America – Visions of Love

When the company Winter guests packed their bags, (with Jean Baudrillard’’s “AMERICA” as their only travel guide), and began an eager crusade to “redeem” America and the Americans from themselves; they were un-consciously armed with prejudice and preconceptions.

Why does the whole world seem to be preoccupied with America and American culture? It seems an image, or movie exists in everybody’’s mind about what it is “America” is about.

They decided to grab a-hold of that. Of their assumptions, their love, loathing and prejudice against America, and make this a stage performance: directions for a movie that might be made about people making a performance about America.
Then everyone could take part: George, Geoff, Marilyn, Donna, Drew, Ronald, Phil, Syria, Lazlo, Richard and Becca, Dennis, Peg, Larry, Annette, Tom, and Tom – and Debbie – and everyone else that they either met with, came across, transcribed or invented on their scattered journey through “The New World”.

But the cross section they cut out of the vast landscape that is America is not just a distant flicker of memories on a dusty film projector – it is a collection of voices for “normalcy” in America today. Perhaps then, through these voices, America can speak for itself?

“Through the splintered view of our prejudice a series of characters for a play emerge from the transcripts – the Americans that we met. And they are coming out of their reality and onto the stage with us, or somehow finding their way into the screenplay that is our vision of America. – A vision of Love. But then, in the words of Peggy Lee, “Is that all there is?” Is that all there is… to America?” – Alan Lucien Øyen

Alan Lucien Øyen
Educated in 2001 with the state school for dance in Norway, Øyen went on to work for the Norwegian national company for contemporary dance, Carte Blanche, and also Pretty Ugly Dance Company, (with the American choreographer Amanda Miller). Øyen started choreographing in 2004 and has choreographed 11 pieces, (including three commissions), mainly co-produced by Carte Blanche and BIT-teatergarasjen. In 2006 Øyen funded the company Winter guests which is supported by the city of Bergen. Øyen has worked with some of Europe’s greatest and most experienced performers, among others Antony Rizzy, (dancer with William Forsythe for two decades); Kate Strong, (former member of Berliner Volksbühne) and with the upcoming piece “AMERICA”; West End director Andrew Wale.
Øyen’s works, often described as emotional and existential, consist of both text and dance – Øyen himself writes the texts. With the performance ”AMERICA – Visions of Love” Øyen is moving into a more theatrical expression working mainly with actors. At the same time Øyen is in 2009/2010 commissioned to do choreographic work for The Norwegian National Ballet and Iceland Dance Company. Øyen has won three first prizes for his work with choreography and his pieces are a part of the repertoire with Carte Blanche and Skånes Dansteater.