Projects and collaborations
We like to collaborate. Local partners include the Umeå Theater Association and the Ballet Academy. Regional and national partners are Norrland’s network for musical theater and dance, Music and Theater in the Inland of Lapland, and the tour network Dance Net Sweden. Below you can find more about current projects and collaborations.
Up North
Up North is an initiative by Norrlandsoperan that, together with other actors, highlights street culture in Västerbotten. Up North serves as a platform for street culture in our northern region. Every May, Norrlandsoperan organizes the biggest battle in northern Sweden – the Up North Battle.
Attitudes (EU)
Within the EU project Attitudes, we take the lead in developing new hip hop productions. The project includes a series of workshops open to everyone, aligning with our vision to make dance accessible to all. Attitudes plays a crucial role in strengthening the ties between creativity and community engagement, emphasizing the importance of dance as a force for inclusion and participation.
Attitudes – Hip Hop Across Europe
Part of Creative Europe and co-funded by the European Union.
Aerowaves (Internationell partner)
Through the collaboration with Aerowaves, we gain access to international exchange and the opportunity to present leading European contemporary dance. This partnership reinforces our role as a key player on the international dance scene and facilitates a rich cultural exchange that enriches both artists and audiences.
People Power Partnership
People Power Partnership illustrates our commitment to bringing together the audience and the world of dance. Through a wide range of activities such as workshops, residency showings, and dance camps, we create meaningful experiences that blur the lines between stage and spectator. These initiatives offer the audience a unique chance to not only be spectators but also active participants in the art of dance.
The project’s website
Performance at Norrlandsoperan on May 6, 2023
Alva kultur
In collaboration with Alva kultur, a cultural center at the university hospital in Umeå, Norrlandsoperan strives to enrich the everyday lives of patients, relatives, and staff. This new and long-term partnership means that we provide smaller opera, music, and dance productions, not only at Norrland’s University Hospital in Umeå but also in the Skellefteå and Lycksele regional hospitals.
Rail2Dance
Imagine a railway station, a train platform, a square, or a public transport stop. How do you behave in these places? How do you move, stand, and what do you do?
The Rail2Dance project is based on human behavioral codes in public spaces. Through choreography and playful activities, the project’s dancers transform the prevailing rules of behavior. With new movements, they not only highlight the unspoken rules of body language but also question the meaning of community and shed light on environments where we often pass each other by without notice.
The Rail2Dance project is a collaboration between Die Theater Chemnitz in Germany, PTL – Plesni Teater Ljubljana / Dance Theatre Ljubljana in Slovenia, Tanssiteatteri MD in Finland, and Norrlandsoperan in Sweden. The project is co-funded by the European Union’s Creative Europe Program.
Arctic Music Circles
Arctic Music Circles is a three-year project aimed at creating opportunities to further strengthen musical collaboration in northern Sweden, Finland, and Norway. The project will actively work to enhance and showcase the region’s cultural heritage in the field of music.
Artists with Sámi and minority backgrounds, alongside musicians from other cultures, will collaborate on world music productions that will tour festivals, concert halls, and schools in the region.
The EU-funded collaboration is spearheaded by Norrlandsoperan along with Norrbottensmusiken, the Municipality of Oulu, the Municipality of Vaasa, Scene Nord in Tromsø, Musik i Nordland, and the Northern Norwegian Jazz Center. Together, these organizations form circles to share music and performing arts across national borders.
