Folketoner i Dansespor //Folktunes in Dancetraces
Is a poetic encounter between folk music, folk dance and contemporary dance. Guided by the tunes from the folk musician Gjermund Larsen, the audience is here invited into a “concert performance”, where several short dance pieces are woven together into a holistic experience.
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This experiemce explores how traditional music and dance can meet contemporary dance, challenge each other and create something new. The rhythms, energy and history of folk dance merge with the freedom, improvisation and scenic expression of contemporary dance.
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The result is a powerful, playful and rich experience that highlights nuances in Gjermund Larsen’s music though a new visual interpretation, and allows the audience to experience the folk tunes through the language of dance.
BACKGROUND:
The journey toward this show allready in 2019, when Ann Kathrin created a solo to Gjermund Larsen’s composition November and performed it in Rogaland and Trøndelag. That work was the start of an artistic curiosity for his music that has followed her ever since.
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In 2021, her second solo “Trøstedans” ( Comforting dance) came, to Gjermund Larsen’s Trøstesang/Comforting song– a work that sprang from a need to give expression to experiences from a demanding time, characterized by both personal, carreire challenges as well as the pandemic. Since then “Trøstedans” has been shown in Amsterdam, Trondheim, Oslo, Verdal, and Berlin.
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Gradually, the desire to create an entire performance based on Gjermund Larsen’s music grew. Through her carieer, Ann Kathrin has also for 10 + years wanted to dvelve into the Norwegian folk dance tradition and explore how it can enrich and challenge her background in contemporary dance.
Here, with this show, a clear goal was finally developed .
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Folketoner i Danespor is the result of this long-term artistic interest – to tradition, collaboration, craftmanship and scenic development. Together with folk dancer Embla Olsen and contemporary dancer Hanna Yu, they present a performance that has the goals to unites folk music, folk dance and contemporary dance in a vibrant, playful and interesting scenic experience.