"I høst har to koreografer, tre x Cynthia, et barnekor og en organist søkt tilflukt på Kunstneres Hus. Shakespearetidsskriftet har snakket med Ingri Fiksdal og Helle Siljeholm om hvilke koreografiske muligheter de ser i møtet med en visuell kunstkontekst, og deres koreografiske installasjon Hjemsøkt hus."
The weather grows wetter, wilder, and warmer. Mountains of sand, stone, and gravel form a dramatic scenography in Sand Flight, where the dancers relate to the qualities of the sand through their individual physiques (…) Emotions shift from homage to carrion, which the sand moves down the mountain toward a new cyclical world order (…) In the end, we are left with hope—that we can adapt step by step and create meaning in chaos (…) Here, the hierarchy is dissolved.
"It is a large format production in which the gesture, music, scenery and costumes form a whole that hypnotizes the viewer from first moment. (...)
Diving into the gestural, historical and emotional memory of each of the nine dancers. (...) All of them are excellent performers with a marked stage personality. (...) At the beginning of “Supermedium” each dancer carries out her personal research in her body archive; However, they interrelate with each other and that complicity creates sequences of great beauty. The group movement exudes dynamism and lyricism at the same time. There is chaos, but intelligently controlled."
"Stillhet er så presist. Dette kunstnersitatet kunne man lese på veggen i utstillingen av den amerikanske maleren Mark Rothko på Nasjonalmuseet i Oslo denne sommeren. Under Rothko-utstillingens siste visningsdager, 18.–22. september (2024), kunne besøkende til museet møte en annen av det 20. århundres viktigste abstrakte malere, men ikke som en del av museets offisielle program."
„Guiu's virtuoso use of quotations is impressive; she switches between different dance languages and moves without interruption from the abstract to the concrete. (...) The reference apparatus is large, and the expressive and respectful juxtapositions make the choreographies fit together.“
"(...) Den fantasieggende og lekfylte formen i "Lavaskogen" overlater mye til publikum samtidig som estetikken sannsynligvis er veldig spennende og ny for mange av barna. (...)"
"The imaginative and playful form of "Lavaskogen" leaves much to the audience while the aesthetics are likely to be very exciting and new for many of the children."
"(...) Fiksdal and Floen make human bodies, objects, textile, light and sound breath and hum together, as a total organism. (...)"
"(...) It´s basically about Fiksdal´s exploration of the body´s ability to displace itself. The idea that something is always on its way to something else, against another form, against the overruns. It is about the total collapse. That something can always be or become something completely different. And that makes Ingri Fiksdal´s artwork strong, but not least hopeful and heavenly sympathetic. (...)"
"(...) By the edges of the ocean, in the colours of seawater, the bodily and the scenographic collide in a meditation on togetherness and movement. Diorama for Shoalstone Pool explores Torbay both as a timeless place, and one marked by change; the shifting tourism, changing industries, new generations and wider political changes - Fiksdal´s work makes space for those to appear, gently, observed only by the viewer keen to see them.(...)"
"(...) Danserne ruller, de plukker opp de bamselignende putene - og én av dem står innimellom på hodet, med puta hengende ned fra ryggen, slik at den liksom står på hodet. Etter hvert får handlingen og bevegelsene et mer herjende preg - Holden og Skjeldal er bajaser som baser i puter, som slenger seg ned på dem og kaver rundt, til mange av de smås store begeistring. Fra en mer forsiktig utforskning får de tablåaktige sekvensene et mer rotete uttrykk, mer kaos og virvar - hvor så også publikum inviteres inn.(...)"
"(...)I was moved in a variety of ways. Ingri Fiksdal and Jonas Corell Petersen have created the work State which through its persistent presence penetrates the nervous system visually, kinaesthetically and aurally.
State is a totally immersive experience where the central elements – costume, sound and movement – build and support one another, ably aided by the lighting. The elements are woven together so skilfully that it is almost impossible to differentiate between them in order to describe them.(...)"
