Press releases

2013-05-20

World premiere for Cullberg Ballet in Amsterdam

One of Europe’s most recognised choreographers, Jefta van Dinther, is currently working on a new piece for Cullberg Ballet. Plateau Effect will have its world premiere at the international dance festival Julidans in Amsterdam 11 July. The Sweden premiere will take place at Dansens Hus in Stockholm 18 September.

In Plateau Effect, the dancers resemble a community that is constantly on the move in an unsettled progression through various terrains. Communicating, transporting, constructing and inhabiting turns into choreography as they unite them in a joint effort to create more than one person can alone. Through body and voice, through sound, light and materials, this force of alliances directs and redirects towards and away from the audience. Immersed in the sonic landscape of David Kiers, with lighting design of Minna Tiikkainen and scenography by SIMKA, the performance races through a sequence of laborious productions, vibrating and unstoppable.

“With Plateau Effect, I want to continue my research in the areas of perception and synaesthesia,” says van Dinther. “I want the body, light and sound to quite literally extend and reach out to the spectators, with directness and without a need for interpretation. I want to cultivate and promote a space where an audience can spend time with the things they do not recognize. The title Plateau Effect refers to a temporary state of stable productivity, in which a levelling out occurs.”

Plateau Effect (2013)
Choreography Jefta van Dinther
Sound design David Kiers
Lighting design Minna Tiikkainen
Set design SIMKA

With nine of Cullberg Ballet’s dancers.
Duration approximately 60 minutes, no intermission.

Touring plan autumn 2013
World premiere in Rabozaal, Stadsschouwburg, at the international dance festival Julidance 11 July 2013.
Rovereto Italy, 5 September
Sweden premiere 18 September at Dansens Hus Stockholm, (performance dates 18, 19, 20, 21, 24 September).
Gävle Theatre, Gävle Sweden, 9 October
Storsjöteatern, Östersund Sweden, 16 October
MAC Créteil/Festivale d’Automne, Paris France 5-7 December

Performance dates will be added continously.

Jefta van Dinther is a choreographer and dancer working between Stockholm and Berlin. He grew up in Sweden, after which he moved to the Netherlands and graduated from the Amsterdam School of the Arts (MTD) in 2003. Jefta makes performances, both alone and in collaboration with other artists. He is currently touring the new performance THIS IS CONCRETE (2012), made in collaboration with Thiago Granato, as well as GRIND (2011), in collaboration with lighting designer Minna Tiikkainen and sound designer Davis Kiers. His other works include The Blanket Dance (2011), made in collaboration with Frédéric Gies and DD Dorvillier, Kneeding (2010), The Way Things Go (2009) and IT'S IN THE AIR (2008) in collaboration with Mette Ingvartsen. The Way Things Go is also included in the repertory of the Cullberg Ballet. Jefta has been engaged as a performer with various choreographers including Mette Ingvartsen, Xavier Le Roy, Ivana Muller, Frédéric Gies, Kristine Slettevold, Keren Levi and Leine&Roebana. Jefta teaches in choreography, sharing his methods of work and practices. Recently, he has been appointed artistic director of the MA program in Choreography together with Frédéric Gies at the University of Dance and Circus in Stockholm. www.jeftavandinther.com

More information and high resolution images on www.cullbergballet.se

For more information, please contact Erica Espling, PR Manager Cullberg Ballet, tel: + 46 70 602 27 01
e-mail: erica.espling@cullbergbaletten.se

Cullberg Ballet
Cullberg Ballet has performed all over the world and is an important element in the international presentation of Swedish culture. The company also engages in national outreach through its tours within Sweden. The company collaborates with a variety of national and international choreographers and performing artists who create works for large as well as small stages. Cullberg Ballet’s activities encompass projects and productions including site specific appearances and collaboration with dance training programs. Anna Grip is the company's artistic director. Cullberg Ballet was founded by Birgit Cullberg in 1967 under the auspices of Riksteatern. The company currently has 16 dancers from nearly as many countries. Since its inception, the stage personalities and technical strength of its dancers have been Cullberg Ballet’s defining characteristics. Cullberg Ballet is part of Riksteatern, Sweden’s National Touring Theatre. 

