Sense, Dance - a human being is born

Sense, Dance – a human being is born

Facts

Sense, Dance - a human being is born:

a house artist program in collaboration with Klub Levuk in Hillerød

Klub Levuk’s Theater & Music Line has in collaboration with the Association for Integrated Modern Dance in Denmark (FIMD) by Janne Weidinger and Costume Designer & Textile Facilitator Line Lund Bak, developed the performance “Sanse, Danse… -a human being comes into being”.

The performance is part of a house artist project under the Danish Arts Foundation, where the house artists at Levuk, Line and Janne, since August 2024, have danced, played, sensed, and learned about textiles and their creation twice a week with Levuk’s theater and music team. This has resulted in an aesthetically beautiful, sensuous and touching performance with the young people on stage.

In the course, the students have helped create parts of the costumes, set design, sound and dance that can be experienced in the performance. Through the collaboration, we have expanded the young people’s understanding of what dance is and how to use textiles as a creative element.

We thank you for a great collaboration!

Video by Steinunn H. Thorsteinsdottir:

Testimonial:

“We experienced an overwhelmingly sensory performance with fine lighting, beautiful
costumes and a fantastic scenery. A fantastic and professionally executed performance,
which has been set up in a relatively short time with great understanding of our young
people’s different challenges.

The young people showed great commitment and contributed each especially based on their individual abilities, which created room for everyone’s challenges. It was It was touching to experience the strong sense of cohesion in the group.

The performance touched us deeply and gave us as parents of Jens an insight into a maturity
and confidence that we haven’t previously seen in him in the same way. Jens has been
very engaged – talked a lot about the preparations and dental appointments etc.
several times to allow him to participate in tests and classes.

He has exceeded his limits with a huge victory. He is proud and very
happy to have participated and dares to believe in himself more and more with the victories he gets. We are
still talks about the good experience with him.

We are very impressed and happy with the experience we have all had and hope that others
will have the opportunity to experience something similar.”

The project was supported by:

Danish Arts Foundation, Klub Levuk, Hillerød Municipality, Saks Potts, Magnetz and Bamboo

Galleri

Sense, Dance - a human being is born

Walking care-freely through troubles

Facts

Solo Dancer :

Sissel Phul Stauersbøl

Choreographer:

Paulina Rewucka, in collaboration with Sissel & Janne Weidinger

Music designer:

Dave Black

This work is about chosen solitude and feelings which occur in the realm between a child and becoming a grown up. It is an attempt to approach the rollercoaster of a lifetime.

“Number 1 girl.

The pump is out of order.

These hands are made for walking.

Is there anything you would wanna say to your surroundings or to the world if you would have space and they would listen?

No matter what you’re going through, it’s gonna get better at some point. Well… we’ve all gone through something tough before but you will find your way again.

What do you say when I say fan-club?

K-pop. Korea…

…here I come!

Stay yourself. Don’t care too much what other people say. Don’t change for other people.”

Galleri

Walking care-freely through troubles

Welcome to the Normal People party - a swing with power structures

Welcome to the Normal People party – a swing with power structures

Facts

Welcome to the Normal People's Party:

IDE/FIMD's first performing arts performance

Background for the performance

IDE has investigated the historical echoes of how people with disabilities have been excluded from and shunned by society over time. The performance stages the way we interact with people who deviate from the norm, highlighting how we all carry the historical burden.

Testimonial:

“Welcome to the normal people’s party is a touching story that through dance gives insight into some of the personal struggles one can face in the realization of living with a disability.” Signe Daugaard

The performance was produced in 2014-15 with dancers: Cath Borch Jensen & Annika Kompart, and was restaged in 2020 with Josefine Bjørklund & Clara Wärme

Composer: Andreas Busk

Choreographer: Janne Weidinger Kristensen

Video clips:

Galleri

Welcome to the Normal People's Party

Holding the Line - the line that holds us

Holding the Line – the Line that holds us

Facts

Dancers/Choreographers:

Line Jakholm Lautrup & Thea Faldborg Liversage

Consultant:

Janne Weidinger

composer:

Dave Black

Photographer:

Steinunn H. Thorsteinsdottir

Line and Thea are both young women in their 20s who have found joy and each other through dance. Line lives with Down syndrome and the two met through the Association for Integrated Modern Dance, which aims to create spaces and dance communities for people with and without different physical abilities.

