{"id":24066,"date":"2025-04-09T15:09:29","date_gmt":"2025-04-09T13:09:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/norrlandsoperan.se\/forestallningar\/works-and-days\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T15:54:26","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T13:54:26","slug":"works-and-days","status":"publish","type":"event","link":"https:\/\/norrlandsoperan.se\/en\/programme\/works-and-days\/","title":{"rendered":"Works and Days"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Gunilla Heilborn’s own universe<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Gunilla Heilborn is one of Sweden’s most active choreographers with a long career and a number of acclaimed performances, films and TV productions behind her. In 2024, she was awarded the Swedish Theatre Critics’ Dance Prize for her performance Dante<\/em>. Gunilla’s performances are in a universe of their own. As a kind of personal archaeological excavation where a mixture of text and movement, philosophical subtleties and a peculiar sense of humour are the cornerstones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A grand and messy choreographic investigation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In Works and Days<\/em> , experiences from a trip to ancient Greece are mixed with fragments of a fifteen-year-old performance. With humour and seriousness, Gunilla Heilborn makes an attempt to find out how all the detached episodes she has collected are connected and whether it is really possible to understand the world better by reading both the Iliad and the Odyssey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Works and Days<\/em> consists of two parts. In one, we are met by grand tableaux with names such as “A place that is terrible in winter, hard in summer, never pleasant”<\/em> and “The Rose-fingered dawn<\/em>“. Through fog, haze and music, two dancers move; let’s call them Scoty-eyed Sophie and Many-worded Ludvig. With fleeting ease, they stroll across the stage and ask questions to themselves and to the audience. Do you get seasick easily? Would you describe me as a typical Renaissance person? That I have many strings to my bow? Do you know what it feels like to drift around in a ship frozen in the ice? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the second part, Heilborn herself navigates through previous works in search of a beginning. Based on the stories of the ancient poets, a recent trip to Greece and her previous production This is not a love story<\/em> from 2011, she tries to see if it is possible to link one event to another or if it is perhaps the lack of logic that characterizes everything we do. She draws up lists of ships that have sailed across the seas and of what has been done or should have been done. The essence of the work is its chaotic structure, but a number of things recur in the two parts; the travel and what we remember of what we have been through. As well as the question of whether it is possible to know what should be done on which days and why. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The space, light and music play a major role in the performance and are performed by Heilborn’s long-time collaborators Katarina Wiklund, Minna Tiikkainen, M\u00e5rten Nilsson and Kim Hiorth\u00f8y.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Norrlandsoperan has previously staged several works by Gunilla Heilborn, including \u00c5tj\u00e4rn stories (2006), The Five-Year Plan (2009), This is not a love story (2014), The Knowledge (2016), The Book (2018) and Mercury (2022). Several of these have been produced in collaboration with Norrlandsoperan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Information<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Prices<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Dance Subscription<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This gem is part of our wonderful dance subscription for the 25\/26 season.

Would you also like to get priority access, exclusive perks, and discounts? Sign up for a dance subscription!
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<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/span>Learn more about subscriptions<\/span><\/a>\n\n\n\n
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Introduction & premiere mingle<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Friday 27\/2<\/strong>Premiere mingle from 18:00 with an introduction starting at 18:30.Saturday 28\/2 <\/strong>Introduction at 14:30.Location: The bistro in the foyer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Public Discussion<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Saturday 28\/2 <\/strong>Audience talk immediately after the performance.Location: The bistro in the foyer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Audio Description<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

At the performance on 28 February, audio descriptions are offered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NOTE! There is harmless smoke in the performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/span>Read more<\/span><\/a>\n\n\n\n

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“I am very fond of the title, which I have borrowed from a poem written 700 years BCE by the Greek poet Hesiod. Works and Days \u2013 that is exactly what life consists of. Our days and what we do during those days. The title can also be associated with the unique and temporary nature of the performing arts. The both fleeting and intense. How different a work is on different days and how a work changes with the passing of the days.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Gunilla Heilborn<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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