UNDERSANG
Undersang takes shape as a performance ritual in the forest. A tapestry of opulent configurations soaked in a shimmer of queer ecologies and extravagant gestures. Here mythologies, national romantic ideals and science fiction converge, revealing a world of ancient powers.
Weaving Afro and Asian-Nordic diasporic narratives, Undersang plays with the notion of dissonance as an ambiguous feeling of empowerment, sparking questions about cultural fictions and what it means to belong. As a ground for refusal, reclamation of time and looking beyond the idea of ownership, the work seeks fertile ground for healing, for lament and joyous celebration.
«I don't know if the performative actually transforms society, but this performance at least gives me faith in the potential of art in the world.»
- Julie Amundsen - Scenekunst.no
Photo: Chai SaidiConcept and choreography by Harald Beharie
Original performers: Amie Mbye, Loan Ha, Jens Jeffry Trinidad, Nosizwe Baqwa, Carlisle Sienes, Mariama Fatou Kalley Slåttøy and Harald Beharie
Costume by Karoline Bakken Lund and Harald Beharie
Sculptures by Karoline Bakken Lund and Veronica Bruce
Composer, sound by Christian Beharie
Produced by Mariana Suikkanen Gomes
Co-production by Black Box Teater (Oslo), Dansens Hus (Oslo),
BIT (Bergen), Rosendal Teater (Trondheim), RAS (Sandnes) and TOU (Stavanger)
With the project Undersang, Harald Beharie was awarded the Norwegian Critics' Prize for Dance (2024) for concept and choreography.