Oslofjorden Danser - a journey through Gamle Oslo

Welcome to a walking performance featuring a boat trip on the Akerselva River.

Panta Rei Dance Theatre is delighted to welcome you to the performance“Oslofjorden Danser – a journey through Gamle Oslo.”

On August 21 and 22, Panta Rei Dance Theatre invites you to a dance walk through the Gamle Oslo district. The journey begins at the Intercultural Museum in Grønland and moves down to Vaterland, where rowboats await to take you through the tunnel and out into the fjord. Along the way, the audience will experience numerous intimate moments of dance. You will meet six professional dancers from Panta Rei Dance Theatre as well as local performers from the district. The journey doesn’t end until Hovedøya appears straight ahead!

We promise a unique and memorable experience.

Enjoy the show!

PROGRAM

1. Sound installation by Liam Alzafari
2. Organic fictions, machanic states
3. Fargespill
4. Silent voices
5. The Sense of Freedom
6. Sound installation
7. Driftwood
8. Encounters
9. NOENANDREBETALER.NO
10. Kjerringa med staven
11. SIRENE

1. Sound installation by Liam Alzafari

Set designer Liam Alzafari has created two quadraphonic sound installations for Oslofjorden Danser – journey through Gamle Oslo. The first can be heard at the Intercultural Museum and is a collaboration between his project and exhibition “Words” and the museum itself. The second can be experienced in the underpass (Kulverten) on the way towards Bjørvika.

The installation at the Intercultural Museum was created by Sebastian Schmiedl and Liam Monzer Alzafari, in collaboration with Sakib Saboor, Friha Fatima Malik, Seid al-Maliky, Mohammed Omar, Sazan Amedi, and Ayoub Noviger.

The sound installation is the result of a workshop on sound design processes. Participants and artists engaged in listening, making field recordings, recording underwater sounds, composing, writing exercises, and setting up quadraphonic audio.

Sebastian and Liam have crafted a truly unique audio experience for the audience during the walking performance through Old Oslo.

2. Organic fictions, machinic states

Organic fiction, machinic states is a speculative exploration of the interplay between humans and technology, natural and urban landscapes, and the “organic” and the “artificial.” The work invites the audience to imagine and fantasize about technology as an extension of the human body, and to create narratives and associations regarding industry, urban development, nature romanticism, and the relationship between humans and machines.

Chreography: Inés Belli
Dancerr: Victor Amel Pedersen Olivares
Sound: Bendik Baksaas
Costumes: Kjersti Alm Eriksen

3. Fargespill

Participants from the Gamle Oslo district.

This dance began as a duet between Arthika Umapalan (classical Indian dance) and Hawa Janlo (Afro-beats) and was later developed into a group piece. The choreography and composition were created by Sarjo Sankareh in collaboration with the dancers.

Choreography: Sarjo Sankareh og dansere
Musc: Masakali Like Your Style by Aditya Rao & Dr. Srimix
Dancers: Fargespill Oslo Arthika Umapalan, Hawa Janlo, Rebecca Bangfield, Pritha Paul.

4.Silent Voices

Participants from the Gamle Oslo district.

«I grab my thoughts»
«I miss the old days»
«Fri i en boks»

Choreography: Martine Bentsen og Victor O. A. Pedersen
Dancers: Amel Yacob, Kadijatu Janlo, Marco Alcantara
Music: Prediction av Steel Puls

5. The Sense of Freedom

The Sense of Freedom explores the use of music and text together with the movement rhythms of Lou Ditaranto. The audience journeys through the inner thoughts of Lou as she speaks and dreams about the subject of freedom. Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for strings is the musical base, which breathes phrases of hope and hopelessness in conjunction with Lou’s edited voice, which acts as an extra percussive element. Frenetic, yet calm, this is an attempt at expressing what it feels like to be a dancer during a time of crisis.

We don’t think about it twice
Unless we’re being asked to think about it
And that’s beautiful in itself
As well as questionable, in a way
Everything I worship
Everything I’m allowed to do
Everything I am wanting to do,
I do Because I’m free to do so

Choreography: Melissa Hough
Dancer: Lou Ditaranto
Music: Tchaikovsky: Serenade for String Orchestra in C Major, played by Det Norske Operaorkestret
Costume: Melissa Hough
Light Design: Panta Rei Danseteater
Sound Design: Melissa Hough
Staging: Melissa Hough

Melissa Hough is participating in the National Ballet’s choreography initiative, a three-part-collaboration between Norsk Tipping, Talent Norge, and DNO&B.

5. Driftwood

The driftwood on it’s journey at sea is being constantly formed and shaped by every experience. Repeatedly stroked by the waves, the winds and strains of the weather on every surface. In continuous motion whereas the only constant is “change”. Change sometimes means leaving a small part of you behind, a tiny piece of the wood or just smoothening the edges.

In “Driftwood” dancer Sarjo Sankareh tries to explore a place of memory and shapes formed. The thought came as a reaction of talking about identity, immigration tragedies and crises which had been constant, experiences on the sea and hopes of reaching ashore.

