The Court, Bergen

The Court is a groundbreaking experience that invites the audience into a seductive parallel universe where the power games of the past and the desires of the present collide. Inspired by sociologist Avery Gordon’s idea that we can’t escape the ghosts of the past, choreographers Ingri Fiksdal & Louis Schou-Hansen takes us on a time travel to the royal courts of the French ruler Louis XIV – where dance transformed from a social activity into a codified, politicised art form. Under his reign, dance became a tool of power, reinforcing hierarchies and norms that still resonate today. The Court uses this history as source material while also questioning its power structures.

By blending historical references with contemporary performance, the piece creates an immersive environment in which the past and the present coexist, where linear time and fixed perspectives are defied. For three hours, the audience can freely come in and out of the room, choosing how they want to follow the nine performers’ constantly changing choreographic landscape.

The Court is the culmination of the multi-year project Rehearsing the Not Yet, a collaboration between choreographer Ingri Fiksdal, Marie Nerland’s curatorial project Volt, and dancer and choreographer Louis Schou-Hansen.

Ingri Fiksdal is a choreographer living in Stavanger. She has a PhD in artistic research form the Oslo National Academy of the Arts, and has been affiliated with the CoFutures research team at the University of Oslo. In her works, she uses choreography as a form of speculative fiction, exploring the hierarchies of power in relation to the body, knowledge and history. In recent years, she has presented works at a number of international festivals and art institutions, including the Palais de Tokyo, Paris; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Brussel; Tanzhaus NRW, Düsseldorf and Steirischer Herbst in Graz, and has also been on tour in Norway. Her later works include Sand Flight, created for The Bentway in Toronto in collaboration with director Jonas Corell Petersen, and the choreographic installation Haunted House at Kunstnernes Hus, developed with Helle Siljeholm.

Louis Schou-Hansen is a choreographer and dancer living in Oslo. Their work explores the human body as a vulnerable and disobedient arena for fiction, often shaped by desire, mortality and self-destruction. Schou-Hansen frequently returns to history and counter-history – particularly the political chaos of early-modern Europe – to trace ghostly figures in contemporary culture. They have an MA from The Dutch Art Institute (DAI) and a BA from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts. Louis’ work has recently been performed in venues including ICA, London; New Art Dealers Alliance, New York; Dansehallerne, København; Black Box Teater, Oslo; Suprainfinit, Bucuresti; My Wild Flag, Stockholm and Centrale Fies, Dro, Italy, and they have also toured Norway. In 2024 they initiated and have since run the Mind Eater performance festival, alongside Runa Borch Skolseg.