OPENINGS is what we call our new biennale. Every second year, we will curate an intense program at Dansehallerne, focusing on great international work with a broad scope of representations. The art we invite will showcase an expansive spectrum of dance traditions, artistic practices, production sizes, different bodies, a wide range of ages on stage, and more. We are well aware that we attract diverse audiences with different kinds of works, so all these productions represent different openings into the everexpanding art form of dance and choreography. This is our way of saying: This is for you!
OPENINGS is also a biennale that will present local works. The Danish dance scene is greater than ever, with many fantastic artists creating work. Most of our yearly program consists of these productions, which are at a very high international level. Many are relatively unknown to an international audience, so OPENINGS is also an invitation to come and experience a taste of our scene. It’s an opening to a curious international audience as well.
This year’s edition of OPENINGS is, of course, a special one, as it starts with an open house on the last day of August 2024. An open house that opens a new house. That opens a new biennale. OPENINGS.
Danjel Andersson Director of Dansehallerne
Performance program
03.09.2024 / Tuesday
14:00, 15:30 Lara Vejrup Ostan, DRIVER — White line fever
17:00 Mette Ingvartsen, RUSH
18:00, 19:30 Lara Vejrup Ostan, DRIVER — White line fever
20:00 Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker / Rosas, Fase, Four Movements to the Music of Steve Reich
04.09.2024 / Wednesday
14:00 Lara Vejrup Ostan, DRIVER — White line fever 15:00 Thjerza Balaj, Ruzalka
15:30 Lara Vejrup Ostan, DRIVER — White line fever
17:00 Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker / Rosas, Fase, Four Movements to the Music of Steve Reich
18:00, 19:30 Lara Vejrup Ostan, DRIVER — White line fever
20:00 Mette Ingvartsen, RUSH
06.09.2024 / Friday
14:00, 15:30 Lara Vejrup Ostan, DRIVER — White line fever
17:00 fieldworks, unannounced
18:00, 19:30 Lara Vejrup Ostan, DRIVER — White line fever
20:00 Iceland Dance Company, Romeo & Juliet — Up Close 22:00 Thjerza Balaj, Ruzalka
07.09.2024 / Saturday
14:00 Iceland Dance Company, Romeo & Juliet — Up Close
14:00, 15:30 Lara Vejrup Ostan, DRIVER — White line fever
17:00 fieldworks, unannounced
18:00, 19:30 Lara Vejrup Ostan, DRIVER — White line fever
20:00 Thjerza Balaj, Ruzalka
08.09.2024 / Sunday
14:00 Chiara Bersani, Seeking Unicorns
14:00, 15:30 Lara Vejrup Ostan, DRIVER — White line fever
16:00 Efva Lilja, Love’s Conversation is Dance
18:00 Chiara Bersani, Seeking Unicorns
18:00, 19:30 Lara Vejrup Ostan, DRIVER — White line fever
20:00 Efva Lilja, Love’s Conversation is Dance
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker/Rosas (BE) Fase, Four Movements to the Music of Steve Reich
03.09.2024 20:00 70 min
04.09.2024 17:00 70 min
For the first time ever, audiences will have the opportunity to experience the iconic performance Fase, Four Movements to the Music of Steve Reich, on Danish soil. The performance premiered in 1982, and with this early work, dancer and choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker burst onto the contemporary artistic scene.
Fase comprises three duets and one solo, choreographed to four repetitive compositions by the American minimalist Steve Reich. De Keersmaeker uses the structure of Reich’s music to develop an independent movement idiom that doesn’t merely illustrate the music but also adds a new dimension to it. Both the music and the dance start from the principle of phase shifting through tiny variations: movements that are initially perfectly synchronous gradually start slipping and sliding. The result is an ingenious play of continuously changing forms and patterns.
Having always danced Fase, Four Movements to the Music of Steve Reich herself, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker passed it on to two new dancers in 2018.
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker (b. 1960) is one of the most important dancers and choreographers of our time and an indispensable reference for generations of dancers, choreographers, and spectators. Over four decades, De Keersmaeker has produced a vast body of work counting more than 70 performances.
