Born of a meeting at CINARS 2022, a collaboration between three organizations from Quebec, Sweden and Norway has brought fruitful results.
CAPAS, Rum för Dans (Sweden) and Bærum Kulturhus – Dance Southeast-Norway (Norway) have come together to forge closer choreographic ties between the Nordic countries and Quebec. Their alliance created an artistic residency for Quebec dance creators aiming to benefit the local community.
The Concept: Create and Exchange to Make Dance Grow
The two Nordic institutions take it in turns to welcome a Quebec company so that it can create a new work in the best artistic conditions. During their residencies, the Quebec team contributes to the vitality of Nordic dance by sharing its choreographic knowledge with the local artists. Eventually, the Nordic programmers – who also co-produce the show – unveil the artwork created in residency to their audiences in a world premiere.
This reciprocal initiative intends on one hand to enrich the process of a Quebec choreographer through the rich Nordic culture, and, on the other, to contribute to the Swedish and Norwegian dance communities through a fresh and dynamic artistic vision. The invaluable co-production opportunity for the Quebec artist enables them to bring a show to life with three international venues already on his calendar. Contemporary dance creation paradise!
The pilot: REPLICA, by Andrea Peña & Artists
Conducted between 2022 and 2023, the first iteration of this residency allowed Andrea Peña & Artists (AP&A) to produce the multidisciplinary show REPLICA. This athletic duo extracts the essence of our timeless fascination with self-reproduction, from ancient sculptures to viral selfies. During the process, visits to the Vigeland Mausoleum (Norway) influenced the sound design, while two residencies of two weeks each at Teater Halland (Sweden) and Kungsbacka Teater (Sweden) consolidated artistic intuitions. Workshops at Teater Halland (Sweden), Halland Art Museum (Sweden) and Bærum Kulturhus (Norway) enabled the choreographer and her team to exchange ideas with the local artistic community on the theme of dramaturgy in contemporary dance. The result is a powerful immersive work that will premiere in Norway and Sweden in September 2024.
The success of this pilot paves the way for other reciprocal initiatives in the future, including further editions of this residency, tours of Quebec artists to Nordic countries and vice versa. CAPAS and its partners are already looking forward to getting back to work.
United we stand: six institutions, one international idea
To support this fruitful partnership between CAPAS, Rum för Dans and Bærum Kulturhus, the project received generous funding from the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Québec and the Nordic Council of Ministers. Agora de la danse also collaborated in the one-off co-production of REPLICA. The perfect alignment of the objectives and missions of these organizations helped make this initiative an outstanding success on both sides of the ocean.