Performance at The 16th NOFOD Conference: The Dancer and the Dance:
practices, education, communities, traditions, and histories. April 23 – 26, 2024. Kristiania University College, Department of Performing Arts (Høyskolen Kristiania).
Choreography: Anne Grete Eriksen
Dance and choreography: Elizabeth Svarstad
Harpsichord: Gunnhild Tønder
Music by Rameau, Lully, Royer, and Händel
Eighteenth-century choreography by Pecour and Feuillet
Costume design: Magne Kristiansen and Anne B. Solli
Tailor: Magne Kristiansen
Costume adjustments: Kine Økland
Shoes: Eva Solberg
Photo: Nicolas Tourrenc and Magnus Skrede
Love-dans is supported by the Arts Council Norway and The City of Oslo
Love-dans is inspired by the Norwegian word lov, which means law. In the performance, baroque movements are subject to spatial reversion and playing with the book of Norwegian Laws. The dance shifts between private and public moods of expression and an exploration of our relationship to law, order, and chaos. The work changes between original eighteenth-century choreographies, newly composed movement sequences in the baroque style, and contemporary choreography performed to baroque music.
Love-dans had its world premiere at the hayloft at Bogstad Manor, Oslo in 2013. The performance was a 20-minute commissioned work for the international conference The 18th Century in Practice hosted by the Norwegian Society for 18th Century Studies. Later, Love-dans was performed in Aarhus, Stockholm, and Eidsvold 1814 before it was revived as a full evening performance at Oslo ladegård in 2022. Thanks to Anne Marie Tronslin, The Faculty of Law Library, University of Oslo, Birgit Kydle, Riksrevisjonen/Office of the Auditor General of Norway, Liv Indregård, Oslo Tinghus/Oslo District Court, Borgarting Lagmannsrett, and Torill Johme, Advokatfirmaet Selmer, for donating books of Norwegian Laws.
Anne Grete Eriksen, professor in choreography at The Oslo National Academy of Arts. As a dancer and choreographer, she has created projects, choreographies, and staged work in dance, theatre, opera and film, and multi-disciplinary projects often associated with Dansdesign presented on National and International venues, festivals, and institutions.
Dr. Elizabeth Svarstad, dancer, choreographer, historian, and a specialist in Baroque dance. She studied baroque dance in France, England and the USA and is Norway’s foremost specialist in baroque dance and early dance. She has created and performed in dance performances, concerts, opera productions and solo performances in Norway and abroad.
Gunnhild Tønder, harpsichordist. She is performing throughout Scandinavia as a chamber musician and soloist and has worked with orhestras such as Orchestre Les Siecles, Oslo Philharmonic, TSO, Barokkanerne, Arctic Symphony, Norrlands Opera, Athelas Sinfonietta, Nordic Network for Early Opera, and Opera Australia.
