THE LOFT
THE LOFT bathes in gallows humour – showing it to be a true human coping mechanism that enables folk to laugh at the twin faux of evil and error.
Current productions
ROULETTE
Roulette is often seen as a metaphor for life. After all, we can never know for sure what our choices will lead to. In this new theatre production, both life itself and the stage twirl and spin.
THE HAT
Like sepia-toned, “old-fashioned” photographs, bathed in warm shades of brown, afterimages of past experiences mixed up by memory, which has its own subjective chronology, the choreographic images conjured up by Jo Strømgren from the magic hat remind us that memories, although fleeting and intangible, do not lose their realness.
A DANCE TRIBUTE TO THE ART OF FOOTBALL
The performance delves into the physical routine of football and elevates the aesthetic aspects of its insanity. It comments the difference between “common sports” and “eloquent arts”, likewise the concept of working-class football and upper-class ballet.
MADE IN OSLO
For more than three decades Oslo Danse Ensemble was the most popular dance company in Norway. Paradoxically, the company never performed abroad. When the company closed down in 2018, an interesting afterthought appeared: how can we expect the world to understand our domestic culture if we keep it a secret?
THE MINISTRY OF UNRESOLVED FEELINGS
The Ministry of Unresolved Feelings has scarce resources but an important mission. The caseworkers are responsible for solving problems that no other agencies can remedy. The paper stacks in the incoming tray grow ever higher, but a surprisingly high number of applicants have their cases reviewed.
SYSTEM ERROR
Finding love is hard. Especially when risking everything on a blind date. Even more so if the date happens to be in a brand-new smart home with integrated sign language translation!
THE DOOR
“The Door” aims to portray fundamental human features through a naivistic and associative scrutiny of a group of people separated by a wall. Everything seems more interesting on the other side and a narrow door becomes the important threshold of change. But as in life itself, people are never satisfied with what they have and the search for something better becomes an endless quest.
THE TRUTH ABOUT DANCE
There are three categories of people; those who love dance, those who hate dance and those who do not care at all. Common to all is that they have completely misunderstood what dance is. Maybe the reason is that the dance does not even understand itself? If you are curious about the answers, there is only one thing to do – see the performance The Truth about Dance.
THE TIRED MAN
The show is about a man who oversleeps every day. When people cannot get up in the morning, they are often called lazy and indifferent. But if we follow this man’s extreme desire to change through a tiresome day, we may realize that he’s a hero.
THE DROPOUTS
It is not easy being in a circus. Usually, the ones doing the same old tricks, the same old way, are the ones who can join the crew and become artists. Those who think differently must leave and become something else. But not anymore!
SALVE REGINA
Life is miserable. Yes, indeed. Where can we find comfort and relief from its misery? SALVE REGINA is an associative journey through different eras. A fantastical time travel that anchors and agitates – through power and impotence, feudalism and individualism. The title of the performance refers to the Marian hymn which, for thousands of years, has offered comfort and hope to those who need it. And still, we need it.
THERE
Four dissidents from the former Soviet Union are stranded in the interzonal area between East and West. In the far from harmonious atmosphere the essential question remains – should they continue towards the unknown or should they go back to what they know?
The Society
A society of sworn coffee drinkers in Europe gather for their daily ritual. But harmony is broken by the discovery of a used teabag, probably Asian. How far are they willing to go in order to track the unpatriotic traitor down and bring this evil act to justice?
THE ACCIDENT
THE ACCIDENT deals with a family reunion after a death. When the patriarch is buried, old family conflicts are being dug up and reviled.
CORONA SESSIONS
Even though most of the world has come to a grinding halt, JSK is at full throttle. Weird films for weird times. Two artists meet for the first time. No preparations. Let’s see what happens!
THE KITCHEN
Outside a town is an abandoned house. One day two persons appear from different directions. They stand on either side of the house and think “I can live here!” One is an old sailor who has finally gone ashore. The other is a little girl who has run away from the orphanage.
CZTERDZIEŚCI
”Life is like a book, they say. But life is written on thousands of loose sheets. You can tell a story and say it is the truth. But it’s a matter of choice. Of deciding which papers in which order. Our story is one of these.” Co-production with Polish Dance Theatre.
COCO CHANEL
Few people in the fashion business have been as prolific and influential as Coco Chanel. But in one aspect, she may have been more ahead of her time than expected. Her staging of her own person and life story is no longer considered cynical nor questionable – today her career building strategies are almost basic knowledge for anyone who wants to climb ladders, be it in business or social life.
