Seminars in Oslo kick off
Dance Information Norway opened its series of writing movement seminars at Bærum Kulturhus the 24’th of January. 20 journalists, critics and editors follow the program which consists of lectures, performances, after talks and studiovisits. In order to show off the performing arts institutions in the Oslo region showing dance, Bærum Kulturhus, The Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Dansens Hus and Black Box Theater was asked to host a seminar each.
The invited speakers are local and Nordic experts on dance, ranging from critics, choreographers and dancers, an author, a professor of dance and theatre and a curator. See the full list here.
The dance field in Norway has over the previous 10 years enjoyed an explosive growth both in regards to infrastructure and institutions, and in the number of artists and productions, in part due to a historically unsurpassed investement in the arts, and dance in particular, fronted by the Norwegian government. Unfortunately this growth largely goes unnoticed by the media, and in particular stark cntrast a dance criticism almost missing from the pages of most national daily newspapers, where previously all respected dailys had “their own” dance critic, albeit on a freelance basis.
From seminar three at Dansens Hus: Clockwise from the left, participant in studio visit, swedish critic Lis Hellström Svenningson, Norwegian author and publisher Geir Gulliksen, and after talk with Snelle Hall and Siri Jøntvedt after their “Skapet” (The Closet) premiere.
The main goal of the seminar series is to raise the competency of media workers and writers so as to lover the threshold for activities in this very vibrant dance field. Those of us working in dance have to admit that our art form is not a part of a general cultural education, “most people” are more savvy towards litterature, music and film. But why complain, everyone has to start somewhere, and we’re starting now. The more dance coverage, the harder it is for other media to ignore alle the interesting things that happen. With just one seminar left to go we’re just waiting for the snowball to start rolling.
Gallery
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- Participants watching Lindemann Steen at Bærum Kulturhus
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- From the first seminar, Danish critic Anne Middelboe Christensens lecture on reading dance.
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- Former Writing Movement project manager Ine Therese Berg introducing the second seminar in Oslo
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- Professor Lena Hammergren showing a clip from Jerome Bel’s performance Veronique Doisneau in her lecture on conceptual dance
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- Tone Øvrebø Johannessen in her a lecture on the Norwegian danc landscape
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- From the third seminar at Dansens Hus, a studiovisit with Wee rehearsing their new performance
