– The audience will love you if you do something wrong! Simen Formo Hay shouts to 230 people in an auditorium. Hay is the director behind the theatrical success “Døden på Oslo S”. Since 2014, he has been creative director of Døgnfluer. – So don’t be afraid. Have fun. Side by side with well-experienced actors, screenwriters and music producers, you will also find pupils, students and hobbyists. For the next 24 hours, they will work on creating opening numbers, intermission features and contributions to a fictional Eurovision final – completely voluntarily. In March, the National Council for Norway’s Children and Youth Organizations (LNU) came out with a discouraging report on child and youth volunteering. After the corona pandemic, more people are sitting at home, and it is more difficult to recruit for volunteering now than before, The young people are tired. The zealots go out. At the same time, the voluntary organization Døgnfluer has a record high recruitment this year. At regular intervals, they stage musicals, feature films and plays created in 24 hours by young volunteers. In May, they staged the Eurovision-inspired performance “EuroISHion”. The motto of the organization is high ambitions, low shoulders. – There is no external or internal pressure to perform, says Aurora Ivin (17). This despite the fact that the show at Chateu Neuf is sold out. – You must not do something perfectly, or well once. Sophia Senje Ekholt and g Aadne Eriksen Haaland stay up all night to make the contribution to the fictional land of Mordor. – It is very liberating not to write for yourself, says Sophia. – This should not be released on Spotify, as it were. Photo: Zahra Katrine Arnesen / news Pointed elbows are lowered – It is a cynical industry with a lot of pointed elbows, says Tani Dibasey. Dibasey is educated at the Theater Academy, and works as an actor. But today he will be on stage for the Vatican State’s contribution. The reason he is here is the community, he says. – It can be quite lonely sitting with each application for a support scheme, says Dibasey. – In a field with lots of people and few places, there can be a lot of competition. That’s not the case here. – There are no old bureaucrats involved here, says Tani Dibasey and laughs. – This is a work of art by young people, for young people. Photo: Zahra Katrine Arnesen / news Creative director Hay has also experienced how difficult it is to navigate the cultural field as a young and new person. – Most places to meet people are very much characterized by social codes and status. You won’t find that here, you don’t have enough time to think about that. – It can give you a different energy to do something you don’t get paid for, because then you don’t do it and consider whether it’s worth your time, says creative director Simen Formo Hay (left) Photo: Zahra Katrine Arnesen / news Some of what Hay believes helps attract more young people to Døgnfluer is that everyone in the organization works voluntarily, right up to the administrative level. – I think that creates a different type of dynamic, he says. – We don’t try to make it very bureaucratic or adult. It must be entirely on the young people’s terms. – Only create what you want. Among the volunteers you can find an age range from 17 to 36. – The adults take us completely seriously when we have worked together, says dancer Anna Maria Fjone (18). – It is very delicious. Yourley Emma Knutsen (19) usually attends the dance class at Edvard Munch upper secondary school in Oslo. Today she will choreograph two dance routines for 4 dancers, including herself, in 7 hours. – We had to wait until the song was ready last night, Knutsen explains out of breath, while her team rehearses the choreography to be performed in front of a packed Chateau Neuf. – So now it’s just full speed ahead! Yourley Emma Knutsen is the youngest manager in her team. Nevertheless, she does not experience being taken less seriously by the others. Photo: Zahra Katrine Arnesen / news Time pressure also does not allow time to focus on details or to doubt oneself. The focus is on the joy in it, say the dancers. – At school you know that you get grades for what you do and are assessed on it. But here you just create what you want. In just 24 hours, all costumes have been sewn, dance steps rehearsed and songs written. – I don’t think we had put on a better show in two weeks, says Hay. – The community can create so much if you create the framework for it. Photo: Zahra Katrine Arnesen / news No substitute bench – We know that the picture is nuanced, and there are happy things out there that we are so happy to hear about, says Margrete Bjørge Katanasho, chairman of the board of LNU. At a time when young people’s psychological problems are on the rise, Katanasho emphasizes how important children’s and youth volunteering is as a free space. Margrete Bjørge Katanasho is impressed that Døgnfluer has managed to increase recruitment despite the fact that the framework conditions are not conducive to this. Photo: Hilde Alice Skåra Gunvaldsen – You enter an arena where you are not measured by how well you do. There is no substitute bench, and there is room for trial and error. Katanasho is aware of how important it is to be part of a larger community. – Being able to influence, and feeling that you have something to say, I think is vitally important for one’s mental health.
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The organization Døgnfluer creates community among young people in the cultural field – news Culture and entertainment