"(...)Shadows of Tomorrow, which presents itself as an immersive experience of a psychedelic concert, in which bodies - wrapped in a plethora of clothing that doesn´t allow for any one identification - move and part, sync and drift. Inspired by a psychedelic hip hop album by Madvillian and MF Doom and the cosmic journeys of a Sun Ra piece, the performance toys with the notion of a beat as an embodied energy, and t4eases the abstraction of being together.(...)"
Review of Cosmic Body in Kulturnytt at NRK Radio.
” (…) The distinction between performer and audience ceases for real in Fiksdals HOODS, where the audience are dressed up in identical costumes as the performers. As a spectator I feel liberated in the dark, scenic landscape where bodies move side by side. The cultic aspect in the choreography creates fear and interest at the same time, while the music intensifies the ritual and repetative experience. The audience movements becomes an important part of the piece, and HOODS expands the composition term to be about all the bodies presence in the room; not only the performers (…)”
"(...)Det kan virke litt komisk når fire kvinner kommer inn på scenen, ikledd lag på lag med mildt sagt fargeglade klesplagg. Fra topp til tå er disse kvinnene dekt med alt fra gullfarget jakke til silkeskjerf med blomsterprint. Til og med hodene deres er surret inn i tynne sjal, og man kan bli fristet til å avfeie dem som klossete, kavende figurer uten mål og mening. Så feil kan man ta.
Under den timen forestillingen varte satt jeg helt i ro, uten å lee på en muskel, trollbundet av energiene som bygde seg opp på scenen. BAND rører noe ved deg, og forandrer deg(...)"
“(...)If Fake Moon was In Between Time at its most open and accessible, Night Tripper – by the Norwegian trio Fiksdal/Langgård/Becker – exemplified its feeling of intimate community. Not that Night Tripper seemed intimate: it took place in the woodland outside Bristol, within a monumental circle of trees. Two women, arms painted white and long hair covering their faces, stood at the centre of that circle and slowly revolved, while a band played abstract percussive clatters and hurdy-gurdy whines that coalesced around a violin melody. As the moon brightened above, the sense rose that we were taking part in a terrifying pagan ritual. At the height of this tension, the band started singing – and somewhere in the distance, the earth itself seemed to respond. It was an extraordinary piece, simple yet powerfully affecting – much like the festival as a whole(...)”
"The dancers hold one another – sometimes supporting, sometimes pulling each other down. Through abstraction, the work opens reflections on existence and impermanence, on the thin borders between meaning and emptiness, labour and joy. They are as much workers as they are dancers – moving with pendulum-like precision, linking the pedestrian to the otherworldly as they wrestle, alternately with each other and with the dune itself."
"Sandflukt innehar et av de mest potente og interessante utgangspunktene for en danseforestilling jeg har sett på lenge, med sin slående naturlige scenografi, fengende kostymer og vakre musikk."
"Supermedium works because we all dance and move, and very often our movements have origins that even we ourselves are unaware of. (...) From the Sardana to Rosalía's 'Chicken Teriyaki,' dances are performed among friends and in a festive manner, but they can also reach their maximum splendor in the solitude of the room. (...) Dracula's brides, malevolent twins or unsettling Siamese sisters, this coven of witches doesn't instill fear at all, because their world is ours. They are our grandmothers, mothers, and sisters, they are all of us."
"Guiu embodies profound insights from the history of dance and personal experiences within an intense flurry of quotations, creating a compelling performance to behold. (...) Guiu serves as a conduit, tapping into collective memory and trauma in a manner that feels inclusive and democratic to me."
"(...) Fiksdal and Floen have created a space I want to stay in, where my associations can play along, but where I also feel free to just float along on a wave of space and movement. (...)"
