Anna & Co og Myrskyryhma: Dans Hav!/Tanssi Meri!
Residency week 35 / 2026
DANS HAV! / TANSSI MERI! is an artistic project choreographed by Anna Nordanstedt for Elli Isokoski and Kenneth Bruun Carlson. The project is carried out as a Nordic collaboration between the Finnish group Myrskyryhmäand the Norwegian group Anna & CO, and is aimed at older people in Finland and Norway.
“The performance takes shape in the encounter between what is planned and what emerges in the moment. We aim to preserve a clear artistic arc, direction, and rhythm that carries the experience forward. We focus on the quality and precision of the materials and dance sequences, which serve as the building blocks of the performance. Every detail has significance and its own place, depending on how it resonates emotionally with the target audience – how it touches, creates a sense of connection, and awakens feelings of safety and curiosity. We explore how the space can be organised in the best possible way – flexible enough to accommodate individual needs, while still being sufficiently structured to create a shared experience. A space where older people and those who work alongside them can share something together; a moment of participation, resonance, and presence.”
Contributors
Anna C Nordanstedt – choreographer, Norway/ Sweden
Elli Isokoski – dancer, Finland
Kenneth Bruun Carlson – dancer, Norway
Sophia Frykstam – costume designer, Sweden
Mio Oribe Stuberg Ueno – scenography, Norway
Gyrid Nordal Kaldestad – composer, Norway
Karstein Solli – “oustide eye”, Norway
Producers:
Eva Nossum – Norway
Mervi Leivo and Annika Sillander – Finland
The project is supported by: Kulturrådet, Nordic Culture Point, Fond for Lyd og bilde, Helsinki City, Finsk Norsk Kulturfond, Norsk Finsk Kulturfond, CREO, FFUK, Trøndelag Fylkeskommune, Sparebank SMN 1 Samfunnsutbytte and Jac. og Mathilde Maliniaks Minnefond
Co-producert:
DansiT Koreografisk senter – Norway
About the artists
Anna Charlotta Nordanstedt (choreographer)
Anna Charlotta Nordanstedt was born in Sweden. She has a background in visual art and dance, with studies at Konstfack – University of Arts, Crafts and Design – and the Ballet Academy in Stockholm. After completing her education, she moved to Norway in 1988.
Nordanstedt worked as a freelance dance artist and choreographer in Oslo from 1988 to 1996. In 1996, she moved to Nord-Trøndelag, where she combined teaching with performing and choreographic work in a range of professional productions. Among other initiatives, she founded and developed the Regional Centre for Dance, Dans i Nord-Trøndelag (now Dans i Trøndelag), as well as Creme Fraiché Dance Company (60+), a dance company for seniors in the municipality of Levanger.
From 2012 to 2022, she was affiliated with the National Centre for Culture, Health and Care at Nord University, where she was responsible for dance.
As a dance artist, Nordanstedt has developed productions including Tilføyelser at the Falstad Centre and SÅLE, in collaboration with CODA, ULTIMA and the Center for Studies of the Holocaust and Religious Minorities. The latter was most recently revived at the Falstad Centre in spring 2024. In recent years, she has had a particular focus on dance and older people, resulting in several productions, including BREVET and SKOGEN.
Since 2019, she has shared experiences and developed practices related to dance and ageing, as well as dance from an intergenerational perspective, within a Nordic context through the networks “Rethink Aging – Nordic” and “Dance – a Lifelong Expression”, supported by Nordic Culture Point. Since 2019, Nordanstedt has received the Norwegian Government’s ten-year artist grant.
Elli Isokoski (performing and co-creating dance artist)
Elli Isokoski is a dance artist educated at the University of the Arts Helsinki, the Theatre Academy Helsinki and London Contemporary Dance School. She has worked with dance for older people since 2002 as a performer, educator, community artist and producer.
Isokoski is the founder and artistic director of the artist collective Myrskyryhmä. She works purposefully to expand older people’s access to dance and to promote the representation of diverse bodies in the arts. Her work ranges from performances in care settings to participatory workshops, inclusive dance film projects and artistic residencies.
Ken Bruun Carlson (performing and co-creating dance artist)
Ken Bruun Carlson, from Inderøy, is a dance artist with a strong background in modern and contemporary dance. He trained at London Contemporary Dance School and Amsterdam University of the Arts. Since completing his education, Bruun Carlson has worked as a professional dancer with a number of Nordic dance companies, constellations and projects, including Danish Dance Theatre, Skånes Dansteater, Cullbergbaletten, Helsinki Dance Company and Kenneth Kvarnström & Co, as well as with artists such as Gunilla Heilborn, Bjørn Säfsten, FORSworks, Helena Franzén, Lisa Riisum, Marie Topp, Rachel Tess and Mirko Guido, among others.
Mio Oribe (visual artist)
Mio Oribe has a background in visual art, art history and dance, with experience and expertise across several disciplines. In 2018, she completed her master’s degree in architecture at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design (AHO). Oribe works across disciplines, naturally combining her different areas of interest. She works physically and exploratively with spaces and environments, and intuitively with materials and drawing, which she observes and translates into visual expressions as well as sculptural and spatial forms. Her work ranges from independent art projects to interdisciplinary collaborations with professional artists from various fields.
Gyrid Nordal Kaldestad (composer and sound designer)
Gyrid Nordal Kaldestad is a composer and performer from Stord in Sunnhordland. In spring 2024, she completed her artistic research fellowship at NTNU, the Department of Music and the Department of Music Technology. Among other positions, she has served as head of MU in NKF, chair of the Grants Committee for Composers, and board member of Periskop, nyMusikk Trondheim, Nuts and Bolts and Notam. She is currently head of the local branch of nyMusikk Trondheim and deputy chair of the board of the Norwegian Society of Composers.
Karstein Solli (artistic advisor / “outside eye”)
Karstein Solli is a performing and creative theatre artist and an associate professor of acting, drama and theatre communication. He is trained both as a preschool teacher and as an actor in theatre and mime in London, Paris and Amsterdam. He received the Norwegian Critics’ Award for Dance in 1992, later the Norwegian Government’s guaranteed income for artists, and most recently the Gulljerven Award for his groundbreaking work in artistic innovation and queer dance since the 1980s.
Since 2009, he has been part-time artistic director at Seanse in Volda, where he mentors artists and contributes to programming the Small Arts Festival for children aged 0–6. Solli has nearly 40 years of experience teaching and leading workshops within both professional and amateur theatre and dance, as well as extensive experience in higher arts education in Norway and internationally. His productions have toured Scandinavia and festivals around the world. In recent years, he has received particular recognition for his distinctive performances for the youngest children (ages 0–6).
Sophia Frykstam (costume designer)
Sophia Frykstam is a costume designer and visual artist with a background in art, media and film. She has designed costumes for dance works including Såle (2022) and Sole is Telling (2017), as well as for numerous short films and theatre productions. An important foundation of her practice is her long-standing collaboration with Roy Andersson Filmproduktion AB, where she contributed to films including Songs from the Second Floor, You, the Living, A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, as well as various commercials. Through this work, she has developed a strong understanding of costume and scenography as tools for creating a symbolic and condensed visual language. Her education includes studies at Konstfack, Biskops-Arnö and several art schools, focusing on film, photography, visual art and art history.