(headbang)

In (headbang), a drummer and two dancers in a transparent cube challenge what has stagnated. In an ecstatic physical journey, where live percussion, whispers, loops and screams merge with the hypnotic headbang cadence, they together surrender to the rhythmic energy. In one fluid movement, the dancers transform into slimy slugs, gentle lashers or mopheads, challenging just about all traditional notions of physicality and expression.

The performance toys with references to witches, intimacy and inseparability, and uses headbanging to explore these notions. The movement, often associated with the heavy metal scene, is usually affiliated with aggression. -|-By playing precisely with these contrasts, (headbang) invites reflection on the neglected focus on caring in a harsh, rough world. The physicality of headbanging catapults the audience into an ecstatic, collective experience in which surrender and resistance, chaos and control, collide and merge.

Charlie Laban Trier (b. DK 1987) is a dancer and choreographer, trained and graduated from SNDO/AHK in 2018. He’s a member of Jacuzzi – an artist-run space in Amsterdam. Inspired by his experience as a transperson he approaches dance as a shape-shifting force—seductive and subversive, always complicating fixed ideas.

elieli is a choreographer and multidisciplinary artist living in Stockholm. Their work can be experienced through performances, workshops, writings, films and installations. They explore how everything is entangled, and often communicate a sense of tactility, of radical softness and attentiveness as generosity. eli eli is affiliated with SKOGEN (SE) and the collective Glada Sprutan.

-|-Josefin Runsteen is a Swedish musician, producer, composer and arranger. She began her musical career as a classical violinist, but discovered other instruments, such as percussion and drums, in her teens. She has toured with international artists such as Adrianne Lenker, Feist and Frank Ocean, and has composed commissioned works for Classical Orchestras and choirs. In 2019 she was named Newcomer of the Year by Sweden's national broadcaster, and won a grammy for Adrianne Lenkers album "Bright Future".

choreography, concept and dancers elieli and Charlie Laban Trier
composer and musician Josefin Runsteen
sound-engineer and technician Juli frodermann
light design Peter Widell
costume designer Kristin Bergman
stage manager YuJing Liu

-|-
set designer Oskar Gustafsson
support SKOGEN-Masthuggsterrassen, Swedish Arts Grant, Gothenburg City Culture Fund, Svensk-Danska fonden, Fylkingen, Glada sprutan, Jacuzzi studio, Konstepidemin
premiere SKOGEN, Gothenburg, September 2021
special thanks to Niklas Niki Blomberg, Raoni Muzho Saleh