Karene Lyngholm

Karene Lyngholm will celebrate the grand opening of Dansens Hus’ new permanent venue in Oslo on February 29. Dansens Hus has been programming national and international contemporary dance since 2004, but the acquisition of a permanent venue now is an important milestone. “Undoubtedly, it means a lot that we finally have a venue and an organisation for present-ing dance all year round to a wider audience, to provide an infrastructure for visiting artists, and to assert the importance of contemporary dance in all relevant debates and through many channels,” says Karen Lyngholm.

The new building has two stages, the smaller of which can be used flexibly as a studio, laboratory, for residencies or exhibitions. The build-ing also houses the administration and a café, as well as the offices of Dance Information Norway and the dance festival CODA.

An international conference on contemporary dance is scheduled for the open-ing weekend, March 1 and 2, with the title “Centre and Periphery;” a particularly appropriate topic for this new national venue for dance. But 2008 will also see the demolition of the BIT Teatergarasjen venue in Bergen, which has been home to cutting-edge theatre and ...