It all started as a chance meeting when Lotte was going on holiday in New York. This meeting became the artists’ masterpiece, the musical performance Girl of Diamond Mountain, an autobiographical performance about Arnsbjerg ś personal journey from traumatic childhood with sexual abuse and dysfunctions in the family – to personal growth and liberation from the victim role.
NYC composer Carman Moore and actor/singer/entrepreneur Lotte Arnsbjerg have collaborated for more than 15 years.
When psychologist Kuno Sørensen saw the performance, he encouraged Lotte to translate into Danish. (Kuno is a former psychologist specializing in sexual abuse committed against children at Save the Children). With support from the Offerfonden, Lotte’s texts were translated and the performance produced in Danish.
The performance has thus toured for several years in the USA and Denmark. In the wake of this work, Arnsbjerg & Moore developed the Transformation Festival, which took place in NYC, KBH, SF in the period 2016-2019.
In 2018, the couple founded the independent institution The Art of Transformation with valuable support from artistic mentor Trevor Davies and the support of many partners. TAoT has developed collaborations with several professional organizations within social change and health promotion, including ASPA/Askovfonden, People like Us, Foreningen for Art og mental sundhed, Danish Psychotherapist Association, Landsforeningen Spor, University of Copenhagen, Aarhus University, etc.
GIRL OF DIAMOND MOUNTAIN
The girl under the water is a musical dramatic performance about hope and about how a trauma and late effects of sexual abuse in early childhood turned into personal development and resource.
Transformation Festivals
Actor, singer and festival organizer Lotte Ansbjerg talks about her own personal background for getting involved in the work with Transformation Festival. One of two small films in which Lotte talks about transforming the pain into something useful – about the power that lies hidden in a trauma and which she has transformed into powerful Transformation Festivals both at home and abroad. Not least via the performance “The Girl Under the Water”, which has just premiered. It previously also existed in an English-language version: “Girl of a Diamond Mountain”. Excerpt from MØD VERDEN’s 3rd festival day in Global Art Gallery in Vanløse, Tuesday 12 August 2019. Filmed by Irma Clausen.