In 1980, after studying dance at Mudra School in Brussels and Tisch School of the Arts in New York, De Keersmaeker created Asch, her first choreographic work. Two years later came the premiere of Fase, Four Movements to the Music of Steve Reich. De Keersmaeker established the dance company Rosas in Brussels in 1983, while creating the work Rosas danst Rosas. Since these breakthrough pieces, her choreography has been grounded in a rigorous and prolific exploration of the relationship between dance and music. She has created with Rosas a wide-ranging body of work engaging the musical structures and scores of several periods, from early music to contemporary and popular idioms. Her choreographic practice also draws formal principles from geometry, numerical patterns, the natural world, and social structures to offer a unique perspective on the body’s articulation in space and time. In 1995 De Keersmaeker established the school P.A.R.T.S. (Performing Arts Research and Training Studios) in Brussels in association with De Munt/La Monnaie.
Choreography: Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker
Danced by: Laura Bachman, Yuika Hashimoto
Created with: Michèle Anne De Mey, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker
Music: Steve Reich, Piano Phase (1967), Come Out (1966), Violin Phase (1967), Clapping Music (1972)
Lighting design: Remon Fromont
Costumes, 1981: Martine André, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker
Rehearsal Director: Fumiyo Ikeda
Artistic Coordination and Planning: Anne Van Aerschot
Assistant to the Artistic Director: Martine Lange
Technical Director: Thomas Verachtert
Technicians: Jonathan Maes, Thibault Rottiers
Costumes coordinator: Alexandra Verschueren
Assisted by: Els Van Buggenhout
Sewing: Maria Eva Rodrigues-Reyes, Gisèle Charles
World Premiere: 18.03.1982, Beursschouwburg (Brussels)
Co-production: De Munt/La Monnaie (Brussels), Sadler’s Wells (London), Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, Théâtre de la Ville (Paris)
Acknowledgements: Ella De Vos, Stefano Scoli
The production is realized with the support of: The Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government, in collaboration with Casa Kafka Pictures. Rosas is supported by the Flemish Community and by the Flemish Community Commission (VGC)
Lara Vejrup Ostan (SI/DK)
DRIVER — White line fever
03.09.2024 14:00, 15:30, 18:00, 19:30 40 min
04.09.2024 14:00, 15:30, 18:00, 19:30 40 min
06.09.2024 14:00, 15:30, 18:00, 19:30 40 min
07.09.2024 14:00, 15:30, 18:00, 19:30 40 min
08.09.2024 14:00, 15:30, 18:00, 19:30 40 min
Venue: Kridttårnet Parking Garage. Meeting point: Foyer at Dansehallerne
White line fever, also known as highway hypnosis, is an altered mental state in which a driver can travel long distances, responding to external events in a safe and correct manner, with no recollection of having consciously done so.
The performance White Line Fever delves into an intimate affair: a relationship with a car. More than just a machine that moves you from A to B, it is the space where endless daydreams of leaving can be redeemed — or get stuck.
White Line Fever is Act 1 of the choreographic work DRIVER. Act 2, titled Before Lunch, will premiere in October 2024 at Dansehallerne. The DRIVER series investigates the act of driving, a paradoxical situation of movement: being in motion while sitting still. It is a play on preconceived notions of perception and agency, exploring who is moving whom, at what pace, and through which spaces.
Lara Vejrup Ostan (1995) is a Slovenian/Danish choreographer and dancer based in Copenhagen, Denmark. In her works she challenges perceptual frameworks, exploring how these are used to navigate reality. Notions of dailyness inhabit her world building, embodiment, and movement. Other mediums, such as film and text, are used in her choreographic practice to mold and carry, or further develop logics of dancing. Most recent works are THE SWIMMER (2022), HIKE (2022), 9 to 5 (2023), and the ongoing Body Maintenance series with Agnes Grelinger.
Lara holds a BA in Dance and Choreography from the Danish National School of Performing Arts and is soon a BMC® Somatic Educator graduate. She is co-founder of KOMMA Performance Productions, a collective association supporting the development and production of dance works, as well as chairwoman of De Frie Koreografer.
