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to - a fullevening - danceperformance

AN OVERALL SENSE OF DESERT.

Ecstatic contemplation.

karen foss quiet works is known for visually beautiful performances with contemplative qualities. Her last work, looking closer at the number 2, mathematically and culturally, invites for a desert walk in inner mindscapes.

The stage is empty at Logen Teater and its festive concerthall, only interrupted by the ornamented pillars leading up to the mezzanine. The light is warm, golden, both on stage and in the audience area. The floor is covered in a light felt – like material, the seven dancers all in white, beige and light blue. Two industrial fans is the only props, placed on the right and left sides of stage. One is directed on a slant towards the audience, and suggests an odd association of actually being outdoors. Combined with the heat in the entire space, the ambience brings thoughts of countries in the far East.

Calm ecstasy.

Deep Purples “child in time” is being played from a place far away, and the dancers are being lead into a sort of calm ecstasy – dancing more for themselves than for others. The moves are reserved, organic, and soft on the edges. Precision is not an absolute must, the differences in synchronicity, suggests more of a twosome, than one unit consisting of two bodies. The music and the listless movements create a regard for something of the past, enhanced by the soft and warm light, reminding of old photographs and passed events one dreams of. Gradually the light fades, and by way of an almost imperceptive transition, one finds oneself suddenly in a very ambient soundscape. One can practically hear the humming of insects, dripping water, the entirety exudes something otherworldly.

The dancer move in slow motion, balancing between something of no will and weightless - ness. There are variations between duels and collaborations, static loneliness and unwilling twosomes. The sound brings us to the outskirts of a city, one of the female dancers allows herself to be played with like a lifeless doll. The five surrounding dancers function as props on the stage. Using the natural shadow in the space, convincing shapes such as trees and buildings are suggested.

A sudden change.

The music becomes hypnotic, changing the symbolism of the moves, even though the energetic force remains on the same level. It comes to a halt, the scenographic dancers illude mountain - formations, the movements take on a more masculine, explosive and dangerous undertone, before it all comes to rest again. A tornado is present, the bodies are thrown into a controlled chaos. It is a marvel they do not collide. One by one they regain their respective identities. Two of the dancers remove their shoes, there is acknow - ledgement of something worthy and loved. The one brunette is suddenly seated, catlike, on the shoulders of another dancer. Something post – apocalyptic rests, a new start, the Sisyfos rock is yet again rolled up the mountain. Dancers transform into birds, robots, the interchangeable images are not satisfying – partially due to the high - frequency sinustones running continually – not quite reminding of a dream, but perhaps pointing more in the direction of a nightmare.

We are lead into one of the highlights of the performance, a slow sequence in an auditive tropical rainstorm, where the one male dancer is drenched to the skin in his own sweat. The dancers seem like growing plants far beyond civilization, far away from audible perceptions. The performance pays respect to one of its inspirational sources, the Persian sufi poet Hafez, fronting at times, overly clear symbols. This is very much so, in the section where humans seek rest under the shadowy and protective trees, where the scene receives too much focus, in comparison with other less obvious, but poetic tableaux. An example is one of the female dancers, like a Vetruvian woman meandering along the wide horizon far in the back, parallell to the earlier mentioned event. The image is da Vinci worthy, there is no doubt she is the original woman, to be followed as a rolemodel.

Private Atmosphere.

Towards the end of the hour - long show, the symbolism running through the entire performance comes into perspective, perhaps and particularly strengthened by the use of the richly connotative 70`s song – hit, opening the performance. Imperceptibly one has shifted from a rather cool and chic starting point into a rather private atmosphere, with interpretive possibilities as many as persons in the audience. Drawing on the very unlikely references such as Hafez, The Myth of Sisyphos by A. Camus, and Our Present times Fear of The Somber by R. Andersson, leaves open for each spectator to choose from the very poetic shapes. One can perceive the performance as visual lyricism, as a learning piece or critical of society, or perhaps all and more at the same time.

The soundscape is one of the most eloquent designs in the performance, creating an illusion of being imprisoned in a giant dancers - box, due to the constant and yet unpredictable and hard to define sounds of humans and urban life, far away in the distance. In part this functions so well that a perception develops, of the performance rather happening in one`s own mind, either being awake or being in a sleeping state of mind. The show is visually beautiful, but the smouldering sense of something unpleasant pervades, as if the reflexive mindfulness in one`s own thoughts are overexposed to the world.

