Postmodern Cool (2019)

"The prefix ‘post’ indicates that a culture or artistic practice has stepped out of the previously unquestioned horizon of modernity but still exists with some kind of a reference to it. This may be a relation of negation, declaration of war, liberation, or perhaps only a deviation and playful exploration of what is possible beyond this horizon" - Hans-Theis Lehmann, Post-dramatic Theatre

Postmodern Cool is inspired by postmodernism as a reaction to modernity’s ideals of truth, reason and freedom, and the existential need to redefine these concepts and structures. The project explores the aesthetic form, the “doing” traditions and genre expectations in theatrical Jazz dance by questioning and deconstructing the structures, hegemonies and aesthetic regimes in Jazz dance. With pulsing energies, in unison and with a distinct sense og humor, five dancers work their way through iconic moved from the Jazz Dance repertoire, re-inventing and re-imagining another way of presenting this dance genre. In the friction between the needs of the present and the traditions of the past, new expressions and aesthetic ideals arise which are both in relation to and in contrast to the current perception of what jazz dance is and can be. All in all, Postmodern Cool aims to re-contextualize the Jazz dance aesthetics within a contemporary understanding of art, dance and choreography, as and experiment on how Jazz dance’s iconic form and style can be relevant on a contemporary stage today.

For full documentation please get in touch.

​

Choreography: Inés Belli

Performance: Sara Enger Larsen, Trine Lise Moe, Hedda Rivrud,
Trude Amalie Leirpoll, Henriette Hamli

Music: Jordan Fields

Sound design: Terje Øverland

Light design: Martin Myrvold

Costumes: Signe Vasshus

Production assistant: Marit Falla Eriksen

Artistic Advisor: Ingri Fiksdal

​

Funded by: Arts Council Norway, Fund for Performing Artists

Co-production: Dansens Hus Oslo

Supported by: DansiT