Tungrodd
Rahčamuš
Raataminen

An old kitchen in Finnmark 

We find ourselves under a table together with a seven-year-old girl, who is listening to stories being told. The kitchen clock is ticking, there’s a fire in the oven and the adults are chatting over a cup of coffee. They’re speaking Norwegian, Sami and Kven. 

Simone Grøtte makes history at the Opera House

Mode Steinkjer, Dagsavisen 

Tungrodd – Rahčamuš – Raataminen is choreographer Simone Grøtte’s first work for the National Ballet. With this performance, she tells a personal story rooted in her Sámi and Kven heritage from the north. Tungrodd is a tale of different generations encountering resistance – brought to life on stage by dancers from the Norwegian National Ballet and the independent dance scene. 

Grøtte on the performance: 

“When I was little, one of my favourite things to do was to sit under the kitchen table and listen to the grown-ups. They would talk about nature, traditions, people and encounters with the unexplainable. 

Sometimes, they switched to Sami. At the time, I thought it was annoying because I could no longer understand what they were talking about. As an adult, I've wondered why they did that. 

In Tungrodd , we explore what was said in hushed tones in a different language – or perhaps what was not said at all.” 

New music – and audio recording from a lived life 

The audience is invited into the kitchen for an intimate experience conveyed through dance and authentic sound recordings from life in the north.  

The award-winning composer Herman Rundberg has created a new musical work for the production, drawing on his own Sea Sami and Kven heritage.

The music is recorded with, among others, one of the world’s most renowned Indigenous voices, Mari Boine, Hardanger fiddle virtuoso Ragnhild Hemsing, a Sami children’s choir, and the chamber orchestra Arktisk Filharmoni. Together, they shape a rich and diverse soundscape rooted in Arctic traditions. 

Simone Grøtte’s method 

For over 15 years, Simone Grøtte has immersed herself in historical material as the foundation for new choreographic works. The oral storytelling tradition has always held a strong position in the North, and Grøtte seeks to carry this forward through her artistic practice. 

Her working method includes extensive interviews with witnesses of the past from Northern Norway and Sápmi. Close dialogue and conversations with historians, folklore collectors, and professional institutions such as the Sami Language Centre and the Kven Institute are also an important part of her process.