For the physical process we went outside by the sea/fjord to work with some pieces of driftwood that we found there This work was later brought to the studio and put together in movements to evoke a memory of these physical objects which are formed by the waves. Breath and water are two main elements in the work.

Choreography: Sudesh Adhana
Dancer: Sarjo Sankareh
Music: Alexander Aarø
Costume: Julie Moene

6. Encounters

Participants from the Gamle Oslo district.

This piece was created in collaboration with TILT Grow dancer Sarjo Sankareh and students from Norges danseskole. Using words like Hope, grief and love, they explore how these emotions can be manifested in movements. Playing with the relations between the dancers and composition elements to creation small duets, trios and group choreography.

Choreography: Sarjo Sankareh
Dancers: Kulturstedet (Norges danseskole) Anna Svarstad, Corita Sophia Valle, Gry-Anita Solheim, Heidi Elo Alnæs, Khrystyna Dynko, Nina Bergan Holmelin, Petter Woxen, Sara Bergman
Music: Alexander Aarø

7. NOENANDREBETALER.NO

This is contemporary dance.

Choreography: Hege Haagenrud
Dancer: Iannes Bruylant
Sound design: Hege Haagenrud
Costume: Peter Løchstøer
Text: Are Søberg aka Sløseriombudsmannen

Note: This choreography is not funded by taxpayers’ money, so feel free to relax and enjoy it.

8. Kjerringa med staven

Sleeping titan
The bark creeps in
Something cherished is gone
A friend has fallen

The whole world in my hands
From form to giant
(by Martine Bentsen)

Choreography: Mia Haugland Habib
Dancer: Martine Bentsen
Co-production: Mia Habib Productions with residency at Kaffelageret/ Mia Habib Productions.

9. SIRENE

Honesty is necessary
but without love
it is unbearable
(Poet: Itai Druckmann).

Choreography: Yaniv Cohen Karianne Andreassen
Dancer: Karianne Andreassen
Music: Gressholmen av Kristian Kristensen
Text: Itai Druckmann (Poet)

CONTRIBUTORS AND PARTNERS

Panta Rei Dance Theatre

Panta Rei Dance Theatre is an Oslo-based dance company established in 2000. Since then the company has created 18 productions and led a number of major dance projects. The company leads both Oslofjorden Danser and the extensive dance project TILT, which includes the talent program TILT Grow

The walking performance through Old Oslo is part of the Oslofjorden Danser (The Oslo Fjord Dances) initiative—a series of performances where dance takes center stage. The goal is to showcase the Oslo Fjord while drawing attention to unique experiences of nature.

Read more about us here!

Liam Alzafahri

Liam Monzer Alzafari is a scenographer. His works focus on mutating between existing spaces strategies with spatial tactics to reorganize spaces.

Exploring how spatial and sensorial propositions could be a tool to reveal power relations in theatre and public life. He is interested in Scenographical propositions related to the political, satirical, and associative approaches of popular culture by engaging in public space, social life, and politics.

He holds an MA in scenography and a BA in set design. His work has been presented in the Levant, Norway, Switzerland, Catalonia, and the Czech Republic.

Mohamed Mohamed

Mohamed Mohamed is a 26-year-old artist based in Oslo. He previously studied at the Nordic Black Xpress theatre school and is currently studying at the Academy of Fine Art at KhiO. Mohamed works with both still images and imagery developed through performance. Mohamed serves as a guide for the walking tour in Old Oslo.

Ane Sivertsen Landfald

Ane Sivertsen Landfald works with drawing and creative writing. She is a graduate of the Oslo National Academy of the Arts. She participated in the Autumn Exhibition in 2017 and 2019 and held a solo exhibition at Tegnerforbundet in 2018. She is currently in her second year of the creative writing program in Tromsø.

Ane Sivertsen Landfald wrote the text for the guide Mohamed Mohamed to use during the walking tour of Old Oslo.

Interkulturelt museum

The Intercultural Museum in Grønland is an interactive museum where visitors can confront their own prejudices in the exhibition “Typisk dem” (Typically Them). In the galleries, you can experience contemporary art exhibitions that shed light on the history of immigration, religion, and cultural diversity. Here, you can also view the exhibition "Words"—ten Arabic words for love—created by artist Liam Alzafari.

Read more here!

Akerselva trebåtforening

The Akerselva Wooden Boat Association is working to revive a living wooden boat culture along the Akerselva River. It represents cultural heritage and urban development going hand in hand. The association has re-established moorings in the river, creating a museum-style harbor. We showcase classic wooden boats at the very spot in the city where they once belonged; in doing so, we open a window into the past and share a piece of Oslo’s history. Beautiful boats along the riverbank enrich the cityscape, while their presence and the associated activity help revitalize and improve safety in the Vaterland area. A vibrant wooden boat community in the city center breathes life into a culture that is otherwise at risk of disappearing.

In an Oslo that is constantly being renewed and modernized, there should also be room for a sense of history. The banks of the Akerselva and the surrounding areas are undergoing extensive change. The river serves as a constant amidst a city in flux, linking the fjord to the city.

Read more about the Akerselva Wooden Boat Association here!