Performing Arts
For reservations call 212.847.9740 or email event_reservation@amscan.org
Contemporary Scandinavian Reading Series:
Scandinavian American Theater Company
Mondays, 7:30 pm pre-reception/8 pm reading
January 30, 2012
Additional readings for March 26, & June 4, 2012 TBA
Free admission
The Scandinavian American Theater Company (SATC) introduces a new generation of Nordic playwrights in a series of staged readings representing Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Finland, and Denmark, including Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
Founded in 2009 by a group of New York-based Scandinavian theater professionals, SATC, the first-ever Scandinavian-American theater company in New York, presents high-quality, cutting-edge productions of contemporary Nordic plays and fresh interpretations of Scandinavian classics, and fosters the Scandinavian-American performing arts community in New York.
The Returns/Tilbakekomstene*
*Originally scheduled for November 7, 2011 this reading has been rescheduled for January 30, 2012. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
Written by Fredrik Brattberg (Norway, 2011). A mother and a father grieve the loss of their only son. The funeral is gripping and breathtaking. The whole town has turned up to say their final goodbyes. After the funeral the parents strive to find their way back to their old life. One day they get a very unexpected visitor... A new dark comedy from Norway that takes the audience on a hilarious and unpredictable ride.
About the playwright:
Playwright and composer Fredrik Brattberg (b. 1978, Porsgrunn, Norway) made his debut in 2008 at Oslo’s Student Stage with the play It Knocks, Amadeus/Det Banker, Amadeus. He has participated twice in The Norwegian Playwrights Festival in Oslo with Visit at the Hansen Family Half Past Six/Besøk Hos Familien Hansen Halv Syv (2009), a play about prejudice in which a Norwegian family invites a Muslim to dinner, and again in 2011 with his dark comedy The Returns/Tilbakekomstene. Brattberg’s newest play Monsemann (2011) was listed among the 20 best of 350 plays at The International Playwright Competition in Berlin and was later staged at Dramatikkens Hus in Oslo.
Co-presented by the Consulate General of Denmark New York, the Consulate General of Finland in New York, the Consulate General of Iceland in New York, the Royal Norwegian Consulate General of New York, the Consulate General of Sweden in New York, and Scandinavia House.
MorphosesInsights: Dance + Film/Pontus Lidberg
Thursday, May 3, 7 pm
$15 ($10 ASF Members)
MorphosesInsights is a series of intimate events that bring together creators, dancers, collaborators, supporters, audiences, and fans for the purpose of illumination: the illumination of the creative process. The dynamic forces combining in each Morphoses production are endlessly fascinating and by creating a context in which these forces are displayed, spoken about, and demonstrated, MorphosesInsights is an inside track on each production from the very beginning of its journey. The 2012 edition of this exciting series kicks off with choreographer/filmmaker Pontus Lidberg and some of his closest collaborators discussing the process of building a new evening-length work and a viewing of the film at the center of it all: Lidberg's Labyrinth Within.
Swedish choreographer, dancer, and filmmaker Pontus Lidberg is most recognized for his award-winning dance film The Rain (2007). As a choreographer for the stage, Mr. Lidberg has been described in the Swedish press as “one of our great choreographic talents” and has created over 30 works for major international dance companies such as The Royal Danish Ballet, The Beijing Dance Theatre, The Norwegian National Ballet, 59° North: Soloists of the Royal Swedish Ballet, The Vanemuise Ballet of Estonia, Morphoses, and his own group Pontus Lidberg Dance, which recently made its New York debut with his Faune at the Fall for Dance Festival at New York City Center.
In December of 2010 NorrlandsOperan of Sweden commissioned Mr. Lidberg to create a new dance work with an original score by Swedish composer B. Tommy Andersson. That work, entitled Warriors, was named best dance performance of the year in northern Sweden. Lidberg’s full-length work Duet for Dancer and Pianist, in collaboration with concert pianist Magnus Svensson, has been performed extensively on tour in Sweden, France, and Estonia.
In just a few short years Pontus Lidberg has firmly established himself as a creative and visionary artist bringing dance and film together. His first work for the camera was commissioned by Swedish National Television: Mirror has been screened on television as well as in dance film festivals in the U.S. and abroad. His most recent dance film, Labyrinth Within, which features New York City Ballet principal dancer Wendy Whelan and a score by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang, received the Court Métrange du Jury prize at Court-Métrange Film Festival in Rennes, France this past October.
Pontus Lidberg is the designated 2012 Resident Artistic Director for Morphoses. In that role he plans to create a new evening-length work that weaves together dance for stage and film, expanding on and taking inspiration from Labyrinth Within - once again in collaboration with David Lang. This new work will premiere during Morphoses’ debut season at Jacob’s Pillow in June 2012. Morphoses previously commissioned Lidberg: Vespertine premiered at Works & Process at the Guggenheim in October 2010.
Mr. Lidberg received his training at the Royal Swedish Ballet School in Stockholm, Sweden. Among other international dance companies, he has danced with The Royal Swedish Ballet, the Norwegian National Ballet, Le Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève, and the Gothenburg Ballet. He received the NOKIA Award for young talent in 2001 and the Stockholm Cultural Scholarship, also in 2001.
Co-presented by Morphoses.
The Raven’s Kiss
An Operatic Tale of Iceland
Tuesday, May 15, 8 pm
$15 ($10 ASF Members)
See The Raven’s Kiss in CONCERTS section.
Co-sponsored by The American Scandinavian Society of New York.