2022

Vala first began offering free dance classes at a day care center for older adults in Reykjavík — an experience that gradually grew into the performance Let’s Dance. The work premiered as her MFA graduation project from the Iceland University of the Arts in a black box studio setting. Later that year, Let’s Dance was presented again at the Reykjavík Dance Festival, this time performed inside the day care center itself, bringing the work back to the community that inspired it.

Through Let’s Dance, Vala challenges common assumptions about aging and the limitations often placed on the older body. The work highlights how people at any age can remain active, expressive, and deeply involved in their communities. It celebrates the aging body — not as something to be hidden, but as a source of memory, presence, strength, and joy.

Let’s Dance invites us to rethink who gets to take part in dance, and reminds us of the power of movement to connect us across generations.

Performers: Agnes Helga Vigfúsdóttir, Anna Dís Björgvinsdóttir, Asuncion J. Quianco, Álfheiður Gísladóttir, Bergrún Jóhannsdóttir, Elínborg Guðjónsdóttir, Kjartan Ólafsson, Kristín Guðnadóttir Margrét Björnsdóttir, Margrét Sigurjónsdóttir, Páll Bergþórsson, Sigurður Jónsson, Sigurjón Jónsson, Þóra Ásdís Arnfinnsdóttir and Þórey Aðalsteinsdóttir

Light & sound: Valdimar Jóhansson

Photos: Margrét Seema Takyar and Stephan Stephensen