2013-04-29

Grants to Lisa Drake and Alexandra Campbell

On 27 April Cullberg Ballet’s rehearsal director Lisa Drake and dancer Alexandra Campbell were awarded grants during Riksteatern’s Theatre Days. Lisa Drake received the Hans Cullberg grant and Alexandra Campbell the Riksteatern grant. The motivations read as follows:

Lisa Drake
With an ever-growing passion and a great knowledge within the dance field, Lisa Drake takes both
herself and the dancers of Cullberg Ballet to new insights and possibilities. As a dancer, and not least as a rehearsal director, she contributes to the company's high artistic level. In addition to this, Lisa is an excellent ambassador for dance, Cullberg Ballet, and Riksteatern, and she inspires existing as well as new admirers of the art of dance. Lisa Drake is a worthy recipient of the Hans Ullberg Grant. Hans Ullberg was Riksteatern's (The Swedish National Touring Theatre, of which Cullberg Ballet has been a part since 1967) first Managing Director, during the years 1958-1982.

Alexandra Campbell
With great curiosity and a solid experience, Alexandra embodies the old as well as the new. As a
colleague and a co worker she serves as a great role model. She maintains and refines the older repertoire and at the same time, she is much sought after by the contemporary choreographers. She dances from strenght to strenght, with the capability to create her own space, both as a dancer and as a choreographer. Alexandra Campbell is a worthy recipient of the Riksteatern grant.

For more information; please contact:
Erica Espling
PR Manager Cullberg Ballet
+46-70-602 27 01
 

2012-12-12

Anna Grip to leave Cullberg Ballet next summer

Anna Grip, Artistic Director at Cullberg Ballet, is opting to leave her post when her appointment expires next summer. Riksteatern, The Swedish National Touring Theatre of which Cullberg Ballet is part, is now beginning recruitment for a new Artistic Director. 

“Different organizations call for different tasks at different times. In my role as Artistic Director at Cullberg Ballet I have endeavoured to develop and manage the company at the same time – that has been my task. Cullberg Ballet has had a long and strong history without me and will have a long and strong future without me. I have tried to open doors to the future. In order to get the recruitment process going now, I am choosing to make this announcement at this time, eight months before I go,” Anna Grip says.

Anna Grip came to Cullberg Ballet in 2006 as Ensemble Manager. In the summer of 2008 she took over as Acting Artistic Director when Johan Inger left, and since January 2010 she has been the company’s Artistic Director.

During her time at Cullberg Ballet, Anna Grip has invited several choreographers to create works for both the big and small stage. She has also broadened the work of the company to include site-specific works and works for settings other than the traditional stage. Under Grip’s management, the company has taken steps to invest in future generations of dancers, choreographers and audiences, and today it offers places on a training programme to students including those in their final year.

Anna Grip and the Operations Manager for Riksteatern Mia Larsson are available for interviews.

For further information and interview bookings please contact:
Erica Espling
Marketing and Press Manager at Cullberg Ballet
+46-70-602 27 01

Cullberg Ballet
Cullberg Ballet has performed all over the world and is an important element in the international presentation of Swedish culture. The company also engages in national outreach through its tours within Sweden. The company collaborates with a variety of national and international choreographers and performing artists who create works for large as well as small stages. Cullberg Ballet’s activities encompass projects and productions including site specific appearances and collaboration with dance training programs. Anna Grip is the company's artistic director. Cullberg Ballet was founded by Birgit Cullberg in 1967 under the auspices of Riksteatern. The company currently has 16 dancers from nearly as many countries. Since its inception, the stage personalities and technical strength of its dancers have been Cullberg Ballet’s defining characteristics. Cullberg Ballet is part of Riksteatern, Sweden’s National Touring Theatre. 

2012-10-03

Cullberg Ballet to South Korea 

For the first time in nearly ten years Cullberg Ballet will be visiting South Korea this coming weekend. Two performances of a three bill will be presented at the international dance festival SIDance in Seoul, South Korea 5-6 October. The company will present three successes at the new venue Gangdong Arts Center in the outskirts of Seoul; Crystal Pite’s xspectacle, Johan Inger’s Negro con Flores and Alexander Ekman’s dance film 40 M UNDER. The tour to South Korea is presented with support by the Swedish Institute. The Swedish Embassy in Seoul organizes a reception after the final show on Saturday. Cullberg Ballet visited Seoul in 2003 with Mats Ek’s Swan Lake. 