The performance highlights how dance can be an important and safe outlet for self-expression and acceptance of those who deviate from the norm – in one way or another. Those who deviate from the normative body, the normative mind.

And what we can all learn by making room on the dance floor for those who are not normally invited onto it.

In a relationship between an able-bodied person and someone with a visible disability, there is usually a clear expectation of who is providing care and who is receiving it. But in dance, we meet and exchange it as equals.

Testimonial:

“In August 2024, a small group of young people from Levuk went to Christians Havns Torv to experience the dance performance Holding the Line, where Line, who attends Levuk club, together with her dance partner and companion Thea showed how dance and movement can embody the story of your own identity.

We also saw how a relationship between two people can be communicated non-verbally to an audience. The performance was both touching and funny. With Line and Thea’s powerful and talented expressions, we got caught up in seeing who they were individually and together. The strong bond between the two dancers became clear to us as an audience.

At the end of the performance, we were invited to the floor where we were all connected with some amazing sweaters with very long sleeves, keeping us together in groups that could influence each other’s movements. It was hard to stop again, because it was as if what we had experienced between Line and Thea had spread like ripples in the water; in dance there is room for all of us and we are created in relationship with others. Thank you for a powerful experience!” Lotte Skovdal, Theater educator at Levuk

Galleri

Holding the line

Mango Tango

Facts

Dancers:

Bjarke Østergaard (People Like Us) & Cath Borch Jensen, Lisa Dahlkild, Bettina Stoholm, Malene Becker (FIMD)

Choreographer:

Janne Weidinger Kristensen

music:

Gotan Project - Santa Maria (Del Buen Ayre)

MangoTango (duration 7,5 min)

A fusion between modern dance and Tango, in collaboration between FIMD and Mikrobryggeriet PeopleLikeUs (PLU)’

The performance was shown 5 times; in Dansekapellet and at Friday Night Sharing, at Folkemødet on Bornholm for DUOS and PLU and at the opening of a Mikkeler branch in Kødbyen

Video:

Galleri

Mango Tango

Where do we go from here?

Facts

Where do we go from here?:

Where do we go from here?

Where do we go from here? -is a performance that makes room for the bodies that stand out from the body we normally see on stage and in society, and gives the audience an experience of what it is really like to live with a limited body.

About the show:
Where do we go from here? led the audience on a physical walk in an audience costume where the audience was tied together. The audience started at Bispebjerg Cemetery and wandered through Dansekapellet, where studios and corners of the house take the form of personal stories from performers, many of whom live with a disability.

Where do we go from here? gives those we don’t normally see and hear on stage space, room and narrative time, and the audience is put in a limiting situation while touching on topics that for many people can be uncomfortable.

Where do we go from here? -is a socially critical dance performance from those who are not normally welcome on stage.

Throughout the traveling performance, the audience got insight into the personal stories of the dancers; Bettina who fell off a horse in her mid-20s and was revived, Sandie who is plus-size and takes up more than one seat on the bus, Lisa who has lived with rheumatoid arthritis for 25 years, which has suddenly been put on hold. What they all have in common is that being able to express and develop themselves through dance has had a huge impact. Lisa attributes her recovery to dancing and persistent training.

These are just some of the stories we will tell through the dance performance Where do we go from here – and which will help open up the bodies and stories you can see and experience in Danish performing arts.

The performance took place in and around Dansekapellet in week 15 2024, with around 150 paying audience members. We welcomed everyone, including people in wheelchairs, visually impaired, blind and caregivers. If you are hearing impaired, you can request to have the text transcribed.

Testimonials:

“This is one of the most powerful things I’ve seen in a long time. Thank you.”

“It is such a loss not knowing how wide the variety is of ‘what is a body’, how a body can look and function. It is only ‘abled-bodies’ loss. Thank you for this beautyful performance”

“Highly captivating show that deeply captures you as an audience. I´m in awe of the cast and what i have withnessed”

“I am moved. Thank you for inspiring me. Thank you for your courage. My body takes care of me. My body is a good body. I take that with me. Thank you”

“Beauty has many aesthetics”

“Intense and beautyful and full of love”

“A tribute to humanity, in all its places and times. Feeling very greatful. Feeling generosity in a shared space”

“Moving, touching, powerful, beauty in emotion, hurt in limitation, gently and with sharpness pointing to my privillige….. it was such a touching experience, and it is so powerful”

“Thank you for taking us through this beautiful and touching performance, with all its unique parts. It was heartfelt, playful, fragile and brave. I am cheering on all you artists, and please create more integrated and accessible art pieces”

Movie from the show:

Galleri

Where do we go from here?

