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SCRIPTED AND EMBODIED RITUALITY IN A YOIK-NOH PERFORMANCE
To be true to Valkeapaa’s intentions and his use of the dramaturgy of Noh theater, we
have chosen to present the play in the stylized, stringent form that also characterizes
Noh theater. But we have sought to create our own form of expression rather than
imitating the style and movements of Noh, using Valkeapää’s own music together
with the movements, to comment on and connect the text sequences.”
Without expanding on how the Beaivvas performance” turned this sparse po¬
etic text into another kind of fascinating meditative event, I will investigate the
role of two theatrical devices that made this stage performance different from
the previous excellent performance of Ailu (Valkeapaa’s SAmi name). Naturally,
these devices strongly contribute to a very different interpretation of the play.
The performance opens with the members of the chorus slowly entering
the stage in complete silence in their stylized costumes, one after another.
Moving from the back of the stage to the front, they perform in sequence a
gesture that seems to be opening space and time for the “moment” of the per¬
formance. While the hand gesture of the first figure opens the horizontal axis
for the three-dimensional performance to come, the clapping of the second
figure symbolizes the “now,” and the hand movements of the third figure bring
forth the vertical dimension. These three gestures are performed again in the
middle of the performance by the spiritual figure Ridn’oaivi, and at the end
by the earthly figure, the reindeer herdsman. This tripartite gesture enforces
the interconnection of these levels; and in doing so enables liminality to arise
between three poles. The chorus consists of two older characters (paternal and
maternal figures) and a third, younger, daughter-like figure standing between
them. This female figure will move closer to the reindeer herdsman several
times, especially at the end of the play, leaving the viewer to interpret this act
as the manifestation of the love Ridn’oaivi expresses in the middle of the play.
Aside from the very elaborate setting and costumes bearing the Noh style,
two canes become the most symbolic objects of the performance. Carried by
the two principal figures, they play a crucial role in the intermingling of the
spiritual and human worlds. Though the canes are not mentioned at all in the
original poetic text, nor in the author’s stage directions, the main charac¬
ters always carry them. The straight, life-size cane of the reindeer herdsman
contrasts with Ridnoaivi’s longer and more elaborate shamanic cane, which
is topped with a reindeer antler. At the end of the second act, while guiding
the herdsman back to sleep, Ridn’oaivi leaves his shamanic cane at the young
b Sami National Theater Beaivvas (SNTB): Ridn’oaivi ja nieguid oaidni [The Frost-haired and
the Dream-seer], Sami/English Playbill, 2013, 5.
Director: Haukur J. Gunnarsson; Choreography: Indra Lorentzen; Scenography: Aage Gaup;
Costumes: Berit Marit Heetta; Musical director: Roger Ludvigsen; Actors: Egil Keskitalo
(Ridn’oaivi), Nils Henrik Buljo (Herdsman); Chorus: Inga-Märet Gaup-Juuso, Ingor Äntte
Ailu Gaup, Mary Sarre; Musicians: Roger Ludvigsen (guitar), Esa Kotilainen (keyboard), Pat¬
rick Shaw Iversen (flutes), Espen Hogmo (percussion).
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