ULF Kompani

ULF Kompani is a collaboration between dancer and choreographer Ulf Nilseng, scenographer and stage artist Corentin JPM Leven and composer and musician Amund Ulvestad. They met while working on the trilogy ULF Goes Religious (2018-2021), which was an exploration of homosexuality, religion and religious rituals, initiated by Ulf Nilseng. Together they create stage art of gay identities, gay aesthetics, and gay life. After the trilogy they have created the epilogue Golden Shower (2021), and the performance Turning Vinegar into Wine (2023). Alongside working with ULF, they all work on their own individual artistic trajectory.

Ulf Nilseng

Nilseng is a Norwegian dancer and choreographer based in Oslo. He started off as a dancer, working and touring both nationally and abroad with several influential choreographers in the years 1995 - 2010. In the same period, he created his first work, «Terrengløp» (1999), in collaboration with video artist Kai Rennes. In 2002, he founded the company TOYBOYS together with Terje Tjøme Mossige, and in the period 2002 – 2013, they created ten performances revolving around the term queer. Their performances were known for a mixture of humor and gravity, challenging the limits of normal behavior. The duo parted in 2013, both artists continuing to work with their own projects.

With Performance On Falling (2015) and Be-longing (2016), Ulf continues to explore the concept of queer, bringing forth a personal, imaginative and physical dance that investigates power, language, prejudice and the experience of being an outsider. The work underlines certain experiences connected to such things as the concept of falling, as in «Performance On Falling», and to be a part of, or not be a part of, a community, language, or a common space, like in «Be-longing».

In 2015 Ulf was granted funding from Arts Council Norway, to make a trilogy of dance, which explores the relation between queer and religion. The work «ULF goes Religious», consists of three parts and an epilogue. Part 1 Glory-Hole (2018) premiered in Bærum Kulturhus in Sandvika, Part 2 Brother-Making (2019) premiered at Multiplié Dance Festival in Trondheim, part 3 Psalm for a Slut (2021), was produced in 2021, but cancelled due to covid-19 restrictions, and will be presented at Dansens Hus, Oslo 10th - 13th of February 2022. The Epilogue, Golden Shower (2021) is presented at Bærum Kulturhus in Sandvika 12th - 14th of November 2021.