Associate Professor Daniel Roberts' dance film Waters premiered at the Dark Music Days Festival in Iceland January 25, 2025. Waters is a 16-minute video dance filmed at Vatnasafn (the Library of Waters) in Stykkishólmur, Iceland, features an international cast and consists of choreographic material from the performance Are we Ok?, which premiered in Iceland in 2021, as a dance-music performance in Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavik, Iceland. The element of water, which is our most abundant yet precious resource, determines the sustainability of Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, soil, and arctic regions; the disappearance of the glacier Ok in Iceland in 2019 made world headlines and deepened the focus on water—its presence in gaseous, liquid, and solid forms— and how changes to Earth’s rising temperatures affect all conditions of life, including movement and sound. Waters is partially inspired by writer Andri Snœr Magnason’s work On Time and Water, and celebrates artist Roni Horn’s installation of Icelandic glacial waters which are captured within the 24 glass pillars inside the museum.
Choreography: Daniel Roberts
Music: María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir
Video: Egill Árni Jóhannesson