Further information and press images are available at www.cullbergbaletten.se
For additional information, contact
Erica Espling, Press and Marketing Officer, Cullberg Ballet
+46 (0)70 6022701

Cullberg Ballet
Cullberg Ballet has performed all over the world and is an important element in the international presentation of Swedish culture. The company also engages in national outreach through its tours within Sweden. The company collaborates with a variety of national and international choreographers and performing artists who create works for large as well as small stages. Cullberg Ballet’s activities encompass projects and productions including site specific appearances and collaboration with dance training programs. Anna Grip is the company's artistic director. Cullberg Ballet was founded by Birgit Cullberg in 1967 under the auspices of Riksteatern. The company currently has 16 dancers from nearly as many countries. Since its inception, the stage personalities and technical strength of its dancers have been Cullberg Ballet’s defining characteristics. Cullberg Ballet is part of Riksteatern, Sweden’s National Touring Theatre.

2012-08-21

Benoît Lachambre and Jefta van Dinther create new works for Cullberg Ballet

One of Sweden’s single most acclaimed contemporary choreographers, Jefta van Dinther, 32, with a Swedish and Dutch background, is creating a new work for Cullberg Ballet for the big stage. Rehearsals begin in January 2013 and the very first performance will take place in August next year. 

In just over a week’s time, Cullberg Ballet’s dancers will begin rehearsing Canadian choreographer Benoît Lachambre’s new work for six dancers entitled High heels too, which was inspired by dancers in high heels at a burlesque club in Montréal. The performance will premiere at the beginning of March 2013.

Cullberg Ballet’s first encounter with Jefta van Dinther was last autumn, when he staged The Way Things Go with the company at Kulturhuset in Stockholm. The choreographed chain of events surrounding cause and effect was a huge success and van Dinther received universal praise from the media and audiences for his innovative choreography. The new work, entitled Plateau Effect, will be created for ten of the company’s dancers. Van Dinther is working in partnership with set designers Karin Lind and Simon Häggblom, as well as lighting designer Minna Tiikkainen and sound artist David Kiers.

“With Plateau Effect my aim is for the dancers’ bodies, the light and the sound to literally radiate out and reach the audience in a direct way, without any need for interpretation! I want to give the audience an opportunity to be part of something that they are not familiar with. The title Plateau Effect refers to a condition of stable development and productivity, which after a while reaches a plateau,” says Jefta van Dinther, speaking about his new production.

In his previous work for the company, JJ’s Voices, Benoît Lachambre took his inspiration from the music of Janis Joplin. The production has been successful on the international stage after almost three years as part of the company’s repertoire. In his new creation for Cullberg Ballet, Lachambre is working in partnership with visual artist Laurent Goldring and costume designer Alexandra Bertaut and uses humour to push the boundaries of gender stereotypes. 

Fact file: Jefta van Dinther
Jefta van Dinther, born 1980, is a choreographer and dancer working in Amsterdam, Stockholm and Berlin. He grew up in Sweden and later moved to the Netherlands, where in 2003 he graduated from Amsterdam School of the Arts (MTD). His The Blanket Dance (2011) was staged in collaboration with Frédéric Gies and DD Dorvillier. Kneeding – a choreography for three men – premiered in Amsterdam in 2010, and in 2009 he created the quintet The Way Things Go. He developed the performance IT’S IN THE AIR (2008) with Mette Ingvartsen. His latest performance GRIND, a collaboration with lighting designer Minna Tiikkainen and sound artists David Kiers, premiered at Weld in Stockholm in December 2011 and is frequently touring Europe.

Fact file: Benoît Lachambre
Benoît Lachambre is a choreographer, artist, improviser, teacher and artistic director of his own dance company, Par B.L.eux., in Montréal, Canada. He has been part of the international dance scene for the past thirty years and throughout his career has adopted an exploratory approach to working with movement and dance. His works are always characterised by visual features and elements of performance art. Par B.L.eux works with contemporary and ground-breaking choreographic works and enjoys close partnerships with choreographers and artists around the world. Benoît Lachambre has taken part in a number of films and won many awards for his works. JJ’s voices for Cullberg Ballet premiered in November 2009 on the small stage of Dansens Hus in Stockholm and was his first production in Sweden.

