Björn Säfsten - Lost Night

In Lost Night, Björn Säfsten approaches the feeling of loss. Using words, sound, songs and movement, dancers Sophie Augot, Alexander Gottfarb and Salka Ardal Rosengren pick up on their choreography and sing – with rigour as well as humour.

Three individuals gather in an undefined room to talk and listen to each other. Together they process the most diverse emotions in connection with loss and grief, thus trying to categorise their impressions, actions and thoughts. However, language is flawed and fragmented, which makes it difficult to listen properly and to know how to interact with each other – and yet, there is this huge, tenderly urgent shared desire to do just that. In Lost Night, dancers Sophie Augot, Alexander Gottfarb and Salka Ardal Rosengren let situations emerge like dreams; dreams in which the night is constantly present. Some emotions become bodies and wander away, others open a physical space as a vent. Björn Säfsten’s Lost Night explores ways to create meaning and ambiguity together by breaking open voices, movements, songs and texts. In his work process, the choreographer likes to shape characters he likes. Characters we would like to laugh with but who nevertheless fail in expressing themselves clearly. Composer Hans Appelqvist was present in the studio during the creation process and turned the dancers’ proposals into compositions.

Björn Säfsten is a choreographer based in Stockholm. In his artistic practice, he examines, dissects and reveals body and soul as well as the actions connected therewith. His focus is often on exploring how different patterns of thinking can change the ways we move. Björn Säfsten is the initiator and curator of the Within Practice contemporary dance festival at MDT in Stockholm.