"(...) I tried to grasp the transitions, but they escaped me through this mathematically-intricate choreography. The focus was on one performer for a while, then on another. I tried a wide-angle view, but then had to sacrifice details that could inform me about how the chaos was structured. This tension between flow and formula, and between carefully paying attention but still being unable to follow, create interest in me. (...)"
"(...) Deep Field is Ingri Fiksdal's final performance in her choreographic research project at KHiO. It has become an ending that it is somewhat beautiful and worthy, where everything is distilled down to its own essence: this was what I always wanted, that's what I'm talking about when I talk about choreography.(...)"
"(...) For det er godt med et rom der man bare kan være, la tanken vandre, følge rommets bevegelser, være ett med rommet. Og la tankene vandre igjen. Dette rommet får vi i Ingri Fiksdals forestilling Deep Field. Forestillingen er rett og slett et utrolig deilig sted å være.(...)"
"(...)Oslo Internasjonale Teaterfestival er i gang for fullt. Blant stykkene som ble presentert under åpningshelgen, fant vi Ingri Fiksdals «Diorama»på Hukodden strand i Oslo som et av de mest spennende.(...)"
"(...)Ingri Fiksdals danseforestilling vekket flere spørsmål enn svar. Dermed får vi lyst til å se den igjen, men ikke nødvendigvis for å bli noe klokere.(...)"
"(...)Det snør. En lett tåke ligger over fjorden. Vi forsyner oss med puter, tepper og noe varmt å drikke og vagler oss opp på en lang benkerad med utsyn mot snøen, vannet og livet derute. Der sitter vi og forsøker å venne oss til hva som finnes der.(...)"
"(...)Mørket siger inn over oss og jeg får følelsen av at nå kan hva som helst skje og det vil uansett passe inn.(...)"
"(...) För att bara ta ett verk. Ett verk som på många sätt belyser vad Oslo är, eller skulle kunna vara. Ingri Fiksdals episkt utopiska Diorama, ja, jag vill nästan kalla det episkt, ett berättande episkt verk, kunde upplevas i fyra dagar under festivalens första veckoslut på Hukodden. Jag var där i häftigt snöfall och dimma, där dansarnas, eller snarare formationernas kroppslighet i ett ständigt skiftande landskap påminde om hur allt ständigt förändras. Det var installation, dans, bild och rörelse.(...)"
"(...)Koreograf Ingri Fiksdal har nå tatt med seg prinsipper fra nettopp dioramateatret og skapt en fin, også men veldig langsom forestilling på Huk på Bygdøy.
Ved å plassere 12 dansere og enkelte scenografiske elementer i landskapet på Huk, vil Ingri Fiksdal fremheve nettopp det eksisterende landskapet der. Og akkurat det lykkes hun med i denne forestillingen, som kanskje like mye kan kalles en happening eller en opplevelse.(...)"
"(...)Stedsspesifikk dans er å utvikle og sette opp en danseforestilling med utgangspunkt i å bruke potensialet til et bestemt sted, som regel offentlige rom. Det varmer en osloborgers hjerte å se hvor vakker ens badestrand er i et helt nytt lys. Samspillet mellom vintersolen og de gull- og sølvfargede heldekkende draktene, av kostymedesigner Fredrik Floen, er estetisk magisk og stykkets fremste komponent.(...)"
"(...)Among these rocks, where the foam breaks out, soft sculptures of metallic reflective materials are hidden and detached from the horizon. A sound resonates, the Diorama can begin. Cradled by the waves and the deep sound layers that are superimposed on a nagging techno, the panorama is imperceptibly transformed. The mineral forms move, regroup or extend in an extreme slowness. The sun slowly rises and its light twinkles the fabrics by tinting them with a purple and iridescent glow.(...)"
