage.
"I thought about so many possibilities, what can actually be created if you just dare to lift your gaze a little. Not just to look outside the box, but that there are also so many layers outside it that you may not always think about." - Ewe
How did you find the week in Edinburgh overall?
- I found the week intense, fun and very educational. I thought a lot about possibilities - what can actually be created if you just dare to lift your gaze a little. It wasn't just about thinking outside the box, but about realising that there are so many layers outside it that you don't always think about.
You talked about how the meetings and conversations in Edinburgh gave you new inspiration - can you give examples of anything in particular that stuck out?
- We had several networking events where I had the opportunity to meet performing artists and organisations similar to what we do at ShareMusic. We made contacts, and it would be great if this could lead to future collaborations.
Was there any performance or artist you felt particularly strongly about?
- I loved the show Tongue Twister - A one-man show by and with Greg Sinclair. He put on a 50 minute show with tongue twisters from all over the world, while Greg danced in different costumes. One of them was made out of flattened tins...In all of this there was a good mix of sounds that incredibly wove the whole show together.
I liked the show because I am fascinated by the ‘one man show format’ due to the fact that you have no one else to lean on - except yourself on stage. If you miss something like a line or a cue, no one else can save you but yourself. This requires finding your own solutions and ways to move on and totally own it.
You mentioned accessibility as a recurring theme - did you see anything in particular during the week that more people should be inspired by?
- Absolutely. For example, the taxis - they had a ramp that the driver could easily fold out, and you could just make a phone call and get a wheelchair accessible taxi within five minutes. Unfortunately, this is not a given in Sweden, especially if you are a tourist and use a wheelchair.
I also want to highlight fire safety. All theatres and museums had evacuation chairs, which are chairs that trained staff use to carry people with disabilities out in case of fire. Here in the UK, I am often directed to a fireproof stairwell and have to wait for someone to inform the fire brigade that I am inside. This system in Edinburgh felt both safer and more thoughtful.
Ewe carries the Edinburgh experience with him, but it's not the first time a project has changed his view of the performing arts and his own role in it. He tells us about a previous lab during the Bibu Biennial in Helsingborg:
- I usually say that there are labs and then there are labs. Labs that really leave a mark. This was one of them.
With dancer Caroline Bowditch as lab leader, the question was clear from the start: ‘What do you need to do the best job possible?’
- Very quickly we became tight and dared to share. The security was there from the start. If I throw myself into the centre of the ring and fall straight down, I know that everyone in the ring will help me up.
In the lab, participants had to write love letters to themselves, the world and the future. In his letter, Ewe wrote:
"I'm so happy to be here in the right context where I can influence, not the whole world but a tiny little bit... I will never shut up. I will always show and tell that it works."
What do you take home with you - both as a person and a performing artist?
- I think travelling is always about finding pieces of yourself that are easier to put together, or you find pieces that you thought fit well but are easier to identify and put in the right place in yourself. I have been strengthened by this journey in my mind and gained more knowledge about life in general.
Is there any idea or impulse from the week that you already feel you want to explore further?
- Yes, we at Elefantöra haven't really targeted a specific audience before. But I wonder: what would happen if we created a concert programme specifically for children and young people?
What would you like to create based on the impressions you received?
- I would like to create a concert where children are not only the audience but also feel involved. At the Edinburgh Festival, after the performance of Not Falling, the children were allowed to play on stage, hang in rings and ask questions to the cast. It was so nice. I want to work like that too.
What would you like to say to someone who is standing where you were before the lab in Helsingborg - someone who doubts whether there is room for their particular expression?
- I was very nervous before the lab in Helsingborg, as it was very different from other labs I have participated in. We watched performing arts and participated in the lab during the days together with Imaginate. In a fairly short time, we got very strong ties to each other and it gave me as a performing artist and human being a perspective on what it is I actually do or create when I work but also what I myself and others need for conditions to be able to do the best possible job. If you get the chance - take it, you will not regret it.
