Norwegian Critics' Award 2012/2013

Excerpt from speech by Lars Elton, performed during the award ceremony for The Norwegian Critics' Award (dance) at Litteraturhuset in Oslo September 18 2013:

"Fragile is a project and a performance in which the blind and the visually impaired dance with the non-impaired. Kjersti Kramm Engebrigtsen initiated the project and made Touched, the first of three choreographies making up the full-length performance Fragile. With the choreographers Ana Rita Barata from Portugal, Ajjar Ausma from Estonia and Isabel Jones from England she got support from The European Union's cultural program to create a project for education in and development of dance methods for the blind and visually impaired. The collaboration, which started in 2011, resulted in a performance with works by the three formerly mentioned choreographers, opening in Lisbon this April.

Fragile has become a performance involving the spectator at different levels and through different expressions. Kjersti Kramm Engebrigtsen's Touched is characterised by a flowing process in which one can long be uncertain who of the six dancers have trouble seeing. It soon becomes clear that the visual impairment is a resource, opening for proximity and touch. With Touched she sets the tune for hushed performance. The project title refers to the vulnerability of the visually impaired («Fragile»), but the paradox is that being led and supported provides security and confidence. Through the touch intimacy and confidence find a beautiful expression. Also it ends with the visually impaired dancer conquering the room."

The complete speech (in Norwegian only) can be read at the webpage of Norwegian Critics' Association.

Excerpt from speech by Anette Therese Pettersen, performed during the award ceremony for The Norwegian Critics' Award (theatre) 2012/2013 at Litteraturhuset in Oslo September 18 2013:

"The production, opening at The National Theatre in February, is a rare example of how the theatrical space may function as an arena for reflection and discussion, without compromising with artistic quality.

(...)

The statistics over the unemployed and the homeless, and not least, the suicide statistics, are given faces and voices. But they also represent larger groups, and this way the production treats themes such as the lack of power and a social crisis, intellectually and emotionally, pointing forward and backwards in time. Through extraordinary sharp precision the performance keeps its clarity as well as its complexity, balancing empathy and distance, so that the spectator holds onto deep concentration from the start until the end."

The complete speech (in Norwegian only) can be read at the webpage of Norwegian Critics Association.

The speech Tore Vagn Lid held as thanks can be read (in Norwegian only) at www.scenekunst.no.