"(...)Moss grows fat on a rolling stone, Don McLean once sang in his big hit "American Pie". This song line comes to mind involuntarily in the choreographer Ingri Fiksdal's current project. The Norwegian, who has just completed her doctoral thesis on "Affective Choreographies", lets her performers slowly crawl along objects in the landscape like moss, growing out of them, so to speak. (...) The choreography seems to imitate the geographical movements in nature. (...) It's more about taking the time to see things you normally miss in everyday life: gradual changes in temperature or wind direction, birds or planes flying by, or the waves coming up on the coast. It has something meditative about it.(...)"
"(...)Amorphous formations lie in the landscape by the lake, even on a small island, like bubbles or bulky balloons. The fabrics glitter and shine in many colors, enveloping these shapeless, immovable objects that have fallen to earth and water like foreign bodies. Electronic sound sets like a carpet of sound on the lake, and after a long time, only very slowly, something begins to move. (...)
Between the dead and the living, the inorganic and the organic, alien-like the visual. The result is a fascinating play with the perception of time and speed, of sound and noise, repose and movement. Meditative, contemplative. By focusing our attention, optical and acoustic stimuli that we take for granted become relative. And always: pay attention to the edges!(...)"
"(...)Diorama is a series of performances conceived to explore the natural and urban landscapes in various environments. The Norwegian choreographer Ingri Fiksdal turns the city space into an open stage for active and accessible participation; the audience is invited to experience the passing of time, the landscape changing and how the human body places its physicality across different contexts.(...)"
"(...)– Du sitter ikke og tenker på teorier rundt kollektiv og affektiv event. Bevegelsene har en brutal eleganse som hekter meg på – og holder meg på, skriver Chris Erichsen om Ingrid Fiksdal og Jonas Corell Petersens nye forestilling.(...)"
"(...) a striking performance art piece that uses dance and a fluid performer-audience relationship to explore the role of rituals in shaping national identity. Despite the work´s distinctly political title, Fiksdal and Petersen´s collaboration displayed a whole abstract and interpretive vision within which the audience could find their own realities.(...)"
"(...) The six dancers clad in interesting abstract motif design leotards don sheets that might also make you clamber to quickly remember that Charlottesville doesn´t exist in Denmark. They soon appear to take poses of an icy landscape. The dancers´forms move slowly under their bluish hue of white blanket, eventually breaking off into separate islands of movement. The icy landscape appears to be melting down into the ground.(...)"
"(...)I Shadows of Tomorrow utvecklar Ingri Fiksdal konceptet av en psykedelisk konsert vilken hon påbörjade med BAND (2013)(...)
(...)När jag såg BAND dansades verket av fyra dansare. Nu är de 24. 24 dansare som upprepar samma rörelse och följer varandra. Detta skapar en helt annan musikalisk kraft än i BAND; mer kollektiv och betydlight djupare, mer fraserat än i uttrycket som kom ur den lilla gruppen. Dansarna syns nu genom i sitt egna rörelsesmönster just för att gruppen är större; Individ kan spegla individ, och grupp kan spegla grupp.(...)"
"(...)This is not about tension or an arc, but about a flow : you don't keep looking to know how it ends, just to see how it goes on.(...)"
"(...)Invited to enter and respect the ready-made choreography, between the coloured lights and the dancers in position, the audience takes place in a respectful silence, until the «journey» into the world of shadows can begin.(...)"
"(...) With a kind of low-tech sci-fi aesthetics the choreographer Ingri Fiksdal creates a solar system at Black Box Theatre's big stage. In a quiet euphoria the audiences are immersed in spinning orbits, writes Anette Therese Pettersen.
Towards the end of Fiksdal´s Cosmic Body it is as if I am standing in a hall, a wardrobe between several dance floors at a club. A heavy bass can be heard, far away, and while the room is spinning and the bodies on the floor do the same, it is as though I too have fallen into this movement. And I will remain there(...)"
"(...) Ingri Fiksdal and Signe Becker invites to a weird and disturbing, but also entertaining encounter at the intersection of performance, installation and performance.
