IN A CAGE OF LIGHT
With a language that crosses artistic boarders with fast changes between humour and darkness, dance, text and live music.
- Dansmässan November 5- December 5 2024
- Sadlers Wells London April 12 2024
- Ö2 Götgatan Stockholm January 26,27,28 2024
- Gotlands Länsteater November 5 2022
- Spira Jönköping November 11 2022
- ULM MOVES Germany June 11 2022
- Orionteatern Stockholm January 5-9 2022
I want be close to you. Don´t get too close! Stay away! Please come closer… Please, let me hold you. One day we are gone forever. Trust me! Who does even deserve your trust?
Charlotta Öfverholm celebrates the mature dancer in her new expressive piece on trust and how we reappraise the relationship with ourselves gradually as we change. With strong characters and live music she invites both humor and darkness.
We tend to trust the predictable – but how much trust is needed to be unpredictable? A stage performer who has been in the spotlight her whole life is forced to reevaluate the trust to the body’s own ability and to reappraise the relationship to herself. If your self image was built in a cage of stagelight, do you dare to trust that it is still intact when the lights switch off?
Credits
Choreographers and creators: Charlotta Öfverholm and Jordi Cortes
Composer: Lauri Antila
Performers: Jordi Cortes, Tobias Hallgren, Lauri Antila, Charlotta Öfverholm
Light design: Tobias Hallgren, Lumination
Costume: Maria Lundqvist and Linda Öhrn
Hair and make up: Catharina Lundin
Trapeze work: Jacob Westin
TRAILER:
PRESS
Kulturbloggen
“In a cage of light is with it’s framed pre film is in full honesty, some of the most refreshing I have seen performed on stage in a long time”
-Pernilla Wiechel, kulturbloggen
SvD In a Cage of Light
“In a cage of light” shapes to a beautiful, slightly amusing black and associative contemplation over both the performing arts as well as the terms of existing – a dance around the poles of loneliness and addiction.”
-Anna Ångström, Svenska Dagbladet
Danstidningen
“Life, death and love. It is not harder than that to interpret and understand Charlotta Öfverholms In a Cage of Light.”
-Margareta Sörenson, Danstidningen
Graham Watts Sadlers Wells Wells London
Hat’s off to Charlotta Öfverholm for a noteworthy opening to In a Cage of Light as darkness gave way to the sight of this ebullient blonde performer, seated on a trapeze situated high above the audience, shouting an a cappella version of the Frank Sinatra standard, That’s Life. Then (spoiler alert) mid-song, Öfverholm takes a suicidal backwards plunge from the trapeze as the lights cut out (thankfully a safety line lowers her to the stage in the darkness).
In keeping with the Elixir Festival theme of dance and age, In a Cage of Light celebrates the twilight years of a mature performer – although whether Öfverholm is a circus artist, singer, burlesque performer or dancer, it’s hard to tell (perhaps she’s a mix of all these roles and more besides, as indicated by a title that infers a life in the spotlight). In this UK premiere (it first opened in Stockholm, two years ago), Öfverholm spun a tangled web of images that had her climbing a ladder precariously up the side wall of the Lilian Baylis Studio Theatre or being played as a cello by her partner, Jordi Cortes (formerly of DV8). Unlike the same idea in Cathy Marston‘s The Cellist, this “instrument” fights back, writhing and swaying out of the cellist’s lap and taking control of the bow.
The interplay between Öfverholm and Cortes is the heart of this work. The latter wears a full-head gimp mask for part of the action and their highly physical duets, embracing pulling, stretching, counterbalances and strong lifts, are high on mutual trust; although at one point Cortes walks away saying that he is too old for this kind of work. Their repartee is a key element of a witty and always absorbing work
PRESS LINKS:
SvD: https://www.svd.se/orionteatern-vibrerar-av-dodsforaktande-dans
Kulturbloggen: https://kulturbloggen.com/?p=148459
Danstidningen: https://www.danstidningen.se/2022/01/10/utblickar-over-alla-ar-och-erfarenheter/
Nu Ulm Zeitung, ULM Germany https://www.augsburger-allgemeine.de/neu-ulm/ulm-eine-stadt-bewegt-sich-starker-auftakt-de s-ulmertanzfestivalsid62971656. html
GRAHAM WATTS: https://www.gramilano.com/2024/04/review-elixir-festival-charlotta-ofverholms-in-acage-of-light-susan-kempsters-mother/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1l-hKd563l6pbAru0gDU_-fpkvdC7ev8nYeJqex-3vEz3E93xVwGCBLro_aem_AQZiGzhaGVSCB90VPor7CeQMwlYiPrQhZIWWhD3_XG_KcN5j1gqryDnT7_zoBwmr8at8k-TeXUu2Qsp1V653Bd__#google_vignette
Age On Stage a project created by Charlotta Öfverholm presenting maturity on stage, questioning the norms in the dance field through international productions with fenomenal performers over 40, workshops for people over 65, films, festivals and seminars. One part of the Creative Europe project Dance on Pass on Dream on.
