D
D
uring the two weeks of the Olympic Games, we in Norway grew to know Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia very well. We also came to know the Callaghan Valley, where many of the Nordic events took place. The athletes performed at an extremely high level and there were many moments when one could associate them with dance Although the Olympic Games did steal many hours, keeping us parked on the sofa in front of the TV, there has also been a lot of dance in the first months of 2010. It started off in January when Dansens Hus (House of Dance) presented a long weekend with 16 pieces by young choreographers, selected from more than 50 ballets. The weekend was named NYNORSKDANS 2010 (newnorwegiandance 2010). The title plays on New Norwegian, which is our country’s second language. It can be difficult for foreigners to understand that New Norwegian is actually older than the language that most Norwegians speak. The idea behind arranging such a dance marathon is, of course, the hope that something exceptional will emerge. But it took a long time before anything of real interest showed up. It is sometimes sad to see how little some young choreographers think they can get away with displaying a paucity of dance technique. Sometimes watching modern dance makes one wonder if normal relations between two people are no longer an option. There are so many pieces where the dancers float around on stage without any contact at all. Well, in the two last ballets something changed drastically — and that saved the day. Guro Nagelhus Schia and Vebjørn Sundby were the names behind The Other, which they performed themselves. They were both dancers in the modern dance company Carte Blanche and, therefore they possess the technique and knowledge required for creating dance. The same was true of Daniel Proietto’s piece Almost Human. Proietto, also a former dancer with Carte Blanche, now creates more and more choreography which he performs himself. Carte Blanche started their tour of Norway with their winter production in Oslo. Of the three pieces on the programme, two were created by former company dancers. Christopher Arouni choreographed Fallen Behind Me, a ballet with three female dancers. On the backcloth, a film took all the focus away from the women — they worked hard but nobody managed to pick up on what they were doing. Kristin Hjort Inao and Yoshifumi Inao created Borboleta, but the piece did not stick much in one’s memory. The third piece was by the only choreographer with no history
with Carte Blanche, Heine Røsdal Avdal, Norwegian-born but currently using Belgium as his base. His ballet Horisontale Plan (Horizontal Levels) was the strongest of the three, but as an evening this was flat. This cannot be said about the Norwegian National Ballet’s programme Shoot the Moon, named after the last ballet on the programme from Paul Lightfoot and Sol León. The evening was one of the best ever from the company. First out in this programme was David Dawson, an Englishman who has created a ballet for seven dancers with the title dancingmadlybackwards, which uses beautiful music by Latvian Peteris Vasks. Dawson creates modern choreography en pointe and he is an aesthete. His choreography is tricky but it floats as harmoniously as a tranquil river. Jo Strømgren had the second new creation on this programme, The Wake. The title can be read in different ways. It is clear that it deals with a funeral, but it can also be read as meaning to stay alert. Strømgren chose new music by Bergmund Skaslien and he did the sets and lighting himself. For many years now, Christopher Kettner has been one of the most important male dancers in the company. After this season he is retiring and his farewell with the Norwegian audience was a 25minute duet by Sølvi Edvardsen, Access. This tough duet was danced with Victoria Herbert, and Kettner and Herbert were a perfect match.
Then came the last piece of the evening, Shoot the Moon, which deeply affected the audience. Lightfoot and León have had many ballets on the repertoire of the Norwegian Ballet during the last 10 years, but Shoot the Moon must be the best and strongest of them all. It is the first time that this piece has been performed outside the Netherlands Dance Theatre. The music they chose for this ballet is the beautiful second movement of Tirol Concerto by Philip Glass. The six dancers are placed in a revolving set that creates new rooms for each of them. Video cameras catch the faces of the dancers in close-ups, which means that they have to be extremely aware of their own facial expressions since the pictures of them are spread over big screens. Eugenie Skilnand and Kristian Alm in particular made a great impact in the piece. The newly appointed director of Dansens Hus, Arne Fagerholt, announced only days after starting his new job that he would have to withdraw from the position because of his health. The board is now in the process of finding a new person for this important position. A big surprise was to see Dinna Bjørn on the list of applicants, 17 in all. Bjørn directed first the Norwegian National Ballet and then the Finnish National Ballet during the last 18 years. It will be interesting to see if the board finds her appropriate for the modern field since that is Dansens Hus’ area.
newsfrom
Norway by Fredrik Rütter
Summer 2010
Maiko Nishino and Philip Currell in dancingmadlybackwards part of Norwegian National Ballet’s Shoot the Moon programme Photo: Erik Berg
Dance International
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