5 HALVKJAPPE:

1. Tell us a little about your background and how you ended up in Kr.sand?

I trained at Bird College of performing arts (London) and graduated with a BA degree in performing arts and a diploma in musical theatre. I then extended my training onto the Masters performance program at Trinity Laban for a post graduate diploma in performance.

I later freelanced across Norway, France and the UK, working with a variety of companies and creative projects.

My journey to Kristiansand began nearly 10 years ago when I was invited to join a project on the

west coast of Norway and met the artistic director Birgit Amalie Nilssen (tidligere kunstnerisk ansvarlig, Kilden). 

Under the artistic direction of Amalie, I was invited to played the physical portrayal of the character Terje

Vigen at Kilden.  Then we began discussing the prospects of me coming to Kilden and working on projects at the theatre fulltime.

Since then, I have fallen secretly in love with the town and wish to grow as a physical artist here in Kristiansand.

2. What is the difference between being employed at Kilden and freelancing? Good and

bad?

It gave me the time to settle down, get familiar with the town and its surroundings, enabling

me to discover, and meet new people. On a professional level, being employed at Kilden

gave me the possibility to know what I would be doing for the duration of my contract, and

the plays and roles I’d play, so a sense of schedule and routine can be set up.

I am a physical practitioner, so having that possibility enabled me to use my time wisely between personal studio time, training, down time and creative processes. Establishing a relationship with

the people around you within a production and having the security of knowing where and

what you are doing.

You develop a working relationships with you fellow actors and performers through, not solely the production you are in, but through the course of the contract, being able to learn the ins and outs of your colleagues, how they tick and play and so developing that chemistry that is vital to timing in a play, to bounce off each other, catch one another.

Knowing that you will be performing a set amount of performances, being on stage regularly and playing to the punters. It gives one that security for the period and so your focus is upon the production and your role as a performer instead of continuously searching and prepping for future works when you are a freelancer. You can truly focus on your artistry, you as the performer, as there

are teams around you, enabling you to be the best you can in the performative space.

..."so your focus is upon the production and your

role as a performer, instead of continuously searching and prepping for future works when

you are a freelancer."

As a freelancer, the difficulty lies within the overall aspect of what a performer needs to do

as he is running a business as himself.

He is many things at the same time, a performer is an economist, a producer, a researcher, an application writer, needs to keep his technique up, train to maintain his body, schedule planner, network, to name but a few.

You learn to become versatile, and adaptable, extremely flexible and resting is not on the schedule.

When freelancing, you need to apply for auditions, prepare them and attend them. You have the possibility of choosing what processes to be part of but with the short creation times, you hop from one process to a next, you don’t necessarily have the chance to establish any long lasting relationship with fellow counterparts.

Sometimes, it feels you are living on a 6 week basis when in a creation and then you are on a daily basis with maintaining your business. One of the hardest aspects is establishing a sense of belonging, creating a team around you, creative processes are short lived and the performances themselves too.

You acquire new skills through working with so many diverse individuals, and you grow so quickly by “sponging” up the information. You are you in a space and you have to be at the top of your game day in day out, no chance to drop off for a second. Freelancing is wonderful, going from project to project, new environments, new people, new ideas, new audiences but ultimately having the security of

a contract opens doors that enable you to plan for the future.

3. What are you passionate about? What is your main purpose with art?

I am passionate about the arts, everything revolves around the stage and the performing arts.

Wether its on stage or off stage, delivering workshops or teaching, transferring skills to new generations, choreographing or performing. It’s a huge part of my life.

The arts have been part of my life since the beginning, I grew up with it. And today I live it.

My main purpose is to create rich, exhilarating and innovative pieces of work, to delve into

the creative process as well as getting the audiences involved in the arts, to bring people

to the performances spaces that would not normally go.

Im also a strong believer of making the arts accessible and inclusive, hence a couple of my projects being within the practice. Im passionate about making the arts as accessible and inclusive as possible, creating platforms for new ideas, enabling and developing the future of the arts. Making sure that the arts are a part of our lives. Bringing the arts to those who are not able to come to them.

Today, I find myself at a crossroads, performer theatre maker, I want to Create and get my work out there and invite audiences to experience my practice and my way of making. Cross disciplinary forms are so exciting as well as making those links to like minded souls that wish to facilitate ones work. Connections are what make me tick.

3. Tell us about your festival SØaR! What is it about? (In norwegian)

SØaR er en dansefestival skapt for å utvikle og inspirere nye koreografer som ønsker å vise frem arbeidet sitt på en profesjonell plattform! SØaR er spesiell på den måten at koreografene kun søker med en idè til en forestilling, og ikke et ferdig produkt.

De utvalgte koreografene skal så utvikle og bearbeide prosjektet, fra idé til en ferdig forestilling, som så skal vises for publikum på Kilden teater og konserthus i Kristiansand. Underveis i prosessen skal SØaR tilrettelegge for gode rammer og støtte for utøverne, slik at prosjektet kommer i mål.

SØaR har som mål å skape en ny og spennende kreativ prosess for koreografer, men vil også bidra til å gi verdifull erfaring og eksponering på en av Sørlandets største scener.

Festivalen går over to dager, og skal vise arbeidene til 6 fremadstormende koreografer på Kilden. I tillegg blir det workshops, mingling og ettersnakk. KOM ALLE SAMMEN! 

5. Most memorable performing arts experience (s) ever?

Terje Vigen in Fjærheia, Grimstad. The process to developing the character was unimaginable and was a one in a lifetime experience.

The Awakening, the very first commissioned piece of work choreographed by a learning disable choreographer, Chris Pavia, from Stopgap once company. That was history in the making.

«SØaR er ikke som andre dansekunstfestivaler. Den starter med en idé og ender med en forestilling."