Concept: Lara Vejrup Ostan
Choreography: Lara Vejrup Ostan in close collaboration with the performers
Performing on stage: Yeong-Ran Suh, Eva Johanna Forsehag, Ella Östlund
Sound design: Moritz Nahold (Subletvis)
Light design: Thora Eriksen
Scenography: Max Schwidlinski
Artistic mentor and truck driver: Bush Hartshorn
Graphic design: Kaiu Meiner
Photography: Benedicte Ramfjord
Producer: PRFRM
Produced by: KOMMA Performance Productions
Co-produced by: Dansehallerne
Supported by: Statens Kunstfond/Projektstøtteudvalget for Scenekunst, Beckett Fonden, Københavns Kommune/ Scenekunstudvalget, Skuespillerforbundets
Produktionsstøtte, Culture Moves Europe — Mobility
Funding, William Demant Fonden, Louis-Hansen Fonden, Goethe-Institut
Special thanks to: Jens, Thore and Odin, Antonio, Maria, Per, Robert, Rona Aitcheson-Dyhr, Zavod MASKA, Christianshavns beboerhus, Sertraline, and Quetiapin
Mette Ingvartsen (DK/BE) RUSH
03.09.2024 17:00 90 min
04.09.2024 20:00 90 min
RUSH is the latest creation by the internationally acclaimed Danish choreographer Mette Ingvartsen. The solo performance for Manon Santkin draws on 20 years of collaboration and performance within Ingvartsen’s choreographic work. As a celebration of an intense and long-lasting collaboration and a tribute to the act of performing itself, the piece creates a headlong rush of performance by reactivating and rewilding highlights from past works. RUSH sees artistic practice as a form of wilderness in need of protection; as an ecosystem that the two collaborators can look back on as a crystallization of their joint work.
In RUSH, Manon Santkin revisits and performs material and scores from past performances, reshaping them through storytelling and narration. Like a chameleon, her body transforms as she passes through an intimate history, performing her own story within a larger body of work. A fine mesh of relations is evoked between the monstrous qualities of Manual Focus, the natural environments of The Artificial Nature Project, and the sexual politics of to come and 7 Pleasures, alongside a plethora of other works. Out of these connections emerges a surprising chronology, a rush of energy that captures the detail and pleasures of performing.
Mette Ingvartsen is a dancer and the most important Danish choreographer since Bournonville. Her work is characterized by hybridity and engages in extending choreographic practices by combining dance and movement with other domains such as visual arts, technology, language, and theory.
Between 2009 and 2012, her Artificial Nature Series explored human and non-human agency through choreography. Her Red Pieces (2014–2017) focused on nudity, sexuality, and the body’s political history. In 2019, she premiered Moving in Concert, an abstract group choreography interlacing humans, technology, and nature. In 2021, she premiered The Life Work, an in-situ project with elderly people, and The Dancing Public, inspired by historical dancing manias. Skatepark, a large-scale performance for skaters and dancers, premiered in 2023, followed by RUSH in 2024.
Mette Ingvartsen holds a PhD in choreography from Stockholm’s University of the Arts and graduated from P.A.R.T.S in Brussels. She established her company in 2003, with work shown in Europe, the U.S., Canada, South Korea, Taiwan, and Australia. She has been an artist in residence at Kaaitheater and Volksbühne, and associated with the APAP network. In 2024, she received the lifetime achievement award from the Danish Arts Foundation.
Concept & choreography:
Mette Ingvartsen
With: Manon Santkin
Choreographic assistant: Thomas Bîrzan
Technical direction and lighting design: Hans Meijer
Sound technician and sound design: Milan Van Doren
Technician: Jan-Simon De Lille
Music: Will Guthrie, Peter Lenaerts, Gregorio Allegri, Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich, Benny Goodman
Management: Ruth Collier
Production and administration: Joey Ng
Communication: Jeroen Goffings
Production: Great Investment vzw
Premiere: February 1st 2024, STUK — Leuven (BE)
Co-production: STUK co-financed by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union in the frame of DANCE ON PASS ON DREAM ON, VIERNULVIER, Festival Montpellier Danse 2024, Tanzquartier Wien, Charleroi danse centre chorégraphique de Wallonie — Bruxelles, SPRING, CND Centre national de la danse, Perpodium. Great Investment is supported by: The Flemish Authorities, Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government, The Danish Arts Council & The Flemish Community Commission (VGC)
Thjerza Balaj (XK/NO/DK)
Ruzalka
04.09.2024 15:00 25 min
06.09.2024 22:00 25 min
07.09.2024 20:00 25 min
Studio 04
Studio 04
Studio 04
With the performance Ruzalka, the Norwegian-Kosovo Albanian dancer and choreographer Thjerza Balaj explores Slavic folklore. According to the legends, the rusalka is a female character who lures young men deep into the water, where she entwines them in her hair and sinks them to the bottom of the sea.
