Afterlife is an alternative history, a site for speculation and ambiguous interpretations of a renaissance that never really happened. The work flirts with the idea of the death of classical ballet while leaning into a subtle irrationality and dark humor.  

Afterlife revisits the origins of the ballet at the Renaissance. A time when the genre was mostly made out of folk dances for white aristocracies, and where a history of violence and exclusion began to take course. By playing with counterfactual fantasies and “what if” questions, Afterlife breaks into, and re-imagines the foundations of the classical ballet and its possible other futures. 

Three performers explore reconstructions and the absurd symbolic gestures of original dances from the late renaissance. They seek to alter oppressive narratives, they look for common grounds and aim to infiltrate a history that never belonged to them. 

Louis Schou-Hansen is a dancer and choreographer and this is their first performance at Black Box teater. Karoline Bakken Lund is a transdisciplinary artist who works with sculpture, scenography and costumes.

Mimosa
Address: Christian Krohgs gate 2

• Project direction: Louis Schou-Hansen.

• Costume and sculptures: Karoline Bakken Lund.

• Co-making performers: Amie Mbye, Georgiana Dobre, Elise Nohr Nystad.

• Music: Petra Skibsted / Peachlyfe.

• Artistic advisor: Sebastian De Line.

• Reconstruction of renaissance dances: Elizabeth Svarstad.

• Conversations with performers: Maritea Dæhlin.

• Photos: Julie Hrnčířová.

Duration: approx. 1 hour

13 March, Directly after the performance:
Aftertalk with Louis Schou-Hansen and Karoline Bakken Lund