Carte Blanche

Refugees are often presented as an anonymous mass of people who come in large groups. But each individual asylum seeker has made a personal journey filled with his or her own experiences, choices, memories and feelings of loss. Even though this journey is made together with others, they are also very alone – with responsibility for themselves and their stories.

What do we take with us when we leave our home behind, and how do we deal with what we have left behind? The dancers give physical expression to refugees’ stories and try to access universal memories. With empathy and through broad, slow and heavy physical movements, the dancers endeavour to create a common meeting place in which we can co-exist.

The production is choreographed by Hooman Sharifi, Artistic Director of Carte Blanche – Norway’s national contemporary dance company. He himself came to Norway from Iran as an unaccompanied minor asylum seeker in 1988. Helge Steen (aka Deathprod) is responsible for the music.