My Mixtape: Ásrún Magnúsdóttir’s 10 eclectic teenage favourites

An artist, choreographer and theatre-maker from Reykjavik, Ásrún Magnúsdóttir is interested in working with people that have not given dance or dancing much thought, and in amplifying voices that she feels ought to be heard better.

One of her works that really embodies this approach is Listening Party, which first premiered in 2017 at the Kúlan the National Theatre of Iceland and has since been performed throughout Europe. 

Perhaps best described as a party on stage, Listening Party is hosted by local teenagers, who play their favourite music. Sometimes they sing along, sometimes they dance, but the stage is theirs and as they hang out they talk about music and themselves, and support and celebrate one another as they contemplate their soon-to-be-gone teenage years.

In August 2025, as part of our Dance Your Way Home summer, Magnúsdóttir brought her Listening Party to the Southbank Centre. And ahead of its arrival she kindly put together this decidedly eclectic mixtape of tracks that have featured in the performance’s previous outings around Europe.

Take a listen, and then read Magnúsdóttir s stories behind the playlist’s tracks below.

Listening Party is a party on stage and the teenagers are the hosts. They are the DJs and they tell us why they chose their particular songs. Here are a few songs and stories from previous tours that have stayed with me…

‘Don’t Stop Believin’’ – Journey

When we did Listening Party in Glasgow, one teenage boy picked ‘Don’t Stop Believing’’ by Journey. He gave the purest and simplest reason, ‘Because, don’t stop believing’.

‘Ég fer í fríið’ – Sumargleðin and Þorgeir Ástvaldsson

This is an Icelandic song from 1992. It’s sung by a fisherman returning from his tour at sea. He sees the shore and is excited to dance and drink; he deserves it. When Listening Party premiered in Iceland one teen picked this song because he and his father – who was a fisherman – would always play this song when he was finally back home after weeks away at sea.

‘WAP’ – Cardi B (feat. Megan Thee Stallion)

A girl in the suburbs of Paris picked this song. She was deeply cool and kinda bad ass but also – of course – a total sweetheart. If you don’t know already, the lyrics are pretty out there. Like really graphic. It’s maybe the dirtiest pop song. But we still included it in the show, made a new choreography to it, and probably made some people in the audience feel pretty awkward.

‘Eikö Sua Hävetä’ – Tuure Boelius

In my line of work, and with Listening Party in particular, I find it fascinating to travel around and discover a lot of local music I would maybe otherwise never get to know. Here is a tune from Finland that this adorable teen girl chose. I have no idea what it’s about, but I like how crazy the Finnish rap sounds.

‘Forever Young’ – Alphaville

This song was played by the youngest member of the group in Croatia. She picked it because she was simply wondering, don’t all of us want to be forever young? She was only 13, but that was still on her mind. When I was 13 I couldn’t wait to be 20… but yeah, then I wanted to stay 24.

‘Kiss’ – Prince

I need to have this song on my list. First, because it’s such an amazing song that can’t fail to make you move. Second, because the person who picked it is someone who is very dear to me. I met her when she was a teenager, about 13 years old, in the first work I made with teenagers. She is 24 years old today and we are still working together!

‘All I Want for Christmas’ – Mariah Carey 

In my experience, teenagers are most of the time very honest and not really trying to be cool. They just are. One time a girl picked this song because she and her mom love Christmas and they play this song whenever they feel like it, all year round. I thought that was quite brave, in a way.

‘Bar Bar Bar’ – Crayon Pop 

I’d never heard of K-pop before I made Listening Party. But anywhere I go, K-pop always comes up. It’s amazing to see different teenagers in different cities knowing the same K-pop routines from YouTube or TikTok and just see how it keeps growing and growing. I think ‘Crayon Pop’ is my first memory of K-pop and I like it. 

‘Fed Up’ – Ghostemane 

One of the problems I face by putting teenagers on stage is that the group tends to be biased towards kids who really want to be on stage. Like extroverted, energetic and joyful. But we all know that teenagers actually tend to have a darker, more complicated side and I’m always eager to make space for those teens too. ‘Fed Up’ was one memorable song in that vein.

‘Wannabe’ – Spice Girls

Spice Girls dominated my own teens. I have to include them. Like many girls of my generation, I used to be in my own Spice Girls dance/karaoke troupe back in Reykjavík. I was the shortest one so I was always Baby Spice.