Introduction to Desire Works

The Opera Ballet "Desire Works" is a story about the challenge of defining oneself. Who am I in this world? Our contemporary, globalised society advertises a wide range of readymade answers: frivolously appealing to our unfulfilled desires, and readily accessible for a price.

However, what if we look deeper into history? What about the myths that traces back to the very origins of human civilization and culture? What about the stories, told by our ancestors, that precedes the seemingly unavoidable pattern of life as a cycle of consumption and production?

The creation of Desire Works started almost two years ago, when I was exploring ancient folktales and mythologies from various cultures. I particularly felt drawn to an edited collection of Old Norse sagas called "The Poetic Edda", or "The Elder Edda", which traditionally is believed to have been compiled around the 11th century AD.

Inspired by the Edda, I wrote a collection of poems, which I then used as a basis for the creation of a series of dances. As part of the creative process, I was continuously drawing and painting scenes, costumes, and characters from my story. Some of those paintings and drawings I have included in this book. Eventually, I made musical compositions for the poems. The outcome is what I believe fittingly may be called an Opera Ballet.

Through Desire Works, I present my interpretation of the Old Norse sagas of the mythological heroine Brynhild and her lover, Sigurd. I hope that you will enjoy, and share with me, the wondrous adventure of Brynhild as a young woman, traversing time and space, dream and reality, while discovering astonishing new things about herself and her relation to the world.