I am part of a small group setting up a large-scale production of a new Arvo Pärt piece in Oslo. The production will go over several days at different locations and it includes a variety of activities. At one point, I am on skis in the beautiful forest north of Oslo to prepare an event that will be part of the whole production.
I notice I am a bit confused and disoriented and not exactly sure what my role is, and I don’t have full overview over the production so I am not sure if everything is taken care of. The others say not to worry, it’s all going well.
The performers are touring and are traveling in from somewhere else. It must be hundreds of them with a wide range of ethnicities. They arrive close to the performance, and I am concerned we won’t have time for rehearsals. We have to go right into the performance. It’s in a massive church with several connected rooms, somewhere in the Frogner area of Oslo.
The performance starts. One group of performers, all in costume, enter one by one and dance and sing. It’s amazingly beautiful and moving and on an epic scale. All the performers are in costumes, and act, speak, and dance in addition to singing. It has the feel of a Philip Glass opera with new music from Arvo Pärt.
It’s all going wonderfully even if I am a bit confused about my role, especially since everyone else seems to know what they are doing. I look in the program and see that there is a full day of ethics discussions with the audience and performers, and I am concerned we won’t be able to fit it in, but then realize that this is an event that goes over several days and in several different locations. It’s more of an engaged community event than an usual performance, and it includes threads of ethics, culture, human rights, sustainability, nature, deep ecology, and so on.
It’s all epic, beautiful, and a success.
Day residue: Ale’s uncle Álvaro talking about a theater festival in Bogotá that used to have a similar feel – several events at different locations with audience engagement and participation.
Day residue 2: I watched another Norwegian wilderness episode with Lars Monsen the evening before this dream, which may be the seed for the nature component of this dream.
This dream has several things of what I love the most, and especially what I loved the most in my late teens and early twenties: Arvo Pärt, the operas of Phillip Glass, Nordmarka (the forest north of Oslo), Frogner, and the mix of culture, ethics, human rights, sustainability, and so on. It was all a bit part of my life then, and I am currently preparing to visit Norway and those places.
What’s the essence of this dream? For me, right now, it seems to be the mix of (a) being an integral part of the organizing group and one of the ones making it happen, (b) being slightly confused and disoriented, and (c) seeing that it all works out well anyway because others are part of the process.
The dream may point out that I feel more confused and disoriented in daily life than I notice. It makes sense since I am on a continent that’s new to me with a culture and language that’s not familiar to me, so I do often feel a bit disoriented and out of the loop.
I can also understand it in a few other ways, all showing me that life happens even if I am not an active part of making it happen.
One is literal. Yesterday, I was at a family gathering and it all went well because others did their part. It wasn’t dependent on me doing a lot. That’s how it often is in life, especially in the bigger picture. I can have the life I do because others do a lot – grow food, repair roads, build cars and computers, make clothes, and so on. My life is dependent on the lives of innumerable other beings, both human and non-human.
And this can be expanded to not only include all beings and this living planet but all of existence. My life is dependent on all of existence. My life is supported by all of existence. Even if I rest, my life is supported and maintained by all of existence.
I can also see this as reflecting what’s happening in me. Even if I on the surface feel a bit confused and disoriented, a large number of parts of me – psychological and biological – are active and functioning and support me and my life in the world.
INITIAL NOTES
I am part of a group that is setting up a massive production of a new arvo part piece in Oslo
I notice I am not quite sure what my role is and ask others, they say not to worry, it’s all going well
I am in nordmarka, on ski, as part of preparing for the performance, nature plays an important part
The performers come from somewhere else, that are touring, it must be hundreds of them, wide range of ethnicities
They arrive close to the performance, I am concerned we won’t have time for rehearsals
We have to go right into the performance
It’s in a massive church, several sections
The performance starts
Is beatiful, large scale
Lots of singers, performers
In costumes, acting,
The firmaet is opera but the song is more typical arvo part
I see that it is all going wonderfully even if I am a bit confused about my role
Everyone else seems to know what they are doing
I am concerned we have to drop or cut down a full day of ethics discussion which is normally part of the experience for the audience and performers
Is all epic, massive, beatiful, a success