In Ruzalka, Thjerza Balaj personifies this mythical figure, but in a hybrid version where identity, power, and lust become fluid, change, and evolve. In velvety darkness and to the beat of hardcore techno, she explores desire, dominance, and pushes the boundaries of dance.
About her artwork, Thjerza Balaj says: “I am interested in dance that seeks boundaries and tries to challenge our contemporary society, environment, and understanding of what dance can be. I want to create dance that is liberating and sensitive but has a direct boundary-pushing expression. I aim to explore and emphasize issues surrounding representation and power dynamics using dance as a means of expression.”
Thjerza Balaj is a trained dancer and choreographer from The Danish National School of Performing Arts, currently residing and working in Copenhagen. Immediacy and intimacy are important elements in her works. Her choreographic practice deals with the female gaze, power dynamics and the uncanny. Playing with shifting intensities is a consistent approach in her seemingly hard-core yet ephemeral practice. She has previously worked with choreographers and artists such as Ingri Fiksdal, Jules Fischer, and Esben Weile Kjær. In 2022, she received the prestigious danceWEB scholarship at Europe’s biggest dance festival, ImpulsTanz in Vienna.
Dance and choreography: Thjerza Balaj
Sound producer: SANTI RZR
Additional music: Smerz
Costume design: Ditte Marie Thygesen
Light technician and designer: Magnus Holger Knoblauch Hjortlund
Production assistant: Karl Filip Norström Weile
Heine Avdal & Yukiko Shinozaki /
fieldworks (NO/JP/BE) unannounced
06.09.2024 17:00 85 min Blackboxen
07.09.2024 17:00 85 min Blackboxen
unannounced does not start when the dancers walk onto the stage, and it does not end when they make their last exit from the podium. Instead, it explores what happens when a performance begins almost imperceptibly among the spectators in the foyer. When spectators are invited to join a guided tour of the building. When spectators find themselves on the stage, unable to distinguish who belongs there and who doesn’t.
In unannounced Heine Avdal & Yukiko Shinozaki / fieldworks continue their unique, poetic explorations of the theatre’s materiality. As in previous work, the conventional hierarchies between the spaces and times of performance, the boundaries between the inside and the outside of the theatre, front and back of the house, the center and the periphery of the podium are suspended. And, while spectators and performers experience a real (and wonderful) shared moment, the boundaries of this moment are also cleverly blurred.
Throughout unannounced, Avdal and Shinozaki, continue to draw attention to, and to imaginatively transform, the space(s) in which we find ourselves, by animating and making strange all elements of the theatre, from props and technical equipment, to sound and light. All throughout this mysterious journey, which is full of unexpected twists and turns, we are encouraged to re-position ourselves, and to reconsider what and how we see.
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker/Rosas (BE) Fase, Four Movements to the Music of Steve Reich
Heine Avdal and Yukiko Shinozaki’s work is concerned with “performativity” and allows for an open interpretation of movement as a heterogeneous combination of a variety of media. Consequently, they draw on a broad range of disciplines and expertise. They create projects in both theatrical and non-theatrical environments; spaces such as offices, hotels, supermarkets, etc. Through interaction with those familiar spaces and by treating them slightly differently, they suggest to rethink the notion of the everyday itself. In 2000, Avdal and Shinozaki formed their own company ‘fieldworks’. Since then, they have created more than 25 productions which have all been touring internationally.
Concept and direction:
Created and performed by:
Heine Avdal, Yukiko Shinozaki
Ingrid Haakstad, Orfee Schuijt, Krisjanis Sants, Yumi Osanai, Heine Avdal, and Yukiko Shinozaki
Sound design: Johann Loiseau
Light design: Hans Meijer, Michael Janssens
Media artist: Julie Pfleiderer
Dramaturgy and text: André Eiermann
Drawings: Orfee Schuijt
Electronics: Johann Loiseau, Matthieu Virot
Management: Bob Van Langendonck
Produced by: fieldworks (BE), Heine Avdal (NO)
Co-produced by: PACT Zollverien (DE), BUDA (BE), BIT Teatergarasjen (NO), STUK (BE), Kaaitheater (BE), Teaterhuset Avantgarden (NO), Black Box (NO)
With the support of: Norsk Kulturråd, Vlaamse Overheid, Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie, apap — Performing Europe 2020 (co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union)
Special thanks to: Vooruit (BE), Netwerk Aalst (BE)
Iceland Dance Company (IS)
Romeo & Juliet — Up Close
06.09.2024 20:00 120 min Hallen
07.09.2024 14:00 120 min Hallen
In Iceland Dance Company’s rendition of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare’s classic tragedy is meticulously deconstructed, unfolding into numerous narratives that run parallel, forming a world teeming with lustful desire, bodily fluids, and flaming tongues of fire. The performance explores the hurtful power of screams and the healing force of love while treating the audience with adventurous scenery and costumes, captivating video work, and the enchanting music of Sergei Prokofiev.