Further information and press images are available at www.cullbergbaletten.se

For additional information, contact
Erica Espling, Press and Marketing Officer, Cullberg Ballet
+46 (0)70 6022701

2012-08-16

New dancers at Cullberg Ballet

Cullberg Ballet welcomes four new dancers and three apprentices for the 2012/13 season. Jac Carlsson, 26, is from Sweden and was an apprentice with the company two years ago. Jac now joins the company as a regular dancer, together with Anand Bolder, 23, from the Netherlands, Eva Mohn, 30, from the USA, and Eszter Czédulás, 24, from Hungary, who was also an apprentice with Cullberg Ballet during the past year. Jac joins us from the Göteborg Opera Ballet, while Anand has recently graduated from ArtEZ in the Dutch city of Arnhem, and Eva has most recently worked at the Staatstheater Kassel in Germany and as a freelancer in New York.

Since 2010, Cullberg Ballet has had a particular focus on the next generation of dancers, choreographers and audiences. The company’s Cullberg to come programme offers traineeships with the aim of building a bridge for students between training and working life. These traineeships last for one academic year, offering students daily training, the opportunity to follow rehearsals, repertory work, involvement in new creations and the chance to take part in exhibitions and tour with the company around Sweden – all within the context of training. 

The apprentices for the 2012/13 season are Anika Edström-Kawaji, 18, from the Royal Swedish Ballet School, Katrine Johansen, 23, originally from Denmark and a student at the University of Dance and Circus (DOCH) in Stockholm, and Vincent Van der Plas, 22, from Belgium, a student at the Rotterdam Dance Academy.

The season opened earlier this week with Playback, part of Cullberg Out in context at Stockholm Culture Festival, followed by another site specific work at the Malmö Festival on 18 August and Melanie Mederlind’s Translations at the outdoor theatre of Parkteatern in Vitabergsparken, Stockholm on 23-24 August. 

For more information, please contact
Erica Espling, Marketing and Press Manager, Cullberg Ballet
+46 (0)70 602 27 01

Cullberg Ballet, KammarensembleN and Fotografiska in collaboration

Cullberg Ballet, KammarensembleN and Fotografiska collaborate in a new work, specially composed for Fotografiska. Musicians and dancers meet in this improvised work, based on the collaboration between the varying textures in dance, music and image. Five instrumental solo pieces from the 20th century form the basis and images from the photographer Fanny Oldenburg projected on the walls, create landscapes together with dance and music. The work is presented within the frame of Cullberg Out in context, the company’s site specific project that takes parts of the company's activity out of its usual context to other settings than the traditional. 

Sunday 6 May, Fotografiska at 13:00-14:00 and 15:00-16:00

Dancers, Cullberg Ballet: Alexandra Campbell, Agnieszka Dlugoszewska, Hanako Hoshimi-Caines, Johanna Lindh, Andrea Martini, Gesine Moog, Shumpei Nemoto, Victoria Roberts, Luis Alberto Rodriguez, Adam Schütt, Daniel Sjökvist, Csongor Szabó, Patricia Vázquez, Eszter Czédulás (apprentice from Rotterdamse Dansacademie), Fem Rosa Has (apprentice from Rotterdamse Dansacademie)

Musicians, KammarensembleN:
Eva Lindal, violin
Göran Fröst, viola
Jörgen Pettersson, saxophone
Ivo Nilsson, trombone
Jonny Axelsson, percussion

Music
Bruno Maderna, Piece for Ivry, violin
Paul Hindemith, Solosonat op 25:1, viola
Luciano Berio, Sequenza 5, trombone
Martin Q Larsson, Wrench, soprano saxophone
Per Nørgaard, Waves, percussion

Photographer Fanny Oldenburg 
Fanny Oldenburg is educated at Nordens Fotoskola, Biskops Arnö, 2003-2006. She is active as a photographer with television, theatre and dance, with an extensive production behind her. This is her first collaboration with Cullberg Ballet. 

