Undersang is an outdoor performance in the forest that weaves together elements of choreography, choral work, and sculptural installations. In a gathering of singers and dancers – both stage performers and amateurs – we will create an intimate and caring world, a place where glamorous beings sing and vibrate through the night.

Who we are looking for

The project seeks participants of all ages with non-Western backgrounds – African/Asian diasporas. You do not need to have any previous stage or dance experience, or be able to speak Norwegian. We aim to gather a group diverse in age and profession. Our only requirement is that you are willing to engage in the project, enjoy singing or have experience with singing or choirs, and can attend the announced rehearsals and performance days. The choir and collective we create together will become a part of the performance. We are interested in people that don’t have a background as a dancer/singer but are curious and open to exploring what it means to be on a “stage” together with a larger group.

How we will work

We will collaborate collectively to shape what the group will do and contribute to the project/performance. We will work on specific rehearsal days leading up to the premiere. In collaboration with each performer, we will work on setting a sequence that unfolds in the performance. Specifically, what this sequence will consist of will be individual and something we find out together. For some, it may consist of more everyday tasks, hosting and singing, where others who wish can also take part in some of the dances that are choreographed. We will figure this out together.

A total fee of NOK 3,000 is offered.

Rehearsal/choir practice on specific days/times in April/May 2024 with performances on the 8th and 9th of June.

How to apply

You can sign up for the project with your name, age, a picture of yourself, and some thoughts on your motivation for participating.

Send the application to Undersang.project@gmail.com by Sunday, March 31st. We will confirm your participation during the first week of April.

About the project and choreographer

Harald Beharie is a choreographer who focuses on creating temporary communities in his choreographic practice. In 2019, he created Shine Utopians together with Louis Schou, which took place as a four-day festival and performance at Dansens Hus where amateurs and professionals came together as a temporary queer village. In Undersang, Harald is concerned with the dissonance of belonging and being able to take ownership of nature and our collective narratives related to the landscape, as a racialized person in a Nordic context. In the project, he uses the concept of "diasporic cultural fiction" to break the boundaries of what it means to belong and at the same time cultivate the ambivalence, the dissonance as ground for creating a place where new and ancient forces can arise. Together with music composed by artist Beharie, Undersang will be a choral work based on structures such as "groovy" polyphonic sound and polyphony. A tribute to the amateur choir that possesses the potential to create immense power and heartfelt energy. In a magic dripped in black POC* excellence and in a new "queer ecology," the project carves out physical spaces and uncovers new possibilities in the landscape.

*people of color