Dear CODA friends, thank you for an absolutely fantastic festival week!

Dear CODA friends. For over five days, the capital has been filled with inclusive, confusing, breathtaking, touching, intimate, precise and spectacular contemporary dance from early morning to late evening.

We have been dancing all night long at BLÅ with Siri & Snelle, watched galloping dancers in a 5-kilometer race, initiated exciting conversations at Dansens Hus and moved to tears at Den Norske Opera & Ballett.

… And then, suddenly, it’s over. One of the Nordic countries’ largest festivals for contemporary dance is over for now.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our supporters for following us.  These are exciting times  as we reflect on 2022 and focus on next year´s program.

This year’s artists, partners and audience have shown us what dance can be when we put diversity centre stage.

We would like to extend a special thanks to this year’s artists for their generosity and artistic integrity. Without you no festival. This year’s performances have in different ways, impressed the audience and left deep impressions.

We would like to thank our audience who have shown interest in this year’s CODA program. It is wonderful that so many of you have supported our vision of dance that is inclusive and boundless.

– We really had a brilliant audience this year. We experienced great interest in the programme, and it was almost sold out before the festival started, says festival director Stine Nilsen.

– We also had a more diverse audience than we have had before. It couldn’t have been more successful.

A big thank you to our partners Dansens Hus and Den Norske Opera & Ballett, who with their respective teams have given both the audience and the artists the very best reception and care.

And last but not least, thank you to this year’s CODA team.

– As festival director, I am incredibly grateful to work with such a dedicated team where everyone feels ownership of the festival we have created.. That’s what makes this festival so good!

A dance party of the rare kind

In the CODA name lies a will to be forward-thinking; since the beginning of the festival in 2002, we have been concerned with breaking boundaries and expanding the public’s perception of what dance can be. This year’s festival is no exception.

– Just think about the cascade of the 15 dancers from City Horses who galloped around the capital and almost created a traffic jam on Saturday! The audience not only had a chance  to witness the strength of the dancers, but also the people, the city and history in a new way. We were reminded of how art can make a statement about the pace we live in, says Nilsen.

During this year’s CODA festival, the audience had a chance to experience dance in different ways, both performatively but also communicatively, inclusively, and in conversation.

– For me as festival director, it is important that this year’s program accommodates all types of performance experiences; CODA is supposed to offer the public different ways of experiencing dance, and I truly believe we achieved our goal this year!

Great interest from the Norwegian press

The attention from the Norwegian press in connection with this year’s theme has also been an important milestone for us at CODA, and for the Norwegian dance field in general.

Both TV2 Nyheter and Dagsrevyen put a spotlight on our spectacular collaboration with the Norwegian Opera & Ballet – a project that explores bringing diversity on stage and the possibilities that exist in creating inclusive work together.

– It feels like we are riding a wave where the expression of diversity is expanding and moving. And right now, with our festival programme, it feels particularly relevant, says the festival director.

That is the big vision, continues Nilsen. She doesn’t want to talk about diversity as a special focus of the festival that makes for a special year. Diversity is a natural part of the programming in every festival, in every season.

– Diversity is what makes our festival relevant at all times, concludes Nilsen.

Thank you very much for this year, dear CODA-friends.

See you in 2023!

Thanks to Kulturrådet, Oslo kommune, Nordisk Kulturkontakt, Zamek, Iceland Liechtenstein Norway Grants, Norsk-finsk Kulturfond, Stiftelsen DAM, Den Norske ambassaden, Fritt ord, Den Norske Opera & Ballet, Dansens Hus, BLÅ, PRODA- profesjonell dansetrening, Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo, Høyskolen Kristiania og Sentralen.