Lineage

Otto Ramstad

The project Lineage draws lines between the learning practices of experimental dance and somatic work, and personal ‘artistic genealogy’. ‘Artistic genealogy’ is a creative process Ramstad has been using to build relationships to his Norwegian ancestors and the land they inhabited and about which he knew very little. Lineage strings together these seemingly separate ways of gaining knowledge: official archives and private stories, his archive of somatic approaches and attempts to research land somatically – to think about what it was like to live in a body in rural Norway 100 years ago and ask how this affects how we are living in our bodies now. This exposition reflects a project that includes a video installation, a studio practice, and a performance which uses his archive of videos, stories, and movement. Here he shares thoughts about how we care for and engage in our personal histories and how this engagement changes how we are living in our bodies now. In this exposition you will see or hear the following people, listed in their order of appearance: Otto Ramstad, Lisa Nelson, Maura Gahan, Margit Galanter, Kristin Van Loon, Steve Paxton, Emmett Ramstad, Hans Steinar Gjerdet, Carle Lange, Olive Bieringa, Uma Rabbit Bieringa Ramstad, Andrea Parkins.

Lineage performance credits:

Concept / video / scenography / text / dance: Otto Ramstad

Composer & live sound: Andrea Parkins

Scenographic dramaturgy and collaboration: Carle Lange

Lighting design: Agnethe Tellefsen

Oslo National Academy of the Arts advisors: Snelle Hall, Amanda Steggell

External advisor: Chrysa Parkinson

Dance practice collaborators: Olive Bieringa, Maura Gahan, Margit Galanter, Kristin Van Loon with Lin van Kaam, Natanya Helena Kjølås, Vivian Pakkanen

Contributing dramaturg & researcher: Sidsel Pape

Contributing genealogy researcher: Sylfest Lykre

Video documentation: Olive Bieringa

Production assistance in Skjåk: Live Visdal

This project was made possible with support from KHiO, NORAM Fellowship, Oppland Fylkeskommune, Headlands Center for the Arts, Foundation for Contemporary Arts & the US Embassy in Oslo.

Special thanks to:

Olive Bieringa, Uma Rabbit Bieringa Ramstad, Eric Ramstad, Josie Winship, Emmett Ramstad

From Ramstad Farm: Gry Ramstad, Odd Ramstad, Gudrun Ramstad

From Oslo National Academy of the Arts: Per Roar, Torunn Helene Robstad, Bojana Cvejic, Anne Grete Eriksen, Katarina Skår Lisa, Thomas Prestø & Kyuja Bae

And my teachers: first dance teacher Suzanne River, Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, Steve Paxton, Lisa Nelson & my great grandfather John Fredrikson Ramstad.

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