Social Behaviour is a music-theater performance/concert that explores the complexities of social interactions—our personal and public relationships, the difficulties of desiring what others have, the challenge of truly seeing "the other," and, not least, the struggle of collaborating with people we neither understand nor like. The performance shifts between musical, textual, and visual perspectives, drawing from our desires, envy, impulse to imitate others, and the tangled emotions we bring into every social encounter.

This material is both endless and alluring, holding the potential for both small and grand narratives. Social Behaviour, Mimesis, and Desire combines instrumental music with movement, multi-channel live video, and texts by René Girard, Liv Heløe, Richard Sennett, Henrik Hellstenius, and others. The piece was written for Alpaca Ensemble, with video and visual design by Peter Knudsen.

“Man is the creature who does not know what to desire, and he turns to others in order to make up his mind. We desire what others desire because we imitate their desires. There are a finite number of things a person needs. But there are an infinite number of things to desire.”
— René Girard

ABOUT THE PERFORMERS, COMPOSER, AND ARTISTS

ALPACA ENSEMBLE

Alpaca Ensemble is a flexible musical collective of varying size and instrumentation, with a core consisting of Else Bø (piano) and Marianne Baudouin Lie (cello). The ensemble serves as a platform for experimentation, genre blending, and creative ideas, engaging with classical, jazz, popular, and contemporary music. Alpaca collaborates with musicians, composers, and artists both in Trøndelag and across Norway, with a strong ambition to continually evolve as an ensemble and contribute to a dynamic and visible contemporary music scene in the region.

The ensemble has premiered numerous commissioned works and released dozens of recordings, several of which have been nominated for the Spellemann Award. For Only Connect, they are joined by Elena Perales Andreu (clarinet), Jennifer Torrence (percussion), and Børge Tandberg Brustad (violin).

HENRIK HELLSTENIUS – Composer

Henrik Hellstenius is a Norwegian composer and professor of composition at the Norwegian Academy of Music. His works include operas, orchestral pieces, chamber music, and compositions for theater and dance. His music has been performed by all major symphony orchestras in Norway, as well as at festivals and concerts worldwide.

Hellstenius has held prestigious roles such as profile composer for the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, curator/composer at the Bergen International Festival, and guest composer at the Buffalo in June festival in the USA. He has also lectured about his music at conservatories in Paris, Shanghai, Linz, Graz, London, Malmö, Gothenburg, and more. In 2022, he won the Spellemann Award in the TONO Composer’s Prize category for his release Past and Presence.

PETER KNUDSEN – Video Designer

Peter Knudsen has worked with video design in multimedia and stage productions since 2008, striving to integrate video material as a seamless part of the overall artistic expression. Additionally, he has worked extensively on music visualization, designing approximately 200 album covers and music videos since the 1990s.

LIV HELØE – Playwright & Actor

Liv Heløe is an actor and playwright. She was a resident actress at Den Nationale Scene (1988-1995) and Nationaltheatret (1985-2000) and appeared in numerous film and television productions during this period, including as Birte in Solens Sønn og Månens Datter (NRK, 1991).

In 2003, she completed the Pilot Project for Playwrights at Oslo National Academy of the Arts (KHiO)/Det Åpne Teater and has since worked as a full-time playwright. Heløe writes for stage and radio, creating works for children, youth, and adults.