Dance

Freeing the Body to Unmask the Soul
Using dance to perform Henrik Ibsen’s controversial 19th-century play provides the Norwegian National Ballet with a riveting way to explore the Pandora’s box of socially sensitive topics the tragedy tackles, including extramarital affairs, venereal disease, and religious tyranny. Directed by Ibsen specialist Marit Moum Aune, the production effectively recruits everyday movement and subverts conventional dance sequences to depict the power struggles between the sexes while multi-level sets ingeniously interweave characters’ past and present selves to counterpoint the realism with a more chimerical mood. A gripping and thought-provoking reinterpretation that dramatically speaks to the heart through body language alone.