Dance
Gunilla Heilborn (SE)
Dance
Gunilla Heilborn (SE)
Performance
Vitlycke - Centre for Performing Arts
Saturday, 27 September 18.00
Best Dance Performance 2024 from the Svenska Teaterkritikers föreningen
Some people wish the Middle Ages would never end. In her latest production DANTE Gunilla Heilborn takes an unsuccessful trip to Florence as her starting point, where, on her quest to find Dante, she gets lost, not in a dark forest, but amid all the tourists – who, just like her, shuffle along the winding streets of Florence in pursuit of a bygone time. Heilborn takes on the tides of history where everything seeps through and might get lost. Which path should you take again, at that crossroads…
Past and present meet in a highly speculative reading of Dante's eternal questions in a brand new work for three lost souls. Wandering in a constant fog of uncertainty, they find no answers but numerous questions, alternating typical Heilborn humor with seriousness.
DANTE is a piece about indecision and perpetual misadventures. A string of songs, text fragments, sparse dance, and unreliable guides. Like all comedies, DANTE starts very badly but ends well.
Press cuts
“With "Dante" one cannot expect to get either a quick summary of "The Divine Comedy" or a detailed account of Dante himself in less than an hour, but instead one gets much more. A sprawling, funny, and often wonderful little piece of performing art about traveling – and, yes, about living.” - Loretto Villalobos, Svd
“Through smoke and intertextual fog, Heilborn and her casually dancing, chatting and singing trio offer an associative and philosophical dance, allowing the audience to fill in as much as they want and are able to. Provocative for all those in doubt, of course, is the fact that there are several interpretations from which to choose. Which, on the other hand, reinforces the image of the inferno of choice. But I like Heilborn's approach to it, with a sort of contemplative, informed smirk, through a contemporary lens.” - Cecilia Djurberg, Aftonbladet
“With a featherlight take-off from the life of the medieval poet Dante Alighieri and his Divine Comedy, Gunilla Heilborn and her ensemble take the audience on an existential excursion that is quirky, entertaining, and thought-provoking. Dante is yet another chapter in the choreographer’s distinctive artistry, which seemingly moves seamlessly between dance, philosophy, and visual art.” - Motivation for Best Dance Performance 2024 from the Svenska Teaterkritikers föreningen
Artist bios
Ludvig Daae is a choreographer and dancer, based in Oslo and Stockholm. He has a preference for long-term collaborations, unusual performance spaces, and popular cultural references. His works often move in the borderland between the personal and the conceptual—often with a dose of self-distance, sparkle, and meticulous research.
After studying dance at P.A.R.T.S. in Brussels and extensively touring as a dancer for, among others, Deborah Hay and Mårten Spångberg, he has created works for, among others, Cullberg, Norrdans, and the Royal Swedish Ballet School. His solo performance MM has been performed over 100 times in ten countries and was named one of the best performing arts works of the year in Portugal in 2014. Ludvig Daae has previously toured with Dansnät Sverige with his own works Meningen med livet in collaboration with Tove Berglund (2023 and 2024), as well as The Viral Dance (2020) and Hyperfruit (2017), both in collaboration with Joanna Nordahl.
Kristiina Viiala was trained at the University of Dance and Circus in Stockholm and has since worked within dance, physical theatre, performance, and film. She has participated in several works by choreographers Gunilla Heilborn, Malin Hellkvist-Sellén, and Dorte Olesen, as well as toured with Riksteatern. Together with other performing artists, she has also worked on her own stage productions, most recently with actor Mattias Fransson. Kristiina is also known from the short films Hur man gör and This is Alaska. She has additionally appeared in Den arge by Malin Hellkvist-Sellén at Malmö City Theatre and Kleine Monster by Jenni Kivelä at Zodiak/Kabelfabriken in Helsinki.
Ida Wigdel is a professional dancer and choreographer based in Oslo, Norway. The choreographer and dancer in her are indistinguishable, and she firmly believes in the synergy between her creative partners and audiences. Her expression is characterized by a complex physicality that is playful, strange and absurd.
After graduating from Oslo National Academy of the Arts she has worked in a wide range of different constellations and projects. She has been internationally recognized by the piece Jordjenta created by the trio Berstad/Helgebostad/Wigdel (Ice Hot 2014, Aerowaves 2015, Spring Forward, ImpulzTanz 8:Tension 2016) and as one of IBP's most trusted dancers since 2010.
Credits
Idea, text and direction: Gunilla Heilborn
On stage: Ludvig Daae, Kristiina Viiala and Ida Wigdel.
Music & songs: Kim Hiorthøy
Set and costume design: Katarina Wiklund
Lighting design: Susanna Hedin
Production: Sara Bergsmark
Sound technician: Jonas Holst
Photo: Märta Thisner
Co-production: Norrlandsoperan, Dansens Hus, Vitlycke Centre for Performing Arts
With the support of: Swedish Arts Council, Swedish Arts Grants Committee, Cultural Administration
More information
More information about: Gunilla Heilborn
Facebook: Gunilla Heilborn