V — oreller

FUTURISTIC DANCE EPIC WITH A SURREAL OUTCOME

V is a family performance (9-99 years) that thrills the imagination and tweaks the perspectives. In V, you encounter a peculiar dance experience where a massive set becomes a hollow nest that embraces two curious characters. The protagonists change shape and find avatars in singing cats, merging illusions and psychedelic creatures without eyes or mouths. The avatars carry a gigantic Hermes-like scarf, which is pulled into the web and later resurrected as a new family member.

An absurd drama unfolds on a futuristic platform, consisting of two large web structures. To the sound of pretty refrains and emotional strings, a dance epic emerges within the gaps of the web. As the upper net rises and falls upon the dancing bodies, billowing into its own unique choreography, the set emerges as the third protagonist. With melancholic traits, dystopian humor, and approaching positivism, V pulls the viewer into a saga. Or is it just a distorted reflection of life?

V grants itself the permission to enjoy. V is a lot. Perhaps too much. An eclectic and esoteric dance performance. A hyper-choreographed hybrid of performing arts, that blossoms into a polyphonic performativity. V is an alter ego with megalomania. V is the fifth element.

OR/ELLER continued the collaboration with set designer Johannes Fäst, composer William Rickman and lighting designer Tobias Hallgren with the performance V. Jenny Nordberg designed the costumes for V, and OR/ELLER continued collaborating with Agnes Florin for the performance picture and decor. Sepidar Hosseini produced the typography for V. Together with this wonderful team, OR/ELLER continued to develop an artistic hybrid in the form of a dance performance.

V can tour in conjunction with its sister performance WEB. Where WEB invites children to create their own worlds through dance, V is a family show where the audience is pulled into a twisted narrative from a distance. Both performances can perform on the same day, on the same stage, use the same set, and reach a larger and broader audience between ages 4 and 99.

In the middle of all the complex words used in the performance text, confusion and questions have occurred. In her review of V in Danstidningen, Margareta Sörensson notes that "the program's stockpiling of fluffy terminology such as 'performing arts hybrid' or 'sublime dance' and 'hyper-constructed choreography' doesn't make anyone any wiser.” She continues later on in the text: "But the scenography, which is also in motion, outshines the movement of the bodies. Perhaps hyper-constructed choreography should be understood as the room being more choreographed than the marginalized dancers." Furthermore, Sörensson describes, "The show is for everyone from nine to 99 and especially striking as a visually moving image. It evokes associations with space, playgrounds, and sci-fi images. This performance proves that to engage children in complex imagery through a dance performance is welcomed and asking of dance to have a concrete meaning or narrative is not a must. Perhaps this space can become a surface for projecting our own images and constructions long after the performance is over."

We have accumulated comments from the audience. One of the children, who had seen the performance, was convinced that the show was about a bear and a tapir fighting. A teenager thought it was about an environmental disaster. An adult audience member, accustomed to dance performances, described the piece as more like a film rather than a traditional dance performance. A colleague from the field of choreography and dance spoke of how a peculiar mood characterized the performance and that he experienced V as a kind of Vaudeville-Kafka dance. A programmer for children and young people spoke about a certain type of computer game aesthetic that pulls a teenager's gaze into the distinct "world" of V. A technician overheard a girl say, "Thanks, Dad, this is the best thing I've ever seen!" on her way out of the theater.

Read the full review:

https://www.danstidningen.se/2022/04/04/associationer-till-rymden-till-lekplatser-och-till-science-fiction-bilder/

Review by Sara Meidl in VK:

https://www.vk.se/2021-04-23/v-som-i-vackert-nar-operan-bjod-till-premiar

Credits:
Concept, choreography, dance: OR/ELLER
Set design, construction, manufacturing: Johannes Fäst
Lighting design: Tobias Hallgren
Music: William Rickman
Costume design: Jenny Nordberg
Scarf, performance picture: OR/ELLER in collaboration with Agnes Florin
Graphic design: Sepidar Hosseini
Programming: Calle Mårtensson
Production: OR/ELLER and Nordberg Movement
Photography: Elin Berge and Joakim Nyström
Co-production: Norrlandsoperan, Dansens Hus Stockholm
With the support of The Swedish Arts Council, Region Stockholm, Stockholms stad
Duration: 45min

Since 2018, OR/ELLER has cultivated an interest in interactive performance formats (WEB 2018 and V 2020), within a series called the WEB-series. The series is based on a choreographic and scenographic concept, which will result in four performances. In 2023, the third part, NET, will be created, diving into a mobile performance format.

Illustration: OR/ELLER in collaboration with Agnes Florin

Illustration: Bill Olson / Photo: Håkan Larsson