Cullberg Ballet
Cullberg Ballet has performed all over the world and is an important element in the international presentation of Swedish culture. The company also engages in national outreach through its tours within Sweden. The company collaborates with a variety of national and international choreographers and performing artists who create works for large as well as small stages. Cullberg Ballet’s activities encompass projects and productions including site specific appearances and collaboration with dance training programs. Anna Grip is the company's artistic director. Cullberg Ballet was founded by Birgit Cullberg in 1967 under the auspices of Riksteatern. The company currently has 16-18 dancers from nearly as many countries. Since its inception, the stage personalities and technical strength of its dancers have been Cullberg Ballet’s defining characteristics. Cullberg Ballet is part of Riksteatern, Sweden’s National Touring Theatre.

KammarensembleN
KammarensembleN (KeN) was founded 1984 in Stockholm and has since the beginning had a leading role on the Swedish scene for new music. In collaboration with directors, lighting designers, and video artists, KammarensembleN has presented several acclaimed concerts, in Sweden as well as abroad. The ensemble has 18 members, Franck Ollu is the artistic director since 2003. 

Fotografiska
Fotografiska is a vital centre for contemporary photography. The museum is housed in a historic building dating from 1906 in the Art Nouveau style. Located in the heart of Stockholm, Fotografiska is a popular meeting point not only because of its exhibitions featuring the work of world renown photographers, but also for the museum’s fantastic view and great food. Each year Fotografiska’s presents four major exhibitions and approximately 15-20 smaller shows. Since the opening in May, 2010, Fotografiska has exhibited such names as Annie Leibovitz, Robert Mapplethorpe, Sarah Moon, and Anton Corbijn.

For more information:
www.cullbergbaletten.se
www.kammarensemblen.com
www.fotografiska.eu

Press contact
Erica Espling, Cullberg Ballet 070-602 27 01
Anneli Strömqvist, KammarensembleN 0768-900 968
Jens Hollingby, Fotografiska 0709-430 613

2011-12-07

Cullberg Ballet presents The Strindberg Project – new works by Tilman O’Donnell and Melanie Mederlind. Premiere 15 March 2012. Tickets available now.
 
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of Strindberg’s death in 2012, in its next major production Cullberg Ballet is inviting choreographer Tilman O’Donnell and director Melanie Mederlind to be inspired by, comment on or oppose the Swedish icon August Strindberg. They will each create dance works for an evening’s performance to be premiered on the Dansens Hus main stage in Stockholm on 15 March 2012. Tickets at Dansens Hus and Ticnet.se.

“I’m delighted to be back with Cullberg Ballet, this time as a choreographer, to work with the artists who make up the company. One of my sources of inspiration is the writer David Foster Wallace. I read a quote by him just after being asked to work on The Strindberg Project. ‘To make someone an icon is to make him an abstraction, and abstractions are incapable of vital communication with living people.’ It made me start to think about Strindberg as an artist and an icon. How are artists turned into icons, and how does that affect the way we experience their art? That will be my starting point,” says Tilman O’Donnell.

Director Melanie Mederlind is working with dancers for the first time ever, but she had no doubts when the company’s artistic director Anna Grip asked her to work on the project last year.

“It has always been my dream to work with dancers. I feel honoured. The Cullberg Ballet is a context in which I am a stranger and at the same time at home, considering the company’s tradition of dance theatre. I have great respect for dance and am inspired by its proximity to contemporary art,” says director Melanie Mederlind.

2012 is the hundredth anniversary of August Strindberg’s death and the year will see a number of events in Sweden and abroad based on Strindberg’s works in different cultural spheres.

“In the final years of his life, Strindberg largely abandoned literature and dedicated himself to linguistics.  He tried to learn Chinese and wrote that as the Chinese were coming, it was time to learn their language. Today, a hundred years later, his words seem almost prophetic,” Melanie Mederlind continues. “The performance will be based on Strindberg’s linguistic texts and will be a playful and stylised language lesson. I want to take in the different linguistic backgrounds of the dancers and create an ensemble piece out of language, associations and images.” 

Tilman O’Donnell
Tilman O’Donnell is a dancer and choreographer born in 1981. He grew up in the US and trained at the National Ballet School in Toronto, Canada. He has previously danced with The Göteborg Ballet, Staatstheater Saarbrücken and the Cullberg Ballet. Since 2007 he has been dancing with The Forsythe Company in Frankfurt. He made his debut as a choreographer in 2002 and has been awarded first prize in several international choreography competitions together with dancer and choreographer Shintaro Oue. In 2005 he was named “Dancer to watch” and “Choreographer to watch” by the leading European dance magazine Ballet Tanz. He made his Swedish debut as a choreographer in spring 2010 with the acclaimed work This is for The Göteborg Ballet.

