Off to Norway ro get inspiration and experience

The aim of the expedition was primarily to visit the International Dance Festival CODA. In addition to the many performances, the organizers had also the chance to see behind the scenes preparations of the festival, meet the organization team of the CODA festival and establish contacts with a number of interesting people not only within the dance arts.

Group consisting of nine organizers started their journey on Saturday, October 17th when they flew to Oslo and throughout the week attended dance performances and other events that took place in different parts of the city and its surroundings.

From the roots to global warming

On Sunday, October 18th, they watched the breathtaking performance of the French choreographer Kader Attou called The Roots, where dancers show off surreal art of combining break dancing, street dance and contemporary dance. The enthusiastic audience in the sold-out venue spaces in Bærum Kulturhus applauded standing for nearly 10 minutes.

Other events that awaited them were very diverse. Among them was a performance called Use My Body While It's Still Young by Norwegian choreographer Hege Haagenrud which featured artists aged 65 to 79 years or a special presentation on the problems of global warming Wild Places: Mountain. Production called Blind by Brazilian artist Duda Paiva intrigued the audience by using a large set of various puppets. In the large hall of the architecturally unique Norwegian Opera House they got the chance to enjoy three choreographies performed by the Norwegian ballet company under the name of Back to the Feature.

Inspiring meetings

TANECVALMEZ Festival Team did not really have time to spare in Oslo. In addition to visiting the performances at the CODA festival, they also got the chance to meet its artistic director Lise Nordal to exchange experience in organizing festivals. Another pleasant meetings were encountering members of the Danseinformasjonen organization that collects information on Norwegian dance ensembles and artists, or reuniting with some members of the Norwegian Jo Strømgren Kompani, who performed at this year's TANCEVALMEZ.

The Czech delegation alternated between meeting and getting to know interesting people and visiting various backstage premises and venues, where individual performances were being prepared and performed. But there was also some time for tours of museums and getting familiar with the city of Oslo and a bit of Norwegian history. During the week they had a chance to have a guided tour of the Dansens Hus, the Opera House as well as the Vigeland Museum. In addition, they visited the Holmenkollen Park ski resort, the modern art museum Astrup Fearnley Museet and a Norwegian folk art museum.

Visiting Oslo and CODA festival was really inspiring for the TANECVALMEZ festival team. Meeting and connecting with so many remarkable people, artists and dancers will not only be a benefit for TANECVALMEZ in the future, but also for the music school B-Art which organizes the festival.

The journey was financed by the Fund for bilateral cooperation at the program level - measure "B" program CZ06 within the EEA Funds 2009-2014.