Concept: Jóhann Jóhannsson and Erna Ómarsdóttir
Choreography and dance: Erna Ómarsdóttir
Music composed and performed by Jóhann Jóhannsson
Strings performed by the Ethos String Quartet
Music contains a fragment of "Island Ogrum Skorid", by Sigvaldi Kaldalons, performed by the IBM 1401 Computer, programmed by Johann Gunnarsson and Elias Davidsson, recorded in 1971.
Creation on the occasion of the co-production of the GRIM (Groupe de Recherche et d'Improvisation Musicale) and of the Officina - atelier marseillais de production, for the DANSEM 2002 festival (Marseille), the 26th of September.
Thanks to Kitchen Motors, 1x2x3 - Philippe Baste, Rosas Parts, Tjarnarbio (Reykjavik), Ekka, Omar and Kristin.
Duration 45´
Ticket: 70/120
* Public discussion with the artists follows after the performance.

IBM 1401 - A User´s Manual is a meditation on the complex relationship between man and the machines he creates.
IBM 1401, A User's Manual is collaboration between musician Johann Johannsson and dancer/choreographer Erna Ómarsdóttir. The music is performed live on laptop and a Hammond B3 electric organ with electronic treatments.
The Hammond organ and the distinctive Leslie speaker is used not only to perform the music, but as an integral part of the decor, the Leslie rotary speakers providing a hypnotic counterpoint to the dancer's movements.
The music is based on a looped passage from an old Icelandic hymn which the IBM 1401 computer was programmed to play.
The composer then weaves melodic textures in counterpoint to the computer's melody, creating a hypnotic and melancholic atmosphere which slowly builds and evolves as new melodies surface and are interwoven with treated computer and printer noises.
It´s no longer possible to separate man from the machines he uses. We are now completely dependent on our machines and life without them is almost inconceivable. The human race has in fact become a  race of cyborgs, inseparable from the machines around, and sometimes inside us (pacemakers, artificial nerve-connected limbs).
Computers will soon have the required power to simulate most of the properties of the human brain, Soon computers will completely surpass this organ in every capacity. This begs the question whether we´re witnessing a new form of life, whether we´re in fact creating our own mechanical descendants that will replace us as the ruling species.
Many will react to questions like this with horror, reflecting man´s fear of being toppled from the apex of things. What will our relationship with such beings be like?
We believe that we should replace fear with nurture and caring, and horror with awe and wonder.
We believe that only by regarding these mechanical offspring as we would our biological children will we avoid disaster, because all neglected children will eventually turn against their parents.
We believe that in order to co-exist with the machines we will have to learn to read the user´s manual.
IBM 1401 - A User´s Manual is based around the story of the first computer to come to Iceland, in 1964. IBM 1401 was not designed to play music, yet by placing a radio receiver close to it and by programming its memory in a certain way, simple melodies could be produced. IBM 1401 was taught  to "sing", and its operators gave it  a very human ability that it wasn´t "supposed" to have. Then, when a new model arrived that made it redundant, it wasn´t simply thrown away, but was given a little funeral ceremony where its operators expressed their gratitude and their sorrow. This was documented on tape with recordings of the sound of the machine in operation and also of music played by the computer. The music in the is based on these recordings.
The piece seeks to explore the above themes using this simple fairy-tale like story as a frame. It blends dance movements with a set-design and music that reflects themes of techno-nostalgia/discarded technology, nurture (programming computers/raising children), body/machine, human and artificial intelligence, machines and sexuality, technological progress/human evolution. The choreography uses elements of the body as machine and dance as a mysterious, uncanny and intangible energy, much like electricity. The choreography explores both mechanical movements and organic movements and juxtaposes the two, seeking to find the link between them.

Erna Ómarsdóttir graduated from PARTS in Belgium in 1998. Since then she has worked as a dancer with various companies and choreographers. From 1999 - 2002 she worked with Troubleyn / Jan Fabre, creating and performing various works. Since 2002 she has worked with Les Ballet C dela B and Sidi Larbi Cherkoui, creating and performing “Foi “.
During the same period Erna has actively pursued her own work.
Her most recent projects include “IBM 1401 (a users manual)” created in cooperation with the musician composer Johann Johannson, “Poni” a collective initiated by Frank Pay, a dance/concert performance installation.
Erna has performed her own work and that of others all over the world in recent years and been invited to some of the most renowned festivals and venues.
She was announced Best young dancer by Ballet International in 2002 and in 2003 the Best dancer and a young choreographer to watch.
www.poni.be

Johann Johannsson is an Icelandic composer and musician whose elegiac, gradually-evolving music is spellbinding in its beauty.
Johann founded the label / art-organisation Kitchen Motors in his native Reykjavik, and he has also performed as a member of psych / prog / minimalist / drone mavericks Apparat Organ Quartet. But developing alongside these projects was an increasing interest in music for instrumental ensembles, which has given birth to Englaborn - written for string quartet and electronics to accompany a play - and Virthulegu Forsetar, a slow-motion fanfare written for 11 brass players, percussion, organ and piano. Both these pieces were released by the Touch label.
www.johannjohannsson.com