A world premiere inaugurates Gothenburg Dance and Theatre Festival as well as the opening of the dance season at GöteborgsOperan – together they each celebrate their 30-year anniversary seasons. With Atlas Song, the international renowned choreographers Imre and Marne van Opstal join with singer, musician and composer Anna von Hausswolff to create an innovative, poetic and sensual performance of dance and live music.

Imre och Marne von Opstal tell us:”Sometimes we wander through life gently, peacefully. But sometimes life demands heavy lifts of us. We struggle. Fall. Get hurt, deeply. We grow. Then, in time, we find our path and move on. This is a reminder of how beauty and sorrow can exist together, like a dance between the living and the lifeless – the ornamental grip of the past and the unexplored embrace of the future.”

The van Opstal siblings Imre and Marne are a creative duo from The Netherlands who, after successful careers as dancers in Nederlands Dans Theatre (NDT) and Batsheva Dance Company, now achieve and have success in dance venues around the globe with their expressive and imaginative choreographies. Anna von Hausswolff from Gothenburg is renowned for her uncompromising music in which her bright, soulful voice hovers over organ tones in in thrilling musical landscapes. Since her breakthrough in 2009, she has fascinated audiences throughout the world with her concerts, drawing listeners into soundscapes with ritual intensity. Together, the van Opstals and von Hausswolff create performative art such as we’ve never experienced before.

Dancers: GöteborgsOperans Danskompani
Choreography, costume design and set design: Imre and Marne van Opstal
Music and vocals: Anna von Hausswolff
Guest musicians: Filip Leyman, David Sabel, Otis Sandsjö, Joel Fabiansson, Love Meyerson and Johan Holmegard.
Light design and set design: Tom Visser

The performance on August 23 will be preceded by a short inaugural ceremony.

Presented in collaboration with GöteborgOperan.
Presented with the support of Göteborg & Co.