Melanie Mederlind
Director Melanie Mederlind, born in 1972, graduated from the directors’ course at  the Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts in 2004. This is the first time she has created a work for dancers. She started working at Riksteatern in 2004 where she directed five productions, the most recent being Innocence by Dea Loher. She has made a name for herself as a director of primarily German contemporary drama and has introduced several German dramatists to the Swedish stage. She directed Elfriede Jelinek’s Swedish premiere. She was nominated for a Hedda Award in 2008 for best direction for her production Ulrike Maria Stuart at Norway’s National Theatre in Oslo. Her productions have been invited to festivals in Norway and Finland and most recently to the Swedish Theatre Biennial in 2011. Last spring she directed Saint Joan of the Stockyards by Bertolt Brecht at Folkteatern in Gothenburg, where she is currently artist in residence.

New work by Tilman O’Donnell
Choreography: Tilman O’Donnell
Costume: Tilman O’Donnell
Lighting design: Thomas Zamolo
Sound design: Mårten Ihre
Dancers: Agnieszka Dlugoszewska, Mirko Guido, Hanako Hoshimi-Caines, Gesine Moog, Luis Alberto Rodriguez, Adam Schütt, Daniel Sjökvist and Patricia Vázquez

New work by Melanie Mederlind
Direction and set: Melanie Mederlind
Music: Vivaldi, Beethoven and others. 
Costume: Ulrika van Gelder
Lighting design: Peter Lundin
Sound design: Mårten Ihre
Dramaturgy: Marc Matthiesen
Dancers: Alexandra Campbell, Johanna Lindh, Åsa Lundvik Gustafson, Andrea Martini, Shumpei Nemoto, Victoria Roberts, Csongor Szabó and Kristóf Várnagy

More information and images available at www.cullbergbaletten.se

For requests for interviews and additional information, please contact:
Erica Espling, PR and marketing manager, the Cullberg Ballet
+46 (0)70-602 27 01


2011-09-05

Cullberg Ballet to appear in China
 
9-10 September Cullberg Ballet will present Benoït Lachambre's JJ's voices at the Oriental Pioneer Theatre in Beijing. The guest performances are presented at the the Beijing Fringe Festival during which more than 100 performances are staged in various theatres across a 20-day period.
 
JJ's voices was created directly for Cullberg Ballet by Canadian choreographer, artist, improviser, teacher and artistic director of Par B.L.eux. in Montréal, Benoît Lachambre, in 2009. The piece is inspired by the voice of Janis Joplin, and the dancers carry her songs through their bodies. Benoît Lachambre has been a part of the international dance community for the past thirty years, devoting himself to an exploratory approach of movement and its sources. Elements of the visual and performance arts are inseparable from dance in his works. Par B.L.eux is devoted to contemporary and interdisciplinary choreographic creation, and the close connection to an international network of artists. Benoît Lachambre is part of many different artistic projects, he has participated in films and been awarded several times for his works. The work with Cullberg Ballet was his first in Sweden.
 
Choreography, set design and costumes: Benoît Lachambre
Lighting design Fredrik Rydehäll
Assistant choreographer and rehearsal director Lisa Drake
Costume assistants Malin Eriksson, Nina Stenmark
Music Joplin (arr.) Down on Me - Ragovoy/Russell Piece of My Heart - Joplin/Mekler Kozmic Blues - Powell St John Bye, Bye Baby -  Ragovoy/Taylor Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)
Dancers Alexandra Campbell, Mirko Guido, Johanna Lindh, Åsa Lundvik Gustafson,
Andrea Martini, Gesine Moog, Isaac Spencer, Csongor Szabó
World première Cullberg Ballet, 25 November 2009, Dansens Hus, Stockholm
Cullberg Ballet last visited China in May 2010 with Johan Inger's Negro con Flores, Mats Ek's She was Black and Alexander Ekman's 40 m under. All three works were presented in Beijing and the two first pieces also in Ningbo and Hangzhou.