The premiere performance takes place at Folkets Hus already next Sunday, and will continue to be played both Monday and Tuesday. It is the trio Sigurd Johan Eide (Norway), Simon Mayer (Austria) and Johanna Adele Jüssi (Estonia) who make up the artistic management behind the performance. The latter has the musical responsibility, where Eide and Mayer are behind the choreography with their respective dance companies, "The Cartel" and "Simon Mayer Company/Art in Motion".

“There are village festivals in Austria, Estonia and Norway - but they are quite different. "Village Party" is therefore an amalgamation and one version of it. An association through folk dance and folk music”, says Eide.

Eide believes that the interesting thing about the theme of "village festival" is that it can mean anything from conflict to celebration and joy. “It could, for example, be a place where someone has had their heart broken”, says Jüssi. “And at the same time it is a place where you have a good time with others. Sometimes there can be conflicts, but other times it's enough to just dance and play together - and then it's fun”, says Eide.

He believes it can be about the simple idea that art is something people do together with others, and that it doesn't always have to be something you sit and look at on a wall alone. “We can also be part of the artwork”, he says. “It's a lot about celebrating coexistence. That loud and quiet can exist next to each other without arguing”, Mayer interjects. “Because in which arenas can people with such different backgrounds be together as we have today? Perhaps the village festival is one such Venue where everyone is allowed to be who they are”, asks Eide rhetorically.

Mayer says that the performance is largely characterized by a strong interaction with the audience, and that one might even blur the line between observing and participating. “In the big picture, it is about finding together in a great diversity and different cultures. We want to find meeting points between these”, says Mayer.

According to Jüssi, precisely this diversity, and the exchange of different cultures, has been a strength of the project. “It has worked very well, and it is incredibly interesting to work across national borders. The approach to tradition is quite different in the various countries”, she says. “In Norway, for example, a polonaise can be completely banal. Elsewhere in Europe, it is one of the hippest things you can do. With different symbolism and frames of reference, we break down the walls that separate us”, adds Eide.

The performance has been created for Bodø2024, but after the three performances in Bodø, it will visit the Riksscenen in Oslo before becoming part of the capital of culture program in Estonia (Tartu2024) and Austria (Salzkammergut2024).

Ticket here.