The project HEAT seeks to merge the lines seperating concert dance and social dance, highart and popular cultures, in a quest to promote the power and the pleasure of physical effort, and the simple joy of moving our bodies to rythm together. Aiming for the extatic, the work offers audiences a unique immersive group experience.
Now I see that I will never find the light unless like the candle I am my own fuel consuming myself.– Bruce Lee
Merging concert dance and social dance; high-art and popular cultures; HEAT is an ongoing performance practice, that changes and evolves with each new performance and venue, offering audiences a poetic journey from quite contemplation to an extatic group dance experience. Created in response to the emotional fallout the looming threats of democratic system collapse and climate change create, the work seeks to promote joy as an engine of collective change.
Choreographer Kari Hoaas and her core group of eminent dancers, DJs and designers engage local artistic communities to take part in the project to transform a post apocalyptic performance installation into a participatory dance party. By creating a unique performance experience grounded in local artistic communities at each place the project visits, HEAT proposes an alternative to the traditional company touring model, seeking new ways to meet the challenges of a more sustainable international model of performance exchange.
The first edition HEAT #1: rising in Porsgrunn was performed at Tid for Dans Festival at Ælvespeilet Kulturhus, in Porsgrunn, Norway on September 28th and 29th, 2018.
“Through developing a common practice and understanding of physical, mental, energetic and emotional states, I have together with a core group of eminent dancers, explored and developed various choreographic scores, searching for a common idea of generating energy that fuels a collective composition as basis for this performance work. HEAT is a continuous developing performance practice, that at its core resists the notion of a finished work, to instead expose a state of research and process that acknowledge the very nature of our ever-changing bodies, energies and experiences moment by moment.” – Kari Hoaas
UPCOMING:
August 2021 – digital performance – HEAT #5 rising online from Oslo at curated program at Cvenues, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Scotland
Project history:
November 12th, 2020 – performance live streamed HEAT #5 rising online from Oslo – Kulturkirken Jakob, Live Stream, Oslo, Norway
June 9th, 2019 – performance HEAT #4 rising in Dnipro – Zeylonka Space Up International Contemporary Dance Festival, Dnipro, Ukraine
June 9th, 2019 – workshop – Zeylonka Space Up International Contemporary Dance Festival, Dnipro, Ukraine
June 7th, 2019 – performance HEAT #3 rising in Kiev – Zeylonka Space Up International Conteporary Dance festival, Kiev, Ukraine
June 6th, 2019 – workshop – Zeylonka Space Up International Contemporary Dance festival, Kiev, Ukraine
November 17th, 2018 – performance HEAT #2 in Oslo- student version at Sentralen, Oslo, Norway
September 29th, 2018 – performance HEAT#1 rising in Porsgrunn- Tid for Dans Festival, Dansekunst i Grenland, Ælvespeilet Kulturhus, Porsgrunn, Norway
September 28th, 2018 – lecture presentation – at Tid for Dans Festival, Dansekunst i Grenland, Ælvespeilet Kulturhus, Porsgrunn, Norway
September 22nd, 2018 – showing excerpts – at R.E.D. Toten, Norway
September 14th, 2018 – showing work-in-progress – at Vitlycke Center for Performing Arts, SwedenAll d
Credits:
Concept, choreography, direction: Kari Hoaas
Original dancers core group: Ida Haugen, Thais Hvid, Jonas Örkner
All dancers in project: Alexander Aarø, Ida Haugen, Thais Hvid, Christine Kjellberg, Hanna Filomen Mjåvatn, Jens Jeffry Trinidad and Jonas Örkner
Dancers
Music selection and live mix by DJ Niwin / Nikolai Nypan
Set music selection credits: Hans Zimmer & Benjamin Wallfisch, Frank Sinatra, Lulu Rouge featuring Trentemøller
Lightdesign: Tord Eliassen
Costume: Karoline Drønen Ekornes and Cårejånni Enderud in collaboration with Kari Hoaas
Promotional photos and video: Marius E. Hauge
Performance photos, video documentation and trailer: Antero Hein
Production support by Arts Council Norway, development and residency support by UD, FFUK, Oslo Kommune and Art Council Norway. Co-production and residencies: Dansekunst i Greenland, Porsgrunn and R.E.D. Toten, Norway, Vitlycke Center for Performing Arts, Sweden, Meditteranean Dance Center, Croatia.
Future tours and performances 2019-20 are currently being scheduled.