Further information: Manager Izabell Makiela charlotta@jusdelavie.org +46700901535. Artistic Director Charlotta Öfverholm info@jusdelavie.org +467056679939
CREATORS & PERFORMERS
CHARLOTTA ÖFVERHOLM Artistic director, Performer
Since the start of Compagnie Jus de la Vie 1995, Swedish Öfverholm has created over 25 productions, which have toured all over Europe, North and South America and Africa. Her work is physical dance theatre with depth, irony, brutality and humour.
Öfverholm graduated from Balettakademien, Alvin Ailey ADC (NYC), is a theatre graduate of UCLA in Film/TV/Video and from The Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute (LA). She has a background as dancer with numerous companies such as DV8 Physical Theatre/Lloyd Newson, Bill T. Jones/NYC, Sean Curran /NYC, Complexions/ NYC, Farm in the Cave/Viliam Docolomansky/ Prague, Roberto Galván/ Tanzcompagnie Giessen, Joseph Tmim /Toláda Berlin, Ramon Oller/ Metros Barcelona, Robert Poole/ Ballet Linz, Cie Corinne Lanselle in Paris, NGC 25 Nantes, Sol Pico,Dorte Olesen and Richard Turpin at the Royal Dramatic Theatre and Björn Elisson Kompani in Stockholm among others. Currently working in Alexander Ekmans Kuckel.
Lead roles include Shakespeare’s Hamlet (Landestheatre Linz by Robert Poole), Alice in Alice in Wonderland (Stadttheater Giessen by Roberto Galvan), and Lola in Lola and Mr Talk at Divadlo Archa (by Jan Kodet) for which she was nominated a Thalia Prize at the National Theatre in Prague CZ 2005.
Charlotta choreographs commissioned works for companies such as Götebrogsoperans Dance company, Norrdans, RTV, Spira/ SE, Vertedance Prague/CZ, Ballet Linz/AU, Tanztheater Münster/DE, Folkoperan and Mikael Karlssons MELANCHOLIA at The Royal Opera in Stockholm.
Choreographed several films together with Anders Larsson as well as for SVT.
Created Fucking burn it – Age on Stage 2015, a big festival about age and dance. Seminars, performances, films, workshops with mature dancers from all over the world.
JORDI CORTES choreographer, dancer
Trained in the Institut del Teatre of Barcelona Performer in the companies Lanònima Imperial, Mudances, Metros, DV8 Physical Theatre, Nigel Charnock, EN-KNAP and the National Theater Company of London. He has directed and performed Lucky (Best Performer at the Dublin Fringe Festival 2005), Day Dreaming at Dusk, Happy Hour, Prestidigitaccions and the duo Mat. He has also directed with his choreography De Cara and Gran Ecart .
He has created pieces for the Avignon Festival (No matter, Try again), Trepverter and Brickskin for Galili Dance Company, the piece L’Espectre de la Rose for the Pedro Pawels Dance Company, Fica Ainda for the Almada Dance Company .
With Ölelés, a performance directed and performed with Damián Muñoz, he has been awarded with the Ciutat de Barcelona 2004 Dance Award and the Feria de Huesca 2005 Award. His last works include Bertold Brecht’s The Seven Deadly Sins in collaboration with Frederic Amat, Mozartnú, in collaboration with Iago Pericot, Pas de Deux Sans Moi, with Charlotta Overhölm and his integrated dance pieces V.I.T.R.I.O.L. and Black Out.His last works as an actor and performer include the short film Coup de Grâce, by Clara van Gool, and the show VIATGES, by Ferran Audí.
His last work directed by and starring him, is the theatre dance piece IN HEAVEN, on tour since 2011. Has worked with Charlotta Öfverholm since 2007 and codirected Kody Zivota- The last Forecast as well as Pas de deux sans toi and Youwilldieandu2.
LAURI ANTILA Musician – double bass
Lauri Antila is a versatile musician who plays classical, jazz and different styles of folk music. He both arranges and composes music. Antila recieved his classical contrabass education at the Music Conservatory in Helsinki and took master classes with prof. Frantisek Posta (Prag). Studied Jazz with Reggie Workman (NY) and Niels-Henning Ørsted-Pedersen.
TOBIAS HALLGREN Lightdesigner, dancer
Is the technical director of Compagnie Jus de la Vie and has been working with the group since 1998, both as dancer, light and stage designer. Tobias is the director of LUMINATION OF SWEDEN, a leading light technique company in Stockholm.
With a background as a dancer he got his education at Balettakademien in Stockholm and at Rotterdamse Dansakademie. Worked with choreographers like Cristina Caprioli. Charlotta Öfverholm and Tobias Hallgren have worked closely for the last 15 years and created and toured to festivals all over the world. In Prosthesis Tobias is back on stage!