CLOSED
A new dance movie by Jo Strømgren and Stein Roger Bull, following up the Rose d’Or winning “Neighbour”. Featuring cellist Truls Mørk and collaborating dance companies 420PEOPLE (Prague) and KAGE (Melbourne).
The Neighbour
A lonely pianist on one side of a wall.
A couple with domestic problems on the other.
They can hear each other.
This is a film about singles and couples, about the chance to start over again, about how music affects us and how we affect music.
THE HOSPITAL
In a remote hospital, three nurses try to endure the lack of patients by injuring then treating each other, performing their duties on themselves as an alternative to the real thing. Not a healthy activity, but it passes the time. A military chopper is constantly passing overhead, revealing a far simpler explanation for their problems.
The Department
Four hardcore bureaucrats have for long been stuck in an office deep inside a government department. Secret message deliveries and bleeping lamps control their daily chores and the outside world has become nothing but a blurred memory. But they manage. Until one strange day when the smell of freshly baked bread fills the air.
Destination Moscow
A provincial theatre troupe in the former Soviet Union has ambitions of performing in Moscow. A sugar-smuggling pact with the mafia was supposed to make their dream come true, but endless circles in muddy outskirts are starting to rise doubts about the deal. Time has come for radical decisions and serious sacrifices.
Workshops
Jo Strømgren Kompani offers a great variety of workshops, both for trained performers and amateurs. The workshops are led by experienced members of the company, who will challenge the participants’ boundaries and maybe take them outside their comfort zone. We can promise that all our workshops are filled with exciting tasks, exploration of movement and language, and a lot of fun!
THE BASEMENT
In the basement we find three dead bodies and a lone autopsy technician. The job seems as pointless as life out there among the living. But then.
Past productions
FUTURE GYM
A performance-demonstration about teaching of physical education in the future. The performance takes place in the theme’s natural habitat – the gymnasium.
THE BREAKDOWN
Who owns history? What of private history? We meet a broken woman who’s genetic passport has been stamped by multiple ancestors. Following her story back in time and geographical bends we try to find reasons for the mess that stands before us in the present day.
THE ROAD IS JUST A SURFACE
Jo Strømgren Kompani and Anja Garbarek in an exiting collaboration comissioned by Bergen International Festival. THE ROAD IS JUST A SURFACE is a music-based theatre work which explores the experience of being trapped in an emotionally locked life situation and the longing for moving on from that place.
The Writer
Where does art end and politics start? A Nobel Prize winner is isolated for psychiatric scrutiny, accused of national treason. After 60 years of hatred, shame and distrust, there has still been no reconciliation.
Co-production with Ulrike Quade and Nordland Visual Theatre.
THE VIRUS
THE VIRUS takes place in a near future where something has gone terribly wrong. The source of the misery is found in a small desolate bunker: a machine that is infecting the world with a horrible virus. A small team sees the opportunity to solve the problem and give the world a restart, and an android is hired for the dangerous mission. But it turns out that even machines can have their own will, conscience and not least a very charming personality.
A DANCE TRIBUTE TO PING PONG
Ping Pong is not just a sport. It’s a philosophy. The intellectual recipe is a mix of Yin and Yang, Heaven and Hell, Stephen Hawking and Uri Geller, with a dash of Kahlil Gibran and Bruce Lee on top.
The Border
A man and a woman share a workplace. Mutual respect is a virtue but beneath the surface a territorial war is taking place. And the discovery of emotional addiction. To each other, to the game itself, or a vicious mix of both.
A DOLL'S HOUSE
Restrictions, tensions, explosions. Nora and Torvald Helmer, Fru Linde, Krogstad, Doctor Rank. Jo Strømgren recreates Henrik Ibsen’s most famous play about trust and kinship, debt and lies, envy and love with a raucous cast of American actors. Taking respectfully irreverent liberties with the script, pared down to essence, this Doll’s House revels in the emotional and moral battles in their full glory – the essence of a play that will be forever contemporary.
THE DISADVANTAGES OF LOVE
The collaboration with Mungo Park Theatre (DK) delved into the melodrama genre and the photo story format. The production period was set to hilarious 4 days and culminated in an unpretentious performance at Dramatikkens Hus in Oslo and at Mungo Park in Copenhagen.
Hattrick
Football as a ballet for the masses, ballet as an unconditional competitive sport – what ultimately fascinates us is skill reflected in the mirror of our own inability, whether it be in the sports arena or on the theatrical stage.
