Sphere - Landing

Sphere is an art project for secondary school students, where the students take part in a choreographed underground assembly. In the project, the performers are inspired by the science fiction genre and take over the school with scenography, costumes, music and movements to create a parallel reality that we place "on top of" the students' everyday school life.

The performers arrive at school in a 'mother ship' - a converted truck with black fur and long horns. The school day begins with a short performance in the schoolyard, where the students are the audience. Throughout the school day, students are brought into the project in classes through actions and movement tasks that take place in the classroom, hallways and gym.

Venke Sortland from Landing gives us an insight into what the students will experience.

Can you tell us about SFÆR?

- Sfær is an art project for secondary school students, where the students take part in a choreographed underground assembly. Inspired by the genre of science fiction, we take over the school with scenography, costumes, music and movement to create a parallel reality that we place "on top of" the students' everyday school life. We arrive at school in a "mother ship" - a transformed truck with black fur and long horns. The school day begins with a short performance in the schoolyard, where the students are the audience. Throughout the school day, the students are brought into the project in classes through actions and movement tasks that take place in the classroom, hallways and gym. We will premiere at Malm School in Trøndelag on September 26, 2023.

How did you come up with the idea for the project?

- For several years, we have been working on projects for different target groups, from the youngest pupils in primary school to students in upper secondary school. Projects that use the school as an art arena in different ways. This time we wanted to see if we could create a contemporary dance performance or experience that would engage secondary school students and make secondary school a different and perhaps slightly magical place - at least for a day. With the project, we also want to continue and explore what a performance - or an art encounter - can be. We wanted to see if we could create a performance process that we perform together with the students, where we place them in the middle of the performance situation. 

What artistic choices have you made based on reaching the target group in grades 9-10?

- When we create performances, we always work closely with the target group. Last fall we had a pre-project at Dans i Trøndelag, where we worked on developing the scenographic elements, ideas for the movement material and the form of the performance with students from a secondary school in Verdal. In December and January we did a SKUP project (school development project) at a secondary school in Oslo, where we created a dance version of Ibsen's An Enemy of the People. During these weeks, we had the middle school as our workplace and got to know the young people and their relationship to dance, music and theater. 

Through this preparatory work, we have come up with several measures that we believe work well for this particular target group. Firstly, the students can suggest songs they like, which our eminent DJ Jørgen Skjulstad (aka Center of the Universe) mixes into the performance - there and then. Secondly, we are concerned that none of the students should feel exposed as individuals, so they are given costumes early in the performance process. We think this is super important when we want them to join us as performers on the floor. Thirdly, the idea that the students themselves are involved as performers is based on our experience that they are extremely interested in each other - and that it is therefore a bit pointless to create dance that they just sit and watch. After all, the best aesthetic experience comes from doing something yourself, we now think. 

That said: We're always looking to strike a balance between meeting young people on their terms and giving them some resistance - after all, we also want them to experience something that for many is new and different. 

What is the background to the title Sphere?

- We are still unsure about the title! That said, we don't really think the title has much to do with the students' experience. Sphere refers to sphere or atmosphere, and the idea that we come with a parallel universe or world that we, for a day, place on top of their everyday school life. Sphere is thus a displacement of the everyday or normal. 

Cast: 

Co-creating performers: Rikke Baewert, Venke Sortland, Ida Gudbrandsen, Sigrid Kopperdal and Rakel Øfsti Nesje

Set designer, costume designer and truck driver: Camilla Wexels Riser 

Music: Jørgen Sissyfus Skjulstad 

Costume sewing: Helene Astad Stenerud-Jentoft 

Stage design assistant and architect/technical responsible for the truck: Magnar Mork 

Producer and artistically responsible: Landing by Venke Sortland and Ida Gudbrandsen

Co-Producer: Dance in Trøndelag and Kloden Teater 

Supported by: Arts Council Norway

Tue 19. - Wed 20. September 2023

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