03.09.2010. Karoline Skuseth, scenekunst.no

gracerunners (hvitt løp)

“Beginning with one dancer already in activity, claiming she is ready and then next suggesting she is tired, the ambivalence is set and large. The setdesign creates another dimension and is successful in its simplicity. Gracerunners is a very well worked through performance with a clear message”

30.03.07 Dagbladet/Sigrid Svendal

“ gracerunners signals a lot of competence. In many ways it is a wellcrafted and interestingly raw and urban performance with strong expressions of huntouts and dis – association in a very nicely designed space”

21.03.07 Aftenposten/Lunde

“Respected Norwegian choreographer Karen Foss`first collaboration with the young Czech up - and coming Dancecompany Nanohach produced the performance Structures of Instabilities – Fragile in 2005. gracerunners - a new collaboration between her company karen foss quiet works and Nanohach, premiered in Norway Oslo, in March and in the Czech Republic in the second half of April in Ponec Theatre. Both pieces deal with struggles of the individual and the dancer to cope with modern societal demands. Whereas the first piece was humane, searching and predominantly quiet in all its complexity, in the new gracerunners the senses are bombarded by audio and visual input in a sleek powerful and captivating expression of the exhaustion and feeling of exclusion produced in the individual by contemporary society`s pressures.”
April 2007 Dancezone/Heather Benes - Mcgade

pearl simply (perle enkelt)

"The gaze of both male, female and peeping Tom is titillated, turned around and given new focus. The performance is fruity, thoughtful and loaded with energy - a great achievement for Karen Foss and her dancers. Foss has also written the text, which she delivers with a sense of rhythm, rhyme and crisp one-liners."

Marit Strømmen in Bergens Tidende, 14th October 2002

"The dancers and music melt together in an atmosphere of tenderness and fragility… In Pearl.Simply, there is a lot of sensuality that is beautifully and sensitively developed."

Fredrik Rutter in Aftenposten, 14th October 2002

"With an obstinate expression on her face, Karen Foss questions the relationship between beauty, the subjective eye and conventional truths. At the same time, she presents a delightful allegory of beauty on a stage where the baroque blends with the modern through the costumes, sound and movement. Karen knows where she is going and what she wants to convey, and she does so with an energy, willpower and communicative strength that surprises the senses and stimulates the intellect."

Grete Indahl in Klassekampen, 25th February 2003

place (plass)

"Perhaps not the most exciting title chosen by choreographer Karen Foss for her new production: "Place". However, what she gets out of this choice is impressive! The term "place, piazza, space" can mean everything and nothing. Or as Foss writes in her programme notes: "Spatial place - space for movement - emotional space – a place for the unpredictable - musical space - the place for an event." The wealth of associative powers in this piece could easily end in an abortion. Instead, we become the fascinated witnesses to a full-term pregnancy.

There are four dancers on stage: Marianne Albers, Terje Tjøme Mossige, Gaute Grimeland and Cecile Lindemann Steen. The latter opens the evening with a long and silent solo, whilst the others step lightly forward, accompanied by viola player Gro Løvdahl's and percussionist Hans-Kristian Kjos' virtuoso playing: she meanders from melancholic salon music to short, folkloric tunes; he improvises on suggestive African rhythms and sharp-edged brutality, leaving us to decide where one ends and the other begins. The dancers improvise likewise - as athletic, aggressive and fiery as the percussion. The effect of these contrasts is enormous. The work is richly adorned with a dynamism that stems from the unusually well thought-out dramaturgy closely linked to the music. Images are presented with organic and stylistic confidence and end in a beautiful epilogue. This performance signals the advent of an active autumn season of dance performances at Black Box Theatre."

Yngvild Sørbye in Dagbladet, 22nd September 1995

"In "place" Karen Foss and her excellent colleagues realise the potential qualities suggested in the title and present an artistic and polished piece of work. The blend of ideas, concept and choice of elements entice the audience into a magical landscape. "To live without eyelids" - the subtitle of the performance - suggests the sense of sitting in Teatergarasjen, in an airy space where movements, sound, lighting, textiles, colour and allusions work together. The interesting concept of the piece is to examine the fragmented thought processes of the memory – the contemplation of emotions, sounds and memorised images – and to question where this takes - place. A performance where the concept and chosen shapes enhance each other convincingly."

Åse Løvset Glad in Bergens Tidende, September 1995