Erna
Ómarsdóttir Choreography

Erna Ómarsdóttir completed her studies at P.A.R.T.S in Brussels in 1998. She went on to work with various international dance and theatre companies, including Troubleyn, Ballet C De la B and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, and has performed all over the world. She is a founding member of the dance and theatre collectives Ekki, and Poni and has created numerous works for dance companies and festivals worldwide for over 20 years. In 2015 Erna took over the artistic direction of Iceland Dance Company. For her choreography in 'Njála', a collaboration between Iceland Dance Company and Reykjavík City Theatre, she received the Icelandic Performing Arts Award in the category 'Dance and Stage Movement 2016'. In 2018, together with Icelandic choreographer Halla Ólafsdóttir, she created a brand new version of Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' at the Theater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich. The production was nominated for the German Faust Prize 2019 in the 'Choreography of the Year' category. Erna Ómarsdóttir and Damien Jalet were awarded the prestigious Norwegian SUBJEKT Prize for the best theatre production of 2020 for their joint work 'DuEls'. She has worked closely with visual artist Gabríela Friðriksdóttir and composers and musicians Björk, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Ben Frost, SigurRós, Ólöf Arnalds, Skúli Sverrisson, Ólafur Arnalds and film directors Jonas Åkerlund, Terrence Mallick and Andy Huang. She has been deputy director of Les Grandes Traversees in Bordeaux, France, since 2007 and was artistic co-director of the Reykjavík Dance Festival in 2014. Erna has been honoured nine times with the Iceland Performing Arts Award.