Romeo & Juliet — Up Close is a contemporary reimagining of an earlier piece crafted by Erna Ómarsdóttir & Halla Ólafsdóttir in collaboration with the dancers of the Gärtnerplatz Theater in Munich in 2018. The original presentation earned a nomination for the prestigious German theatre award, Der Faust. In 2021, the performance was passed on to Iceland Dance Company and is now brought to Dansehallerne in an Up-Close version that offers the audience a unique and immersive experience.
The performance is created by Halla Ólafsdóttir, dancer and choreographer with an MA in choreography from Stockholm University of the Arts, and Erna Ómarsdóttir, graduate from P.A.R.T.S. and the artistic director of Iceland Dance Company since 2015.
Iceland Dance Company serves as the primary driving force in the dance world of Iceland. It develops and stages new Icelandic dance works, showcased both domestically and internationally, while also actively participating in collaborative international projects. The main objective of Iceland Dance Company is to generate and sustain public interest in the art form, demonstrating a genuine concern for its audience and seeking various avenues to engage with them. Under Erna Ómarsdóttir’s leadership, the focus has been on expanding the definition of “contemporary dance” and fostering increased collaboration among institutions and artists.
Iceland Dance Company collaborates equally with music and visual artists, symphony orchestras, and other dance groups. They participate in music videos, dance films, and various festivals, organizing workshops, artist talks, and presenting works in public spaces and art museums. This methodology and vision have carved out a distinctive place for Iceland Dance Company among the most progressive dance groups in Europe. Noteworthy partners include Sigur Rós, Ben Frost, Anna Þorvaldsdóttir, Björk, Ólafur Arnalds, Jonas Akerlund, Matthew Barney, Gabríela Friðriksdóttir, and Ragnar Kjartansson.
Artistic Directors and Choreographers: Erna Ómarsdóttir & Halla Ólafsdóttir
Music: Sergei Prokofiev & Skúli Sverrisson (Watching Water)
Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet performed by London Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by: André Previn
Set: Chrisander Brun
Video: Valdimar Jóhannsson in collaboration with Erna Ómarsdóttir & Halla Ólafsdóttir
Costumes: Karen Briem & Sunneva Ása Weishappel
Lighting: Pálmi Jónsson
Technical director: Ida Juhl
Project and rehearsal directors: Andrean Sigurgeirsson & Kata Ingva
Dancers: Bjartey Elín Hauksdóttir, Elín Signý Weywadt Ragnarsdóttir, Erna Gunnarsdóttir, Félix Urbina Alejandre, Eydís Rose Vilmundardóttir, Inga Maren Rúnarsdóttir, Luca Pinho Seixas, Saga Sigurðardóttir, Sarah Fisher Luckow, Shota Inoue
Chiara Bersani (IT) Seeking Unicorns
08.09.2024 14:00, 18:00 40 min Hallen
With the performance Seeking Unicorns, Italian choreographer and dancer Chiara Bersani explores the fantastical figure of the unicorn, offering a delicate and subtle reflection on the body and otherness.
The unicorn is unique in the sense that it is a mythological creature without a myth to found and justify its existence. It serves as a blank canvas onto which we can project all manner of meanings and emotions. Drawing a strong parallel with the notion of the Political Body — the idea that individuals shape the world’s perception of themselves — Chiara Bersani aims to give love, a history, and a choice to a creature that humans have used and abused: Over the centuries, the unicorn has changed form (“an ox with only one horn”; “a mix between a horse and a donkey”; “a horse with goat’s hooves and a lion’s tail”), origin (from pagan creature to symbol of the pope), and meaning (from magic healer to custodian of girls’ chastity and purity, to defender of Catholic ideology from Turkish invasion), until becoming a contemporary pop icon.