Estrogen
Can men really fill the needs of women? Females can say they are satisfied, but what do they really feel deep inside? Through 5 acts and 5 time periods, we follow 5 women and 1 man. Unfortunately the man dies in every act. Co-production with Pushkin Drama Theatre Moscow.
Origin of Species
Three actors shed different lights on Darwin’s theory of evolution, mixing factual and fictional angles. It challenged science and religion in 1859 and is still a source of major conflicts around the world. Co-production with Mungo Park Theatre (DK).
The Painter
A TV-show brings historical persons to life. In this episode Munch and Van Gogh are confronted with the present. However, the artists refuse to conform to the rules of the game. Co-production with Ulrike Quade, Nordland Visual Theatre, and Oldenburgisches Staatstheater.
The Convent
In a remote valley, three nuns are serving time in a small convent. Their spirit is about to reach rock bottom. Lack of signs from above is not making it easy. Nor is the lack of bread and water. Keeping track of the holy truth is a hard assignment – and even harder when you are hungry.
The Experiment
Four patriotic women have joined a secret experiment as volunteers. Even though the laboratory is warm and cozy, and at times filled with nice music, there is a growing concern – something is not quite right. Actually, something must be completely wrong.
The European Lesson
Weird coins, strange customs, charming accents, and interesting souvenirs to bring home. But are you being fooled? What really lurks behind an indigenous smile? An American anthropologist and four Europeans, supposedly imported from Slovakia provide the answers.
The Consulate
A group of diplomats are trying to maintain a consulate. Front looks bad, inside is worse, neutral politeness is long gone. But in a world of mental fatigue and worn hopes, a ray of light can appear – the tiny seed of love. This requires, unfortunately, a domestic diplomacy far beyond their consular talents.
Co-production with Reykjavik City Theatre.
The Orchestra
The remains of a popular music orchestra are suffering from a hangover somewhere deep in the Finnish woods. The lead singer has left for a solo career in the city and all they can do is wait and hope for her return. Money has run out, bottles are empty, and the desire to sing is gone. If a miracle should happen, the timing could not be better.
Polaroid
What’s really going on around the North Pole? For centuries, this spot has been the regular meeting point during weekends for Inuits from the different Arctic corners sharing gossip and news. This is a well kept secret that hasn’t reached the rest of the world yet. But it is now time to reveal the truth as we join in on a weekend singalong chillout.
Tok Pisin
Four characters enter a journey to pursue the last white spot still left on the map – Papua New Guinea. The trip becomes increasingly delusive. Their search for exoticism is revealed more and more as a substitute for their own lack of identity. The hollow anticlimax is a fact even long before arrival. Not a happy end, actually.
The Pianist
Contemporary composer Walter Hölle is staying in a countryside house to finish his Kopfschmerz-sonata. But the sight of the piano gives him panic attacks. The daughter of the house tries to inspire him. The tide turns only when a stranger unexpectedly arrives from Turkey with some unbelievable news concerning Walter’s past.
WELCOME TO THE FAROE ISLANDS
A green emerald in the blue Atlantic Sea, a pocketful of mysterious cliffs and juicy grass slopes with bearded locals and windblown sheep. But what ’s really going on out there? Can we trust travel agencies and polite historians? Sometimes we need an anthropologist to decode customs and rituals of savage indigenous tribes.
Gorri-Gorri
An orphan baby ends up in the hands of an engineer team specialized in academic education. We follow him from infancy through different stages of educational process, until laboratory exodus into society as a seemingly successful grown-up. The result proves to be highly uncertain. Science may not match reality. Or the other way round.
The Arrival
Three paralyzed parachutists descend into a desert landscape. Suffering from amnesia and urban confusion they try to create a logic in their new situation. How did they get there? The quest for a purpose gets even more complicated with the arrival of a woman. And later a local arab.
TEN YEARS LATER
Two friends are stuck in a dirty shed somewhere far away from home. They have been hiding from the police for ten long years, refusing to acknowledge the crime they once committed. Signs of fatigue are however starting to appear. Time has come for them confess, admit, and repent their actions. Overdue, yes, but also too late?
MASCULINE MYSTERIES
A story about two friends who meet; one of them has recently met a woman, the other has just been abandoned. It turns out, of course to be the same woman. And the masculine mystery is no longer so mysterious. The initial production of the company, produced on a shoestring but with buckets of charm.