Hoods are both as theater and dance a good example of how cooperation and equal artistic influence can manifest itself as expression. It is impossible to say when the scenography ends and choreography begins or vice versa, and mya associations goes to Craig and Appia.
Both Fiksdal and Becker are exciting artists to follow, something an increasing international attention testify. In their joint projects they manage to do the environment, including the public, to fellow players(...)"
"(...)Det tradisjonelle amfiet på Black Box Teaters lille scene er erstattet med en stolrekke som står vendt i en halvsirkel inn mot en av sideveggene. Foran dem er det plassert en rad med puter, og publikum blir slik sittende tett sammen (og for noen nok også temmelig ukomfortabelt) i et intimt scenerom. Inn kommer fire utøvere, som er nærmest mumifisert av draperinger med ulike fargesprakende mønstre. Iført bomberjakker, skjorter, skjørt, bukser/tights, hansker, halstørkle og med tørkle over ansiktet er det lite bar hud å spore. Så dempes lyset, og det er bare så vidt vi kan skjelne de fire figurene i det omsluttende mørket(... )"
"(...)Et mørkt rom. Fire dansere. Ingen musikere, ingen instrumenter, ingen musikk. I dag og i morgen er Ingri Fiksdals (32) kritikerroste forestilling «Band» tilbake på Black Box Teater i Oslo, som en del av Ice Hot-festivalen. Forestillingen utforsker hvorvidt koreografi kan skape en konsertlignende opplevelse hos tilskueren.
«Musikken» skapes av dansernes bevegelser, sammen med lyset – eller rettere sagt mørket. Første del av forestillingen er uvanlig mørk; i be- gynnelsen kan man bare så vidt skimte de dan- sende skikkelsene. På denne måten ønsker Fiksdal å skjerpe sansene hos publikum. Målet er at de skal oppslukes(...)"
”(…) Fiksdal, Langgård and Signe Becker developed this unusal scenario with a lot of attention to detail, playing with the situation as if the action was taking place outside the theatre building and even out of the city, to allow the guests to take an active role in the situation which evolved gradually so that everybody could adopt a position on the idea of ghosts, good or bad.
«Night Tripper» offers a good opportunity to let your thoughts roam in a way in which, in your everday life, you might not normally be able to do, and to the carefully crafted enchanting place in the show is truly inspiring(...)"
“Night Tripper is the most convincing collaboration between dancers, musicians, a forest and the sun.
A fade into the depth of the night.
A call for the ghosts of the woods.
A trip to the edge of perception.
A journey into the dark sides of your soul.
No drugs required.”
“Night Tripper is quite, and quietly, extraordinary. Singular in its ambition and joyously hypnotic, there’s something mischievously comic and deeply moving about it. It’s also, in simple terms, very beautiful”.
“(…) As the moon appears through the tall pine branches lining the sky, pushed around by a cold summer breeze, I notice two performers standing in the middle of our circle; their arms are painted white, long hair obscuring their faces. As they move like two pendulums in and out of sync, gaining more momentum in their contact with the ground, sounds begin to filter through the site, at times atonal and at others musical, screeching and teasing out the moon light, in perfect antithesis to the durational repetition of the movement routine. It’s an extended moment that guides us through this passage from dusk to night-time, softening our landing in the deep darkness of the forest; a mesmerising accompaniment that makes visible the forest itself, all magic and mystery. (…)”
"(...)About halfway through last night’s TBA Performance Night Tripper, I was convinced I was caught in a spell. The entire atmosphere suggested an intention to engage the audience in the mystery of the natural world. For the lack of a better term, there was the sense that magic was involved.
Climbing back aboard the bus to head back into town, I found myself already disappointed to be returning to an urban environment. We had only been gone for a couple hours, but I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t feel transformed in some way by the experience of seeing Night Tripper(which is likely what Beckwer, Fiksdal and Langgård were getting at when creating this piece/concept)(...)"
"(...)Grandios if somewhat enicmatic(...)"