Stellaris Dansteater: Where the Mainland Floats at Den Norske Opera & Ballett

Stellaris DansTeater celebrates 35 years in 2015 – and has decided to celebrate at the Opera House! The company brings with it from its base in Hammerfest Where the mainland floats, created by Solveig Leinan-Hermo, who has led the company through all these years. The natural world is an extremely important source of inspiration for the performance. Memories from childhood to adulthood have given the choreographer the feeling of a land that is always in motion; that sea, sky and land bring an all-inclusive experience of a natural space of which humans – with their life and death, faith and doubt – are a part.

Where the mainland floats is performed by seven dancers. “Stylised movements and frozen moments of beauty. The show is a synthesis of precision and perfectionism – a majestic and breathless revelation of creativity,” wrote the regional Norwegian newspaper Nordlys in 2000, while national newspaper Dagbladet stated that “This limitless space in which sea, sky and the land merge in eternal motion provides a massive experience.”

Stellaris DansTeater is Norway’s second-oldest independent group in the field of dance. It was established in 1980 under the name of “Hammerfest Ballettverksted”, and changed its name to Stellaris DansTeater in 2003. Where the mainland floats was part of the 20th jubilee of the company in 2000. An updated version of the performance is now being produced for the 35th jubilee, which is at the same time the 40th jubilee of Leinan-Hermo’s work as dance artist. The performance is part of a major jubilee programme.