In Seeking Unicorns, Chiara Bersani, 98 cm tall, proclaims herself the flesh, muscles, and bones of the unicorn, giving it breath and eyes. In doing so, she gives voice to the essential questions that run through the unicorn: “Why do I exist? Am I good or bad? If you found me in your garden tomorrow, what would you do?”
Chiara Bersani is an Italian performing artist and choreographer exploring the politics of the body and how the images we create interact with society’s narratives. Her research is based on the concept of the “Political Body” and the creation of practices aimed at training its presence and action. As an activist Bersani works on the accessibility of disabled artists in the performing arts scene. Her “manifesto” work of this research is Gentle Unicorn, a performance included in the Aerowaves circuit and the performance with which she won the Ubu Award 2018 as best performer under 35. In 2019, Gentle Unicorn won first prize in the dance category of the Total Theatre Awards at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Bersani’s newest creation Sottobosco (undergrowth) explores the relationship between disabled bodies and natural landscapes. Bersani is an artist of apap — advancing performing arts project — FEMINIST FUTURE, a project co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union, until 2024.
Photography: Roberta Segata, Courtesy of Centrale Fies
Production: Associazione Culturale Corpoceleste
Co-production: Santarcangelo Festival, CSC — Centro per la Scena Contemporanea (Bassano del Grappa)
With the support of:
Centrale FIES (Dro), Graner (Barcelona), Carrozzerie N.o.T. (Roma), CapoTrave/Kilowatt (Sansepolcro), ResiDance XL — luoghi e progetti di residenza per creazioni coreografiche azione della Rete Anticorpi, XL — Network Giovane Danza D’autore coordinata da L’arboreto, Teatro Dimora di Mondaino
Efva Lilja (SE)
Love’s Conversation is Dance
08.09.2024 16:00, 20:00 55 min Blackboxen
Love’s Conversation is Dance features life in and through choreographic strategies, navigating past deceit and inner and outer chaos. It is a solo danced by a forerunner and one of the leading artists in Swedish dance. The solo form is recurring in the repertoire that Efva Lilja has presented around the world during the 48 years she has been active on stage.
Conceived as an inner dialogue, Love’s Conversation is Dance can be said to be the aging woman’s voice in and through dance. It is an hour-long exploration of the meaning of life and living in a confused and politically bewildering time, like an inner dialogue about experiences and sentiments, about love and the art of survival. Here and now.
“For years I’ve worked with what I call the technologies of listening and the practice of thinking. I listen to the movement. Choreography becomes a survival strategy and dance a resistance stance, a poem of life and the voice of love. In collaboration with composer Per-Henrik Mäenpää, I explore the relationship between the mental and the physical as I dance beyond words”, states Efva Lilja.
Efva Lilja is an artist and researcher, working with choreography in the form of dance, imagery, film, and writing. She challenges and offers new visions for the creation of a reality where political activities and everyday action can be questioned and reformulated when she tackles the basic human condition with singular suggestive power. Her works have been presented in more than forty countries, often seen as controversial and trailblazing. Among them commissioned works for the Museum of Modern Art Stockholm, Centre Georges Pompidou Paris, and the Guggenheim Bilbao, but also works for experimental fora, various stages, and public spaces. She presents exhibitions, lectures, and has published 14 books translated into several languages.
Efva Lilja has received a large number of prizes and awards for her artistic work, including the Stockholm municipality’s honorary award, the Prix D’Assitej, the St. Erik’s medal, His Majesty the King’s medal Litteris et Artibus, and the prestigious Gannevik Award 2022. There she was highlighted as one of Sweden’s most influential choreographers, both in the way of creating dance and through the opportunities she made available for the dance field at large. She is a.o. member of the Disorderly woman network, the European Cultural Parliament and Honorary member of the International Center for Cultural Relations.
Efva Lilja was the director of Dansehallerne from 2016 to 2019.
Choreography and Dance:
Efva Lilja
Text and Voice: Efva Lilja
Original Music: Per-Henrik Mäenpää
Light Design: Jonas Holst
Photo: Håkan Larsson
Production: DAP in collaboration with weld
Thanks to: Dansehallerne for the opportunity to meet with the Danish audience, to Weld, The Art Grant Committee for fundings and Cullberg/Riksteatern who assisted with a residency. Thanks to Appell publishing house, Längmanska culture fund, Kungl. Patriotiska Sällskapet and Lätterstedtska föreningen for supporting the book Kärlekens samtal är dans as well as the gallery Konsthallen Stockholm, which showed paintings and drawings from the production.
