In Whiteout, choreographer Geir Hytten invites the audience to physically experience climate anxiety.

Hytten himself experiences climate anxiety, and this forms the backdrop of Whiteout. Together with musician Kristoffer Lislegaard and dancers Jens Jeffrey Trinidad and Emilie Marie Karlsen, he explores how uncertainty about the climate crisis can be experienced physically.

Living with Uncertainty

Whiteout is the second part of a trilogy exploring the phenomenon of affect – how emotions and states arise between bodies, outside the body, and within the body. In Whiteout, the focus is on affect outside the body, using the climate crisis as a starting point.

Photo: Tale Hendnes

“Whiteout focuses on the climate question: how do we navigate the climate future when we don’t know how to address it? Should we build wind turbines, drive electric cars, and build large dams to produce energy? We present different directions without necessarily following them through. In a way, we never land – we remain in uncertainty,” says Hytten, who also performs in the piece.

The premiere took place at Dansens Hus on 27 November 2025. The ensemble now visits DansiT and Rosendal Teateron Friday 13 March at 19:00.

“Unsexy Politics”

Parts of this article are based on a podcast produced by Dansens Hus, as well as a conversation between Hytten and DansiT during a long drive. There, the choreographer admits that he – like many others – struggles with climate anxiety.

“What are we supposed to do? We don’t know what kind of future we are entering. That’s what makes it so difficult,” he says.

He is also critical of political decision-making that leaves little room for uncertainty.

“It’s unsexy in politics to say you don’t know. But I don’t think that’s a good way to lead. More voices need to be heard, because no one knows what the future will bring,” Hytten says.

Bittersweet optimism

Hytten hopes the audience will leave Whiteout with a physical response.

“I want the audience to feel the state we are in. The performance is a poetic reflection on the issue. Maybe you sit there holding your breath, imagining different ways of solving a physical problem. And then you exhale – left with a kind of bittersweet optimism.

All photos: Tale Hendnes