11.09.2020 - Leo Preston & Owen Weaver

Weaver & Preston perform live soundtracks to two new dance films choreographed by Malin Nøss Vangsnes and thud! moving endangered spaces.

Last year Owen Weaver performed an Audioglimt concert with 12 very different soundtracks to 12 different short films by various artists that he has worked with throughout his career. It was a magical evening and it drove home the potential of creating an Audioglimt where the film is as new and local as the live soundtrack.

It so happens that Owen lives with the dancer/choreographer Malin Nøss Vangsnes, so we asked if they would like to join forces with History Disposal Unit (Leo Preston and Veronica Robles Thorseth) to create this new double bill (two brand-new dance films with sound-tracks performed by two musicians) and they accepted!

In the early 2000’s Leo Preston discovered the joys of cutting contemporary dance footage to funk and hip hop grooves, showing the results at “old Wrap” and on the official Day of Dance DVD’s produced by Wrap and Bergen Dansesenter. When he heard Owen and Malin listening to New Orleans funk legends, The Meters, he knew this collaboration was a good idea. Though funk might not be the most dominant genre in this performance (English understatement), rhythmical electric guitar (Preston) and drums (Weaver) are a point of departure!

Doors open at 19.00. Concert begins at 20.00.

The bar is open before and after the concert.

The films are:

Freshly Washed Eyes by thud! moving endangered spaces.

The second version of a series of works deriving from the same inspiration: A reflection on her work by sculptor Ambrosia Tønnesen from an interview in Morgenbladet in 1939.

Concept, dance and movement: M. Veronica L. Robles Thorseth

Camera: Øystein Nesheim

Post production: M. Veronica L. Robles Thorseth

Post production consultant: Leo Preston

Nacht [ feminine ] by Malin Nøss Vangsnes and Maximilian Großmann. (starting time above 25:05)

A short description of the film is as follows: woman, gestures, POTUS, fuck you, put on make-up and carry on.

Choreography & dance: Malin Nøss Vangsnes

Costumes: Malin Nøss Vangsnes og Patricia Carolina Langeland

Film: Maximilian Großmann

Owen Weaver first came to Bergen with a fugazi-inspired noise opera with the theatre group Object Collection in 2016 (Borealis festival). Since then he has continued to be involved in projects of all shapes and sizes in Bergen and around the world, with a host of critically acclaimed performances and recordings behind him.

Leo Preston is an interdisciplinary artist and multi-instrumentalist that has played with various local bands and musicians. He has composed and done sound design for various performances, perhaps most notably those of his own company (in the period 2003 - 2012) which featured spoken word over heavy grooves.

Malin Nøss Vangsnes is an active dancer, choreographer and teacher in Bergen’s independent dance scene. She trained at Laban Conservatory of Music and Dance and has worked with various projects internationally, such as SQx Dance Company with whom she has toured extensively in Canada.

Mai Veronica Lykke Robles Thorseth is from Peru and Norway. She is an interdisciplinary dance artist, alias thud! moving endangered spaces. She also co-founded and works with the project Wrap Arts Centre. She studied at The Laban Centre of Movement and Dance, University of Bergen and  Academy of Art and Design in Bergen. She works as a curator, performer and artist with dance installation and endangered spaces - space as both a physical place, situations and incidents.

Mer om filmen Nacht [ feminine ]:

Inspirert av Charlotte Gyllenhammars verker Night,

Descend og Night, Ascend (2014), formidler

danseren historien om å være fanget  som kvinne, i

kvinnekroppen, om kvinnen ved hjelp

av gester. Fanget eller beskyttet av lag av stoff

som representerer, det romantiske, eventyraktige og

feminine ved kvinnen -som kveler oss, som styrker

oss, som definerer oss.

I dagens politiske klima hvor kvinners rettigheter

atter en gang ikke bare er under angrep, men

POTUS selv har en enkel løsning på hvordan

håndtere oss, og selv her i Norge er rettigheter vi trodde

var sikre på stadig gyngende grunn,

må vi igjen bruke kunsten til å

formidle det som dessverre er foreviget -det annet

kjønn er ennå det andre; mindre og verdiløst.

Ved å bruke gester og utforske mulighetene film og dans gir, vil jeg jobbe

med kontraster, humor og det banale.

Left to right: Owen Weaver, Malin Nøss Vangsnes, Mai Veronica Lykke Robles Thorseth & Leo Preston. Watch the concert on Youtube.