Dansehallerne’s New Home
Since 2017, Dansehallerne has operated without a permanent venue, focusing on the development of a new centre for dance and choreography in Copenhagen. The former boiler house in the Carlsberg City District emerged as a potential location, albeit requiring extensive renovation to transition from an industrial structure to a vibrant hub for dance and choreography. This envisioned space should encompass stages, dance training studios, and areas for social gatherings, serving as a dynamic focal point for the artistic community.
Over the past two years, the 4,600 m2 listed building has undergone a significant transformation by Mikkelsen Architects, breathing new life and functionality into the space to serve the art of dance, all while maintaining the building’s unique atmosphere and essence. The house comprises five studios, two stages known as Blackboxen and Hallen, bars situated on two levels, along with a foyer and additional social spaces designed for both the public and professionals. The administrative section is housed in a smaller extension adjacent to the main building, featuring four offices spread across two levels.
Presently, the newly renovated home of Dansehallerne stands open, ushering in a new era for dance and choreography in Denmark.
The renovation and inventories of Dansehallerne are supported by: The City of Copenhagen, The Augustinus Foundation, The A.P. Moller Foundation, Realdania, Aage og Johanne Louis-Hansens Foundation, The Danish Foundation for Culture and Sports Facilities, William Demant Foundation, Knud Højgaard Foundation, and Beckett-Foundation.
The building is donated by Udviklingsselskabet Carlsberg Byen P/S.
About Dansehallerne
Dansehallerne is a national centre for dance and choreography. We focus on presenting and coproducing Danish and international productions for all ages. We are a gathering point for passionate dance audiences and professionals. From our centre, we communicate professional knowledge of the art of dance, and we drive discussions about all aspects of the art of dance, at an intermediate level and in-depth.
Being a national centre, as well as a gathering point for the local and international communities, we continuously work to ensure the best possible conditions for artistic production and the audience’s encounter with dance. Every year, Dansehallerne is the focal point and interface for hundreds of artists who use our activities for professionals.
Dansehallerne’s vision is ambitious; seeking to elevate the status of dance and choreography in Denmark — to elevate it to higher levels of artistic appreciation in society. This objective is actively approached by continuously initiating strong and valued collaborations with other established dance and art institutions, nationally and internationally, as a shared mission — for a larger scope and a higher goal.
Continuously aiming for a broader impact, Dansehallerne operates as a catalyst for in-depth peer-to-peer discussions, a provider of high-level professional training, and a steadfast supporter of dance artists, defined by a strong sense of creative urgency, at every stage of their production processes.
Dansehallerne has a strong focus on cultivating an efficient and sustainable ecosystem for dance and choreography in Denmark nurtured by, and in dynamic valued exchange with, the organization’s local and global associations.
Dansehallerne is a partner in Aerowaves, EDN, Ice Hot Nordic Dance Platform, and the Salavisa European Dance Award (SEDA).
Future Activities
Dansehallerne is dedicated to providing individuals of all ages with the chance to engage with the art of dance. Through the enhanced facilities of our new building, we are committed to introducing new initiatives that will enrich the audience’s comprehension of dance and choreography, as well as their connection to Dansehallerne. These initiatives will manifest in various forms, including artist talks, guided tours, children’s workshops, and exclusive events for annual pass holders.
Additionally, we aim to bolster our professional community by fostering networking opportunities, promoting skill development, and addressing the unique challenges and opportunities within the realm of performing arts.
When it comes to performances, the season 2024/25 at Dansehallerne promises a captivating line up featuring both national and international artists. With a sense of artistic urgency that is truly compelling, this season’s program is not to be missed. Take a closer look at the program by visiting our website.
OPENINGS is not a one-time thing. As it is a biennale, we will encounter 2026 with a second and potentially even greater edition of OPENINGS.
Dansehallerne is exploring opportunities to broaden collaborations and expand OPENINGS to offer new and exciting experiences for our audiences. Through potential partnerships and initiatives, we aim to enhance the biennale’s offerings and create a more diverse and engaging program for all participants. Stay tuned for updates on our evolving collaborations and expansion efforts.
OPENINGS 2024 is supported by: The Augustinus Foundation, The Danish Arts Foundation, and Beckett-Foundation.