Performance

Testimonials

Anybody With Any Body

Facts

Dancer:

Sandie Liv Tange

Anybody With Any Body

Foreningen for Integreret Moderne Dans i Danmark (FIMD)’s dance performance Anybody With Any Body is aimed at young people and focuses on a diverse expression in movement with a different body on stage.

Anybody With Any Body invites you to experience a dancer who challenges normality and questions the idea of the aesthetically perfect body.

Where are the fat bodies? The slow bodies? The scarred bodies? …

…Who fits in? What is normal?

Anybody with Any Body was created out of a need to highlight all bodies as valuable and to show that bodies are different.

The audience gets an insight into, and perhaps a new perspective on, which movements are valuable and which bodies have the right to be shown on stage… and maybe even a newfound acceptance of their own body?

One of FIMD’s goals is to demystify taboos around different bodies, thus helping to break down the distance between people.

The following talk touches on topics such as; doubt, fear, vulnerability, shame, norms, prejudice and lust for life – in a world of constant editing and striving for perfectionism.

Lars Tagensbo School:
“What courage Sandi has to be so open and vulnerable in front of her audience”

Dorte Østergaard
“It’s the most beautiful show FIMD has created so far”

Janne Weidinger Artistic Director
“As an artist and citizen of Denmark, I miss diversity. Integrated dance initiates change that can inspire our society collectively. We can help break the current normative and give the audience ‘a new leg to dance with’”

Galleri

Anybody With Any Body

About the show

Testimonial

Performance locations

Who am I? Who are you? -Without me

Facts

Who am I? Who are you? -Without me :

Dancers: Malene Becker, Lisa Dahlkild, Cath Borch, Bettina Stoholm & Jerry Jensen

“WHO AM I? WHO ARE YOU? -WITHOUT ME…”

-is a dance event and an artistic exploration of who we are as people and what we initiate and mirror, how we act and react when we encounter each other’s differences and similarities. The event focuses on the integration and joy of diverse expression in movement, with differently functioning bodies.

On stage there are 4 dancers with different abilities, a walker, a wheelchair and a prosthetic hand. ….

On August 23, 2019, FIMD performed at the Culture Night in Kolding, and it was a great experience for us Koldingers.
A few minutes into the performance, I thought that the group deserves both attention and great recognition for what they can do.

A dance performance consists of many elements: the choreography – the dancers’ skills – the music – the stage – the audience’s participation. For me, it all came together in a beautiful and higher unity.

The 4 performers each filled their own space on stage, and they performed with the calmness and confidence that characterizes very well-crafted performances. The performance has a fine choreography that kept our attention. The fact that the audience was invited onto the stage and briefly given the opportunity to dance themselves was received with enthusiasm.

FIMD dancers have different abilities. The performance immediately convinced us that you can perform dance even if you have a disability. But…

The show is much more: It is an aesthetically beautiful performance with a high artistic level.

And – yes. Our boundaries and expectations are being pushed. We’re not used to seeing a prosthesis being taken on and off and a wheelchair user being out of the wheelchair for periods of time, but here it seems natural and in no way awkward. Nor should we underestimate the courage it took for the dancers to put themselves at the center of everyone’s attention – perhaps especially in the beginning.

As I said: A great performance with a high level.

If you get the chance, I would recommend everyone to see FIMD’s performance.

“Who am I? Who are you? – Without me…”

You will have a great experience.

Henning Laursen, Kolding

Performances of “Who am I?” in 2019:

December; Frederiksberg City Hall’s Volunteering Award on International Disability Day

Tagensbo school

Sydhavns Compagniet

BLU for TV2

Strandparkskolen

November; Utterslev school Kbh. Nv.

