Disclaimer: This is the story of the working creatures of mythology, not the gods.
In Norse mythology, Skinfaxi pulls Dagr’s (day’s) chariot across the sky, his radiant mane lighting the heavens and the earth. Hrímfaxi draws Nótt’s (night’s) chariot, scattering “froth” from his bite, which falls as dew. Bound in an eternal cycle, they gallop through shifting shades of light. In the fleeting twilight between dawn and dusk, a moment of exchange occurs – the beginning of a new journey.
Dawn by Adam Seid Tahir is the first performance in a series reinterpreting Norse mythology and the Elder Futhark runic alphabet through a queer Afro-Nordic lens. Rooted in the rune Dagaz – symbolising day, dawn and awakening – the work explores the power of day and night, light and dark, often falsely confined to a moral binary of good and evil. Both a continuation of myth-making and a political gesture, the work inserts a Black queer body into Nordic mythology.
Adam Seid Tahir is a choreographer whose practice uses speculative imagination as a tool of resistance. Their work centres on creating immersive, unapologetically Black queer fiction, engaging with mythological figures, daydreaming as a portal for inspiration, and questioning belonging in a Nordic context.
Credits
Choreography, performance: Adam Seid Tahir
Sound design: Tati Au Miel
Lighting design: Jonatan Winbo
Costume design: Isabelle Edi
Manufacturing, hooves: Hanna Kisch, Nina Johansson
Dramaturgy: Lydia Östberg Diakité
Technical coordination: Angela X
Producers: Johnson & Bergsmark
Co-produced with Sophiensæle, Centrale Fies, Dansens Hus, MDT, Tou Scene, Slingan Tre Scener (Atalante, Dansstationen, MDT). Supported by the Swedish Arts Council, the Swedish Arts Grants Committee, the City of Stockholm, Nordic Culture Point, and Helge Ax:son Johnsons stiftelse.
This co-production is part of Life Long Burning – Futures Lost and Found (2023–2026), supported by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.