To personer plassert tett sammen, med ansiktene vendt mot hverandre uten å se direkte på hverandre. Bildet er mørkt og dominert av rosa og røde toner, og hele motivet er bygget opp av et tydelig mønster av små ruter/prikker. Engelsk: Two people are positioned close together, with their faces turned toward each other without looking directly at one another. The image is dark and dominated by pink and red tones, with the entire scene made up of a distinct pattern of small squares/dots.

Fredrik Petrov – Pre-Project: Main Backup

Residency week 34 / 2026

Main Backup is a performing arts project by Fredrik Petrov that explores what makes us, as humans, susceptible to entertainment.

Through rhythm, synchronisation, repetition, anticipation and release, the project seeks to explore the mechanisms that capture and hold our attention, as well as what happens when these are amplified, displaced or taken apart. As a choreographic point of departure, the project turns its gaze towards the background of entertainment: the subtle movements of backing vocalists and backup performers, created to support a larger spectacle without demanding attention themselves. By moving these movements into the centre, Main Backup investigates how the things we barely notice can contribute to shaping what we feel. Where does entertainment actually emerge: in the body, in the dramaturgy, or in the audience’s own expectation of being entertained?

The co-creating performers are Sara Enger Larsen and Josephine Gracia Slaaen.

The project is supported by the Arts Council Norway, Performing Arts, Pre-Project.

About the choreographer

Fredrik Petrov is a performing artist and choreographer.

In his artistic practice, Petrov is interested in authenticity: what we perceive as real, constructed or performed, and where the boundaries between these actually lie. He explores this through a physical and detail-oriented movement language, often by subjecting the body to concrete, repetitive or demanding tasks.

Improvisation is central to Petrov’s choreographic practice, and the encounter between performer and audience is often an important part of his work. The audience is not regarded as passive spectators, but as a presence that influences what happens in the space. As a queer artist, Petrov is also interested in how bodies relate to social norms, expectations and established frameworks.

His work often moves between the beautiful and the ugly, the comfortable and the uncomfortable, with an interest in what happens when these boundaries become less distinct.

Petrov’s previous works include Pardon, Petals, Panser and VEGGEN.