October; Hjernesagen conference; Move the brain

Nyager school; Theme weeks Total Normal

Haslev Sports Efterskole

Egmont Folk High School in Hou

September; “Sct. Hans race” in Roskilde

The Compass/IF Giants

Christianshavns Torv

HF Aftermath

Geelsgårdskolen

August; Kolding Culture Night

June; “Store Torv” in Rønne, Bornholm

May; Grundtvig Church’s Parish Council party, Bispebjerg

April; “Friday Night Sharing” in Dansekapellet

February; Bispebjerg Hjemmet

Performances with “Who am I” in 2018:

December; On International Disability Day, Rentemestervej Library

September; Copenhagen Fusion Festival

August; Christianshavns Torv, for Christianshavns Library

July; Bispebjerg Torv

June; In Emaljehaven & at Utterslev Torv

Galleri

Other performances

LISTEN-IN

Testimonials

LISTEN-IN

Facts

LISTEN-IN:

A house artist project in collaboration with Egmonthøjskolen

– Is FIMD’s 3. House artist project, which took place in the summer of 2022, at Egmont Højskolen.

The classes consisted of dance/movement, body-work, choreography, dance and music theory.

In collaboration with musician Anja Tietze Lahrmann and Consultant Nicky Visser, we explored 2 different forms of listening:

The listening, where we experience sounds. The listening that is an auditory activity. Sound waves cross the three smallest bones of the body in the middle ear and vibrate the cochlear coil. -What is the farthest sound you can hear? -What is the closest? We used microphones and stethoscopes to explore this.

Listening as sensing – it is an open state of awareness. We practice listening through our body, through our skin… -listening through touch.

…Both these ways of listening lead us into movement and dance.

We listen to our own body, we listen to our partners and we listen to the group when we dance.

We listen to the room…

Video by Alexander Håkansson:

Line, dancing in week 29: “It has been an incredibly rewarding and inspiring week. It was wonderful to move so much and in all sorts of new ways, and to let myself lead and trust that my body knows how it wants to move. Listening in and out, and the co-created safety in the group was an enriching experience. I have again been confirmed in how meaningful it is when we are together in diversity. The dance and music is a great way to feel the community and all that connects us.”

Erica, Dancing participant: “I have always been very fond of dancing, but it surprised me how much I liked and how relaxing I found free dance. The theory was a bit heavy at times, but everything else was spot on. I liked all the dance exercises.”

Mulle & Cliff, audience and married couple, one of whom has a disability, attend the family college with their children: “It was a really nice performance. It wasn’t like wheelchair dancing. Here you had the disabled as equals. It was aesthetic. It was art!”

Rasmus, teacher at Egmont Højskolen: “It went well. This year it was easier to see the dance and movements because we were so close to the performers.”

Charles (music teacher) & Michael (father of 2 of the young performers): “It was really good music played at the show, for old jazz enthusiasts like us! ”

This year’s house artist project reached 250 people through performance, installation and lecture + documentary.

LISTEN-IN video from Egmonthøjskolen: https://youtu.be/ilMI_1_EeWY

Galleri

LISTEN-IN

My best friend

Testimonials

My best friend

Facts

The apple of my eye:

A house artist project in collaboration with Egmonthøjskolen

– Is the title of two teaching weeks that took place in weeks 28 and 29, summer 2021, at Egmont Højskolen.

The classes consisted of dance/movement, body-work, choreography, dance theory and a trip to Norsminde Apple Farm, where we explored dance, movement and sensuality, in and with nature.

The participants, who were aged 13-75, were given the task of noticing what was their favorite thing about the summer, the course and the dance lessons – to focus on how we see, experience and receive impressions.

At the end of each week, the dancers put on a performance where the other course participants were the audience. The audience was eventually invited to dance. We were privileged to have live music for both performances.

In collaboration with Nicola Visser, the Association for Integrated Modern Dance in Denmark (FIMD) developed “Min Øjesten”, our first House Artist project. It was a wonderful and intense experience that we are happy to have spread to around 400 people who now know that there is an art form in Denmark as integrated dance!

Rasmus Schmidt, teacher at Egmont Højskolen:
“Very touching and inclusive performance that got all students participating. You were left with chills and the conviction that dance is for everyone.”

Line, mother of a boy with special needs, has attended Family Week several summers in a row:
“I stood watching the beautiful and mesmerizing dance performance as the dancers moved from the walkway onto the beach and suddenly tears streamed down my cheeks. They spoke words along with the music and the dance was the epitome of beauty, sensuality, connection and love. What life is all about. Interpersonal contact, reciprocity and connectedness. For me, it was so life-affirming how people can move through dance on many levels, regardless of different levels of functioning.”