We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ingeborg Kolstad. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ingeborg below.
Ingeborg, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
The most meaningful project I’ve ever worked on was choreographing and staging my piece “Styggen på ryggen.” It premiered professionally at the KODA Festival, hosted by IKADA Dance Company at the Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater in New York City in 2024.
As an immigrant dancer and choreographer from Norway, I’ve always been driven to explore and express the human thoughts and emotions that are so deeply connected to the often cold, dark, and quiet climate of the Norwegian landscape. “Styggen på ryggen” (which translates to “the devil on your shoulder”) really delves into this duality of the Nordic soul, where the extreme and often stark beauty of the nature can mask a depth of internal struggle and complex emotions.
The piece was inspired by the resilience of reindeer in harsh conditions, and the ethereal glow of the Northern Lights. The dancers move across the stage in a way that’s both independent and unified, reflecting the stark solitude and deep connections that characterize Norwegian culture. I used theatrical gestures and percussive elements, intertwined with very powerful movements, to evoke the raw emotions that I feel often simmer beneath the surface.
This piece was a personal exploration of the emotions I encountered moving across the world to continue to pursue my career as an artist so the whole process, with nine amazing dancers was very fulfilling. It was also an emotional experience to embody my own choreography as the lead dancer. It was as I channeled my own story through the dance and sucked the other dancers on stage into that world as well.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I am Ingeborg Kolstad, a Norwegian, New York City-based dancer, performer and choreographer. I graduated from Marymount Manhattan College with a BA in Dance and have performance experience from both stage and television. I am currently dancing with Threads of Truth Inc. under the artistic direction of Fatima Logan-Alston, and have previously performed works by Angie Pittman, Thryn Saxon, Alberto Del Saz etc.
As a choreographer, my works have been selected for numerous festivals and venues in New York City. I recently presented “Styggen på ryggen” at the KODA Festival at the Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater, “BERGTATT (Spellbound)” at the Emelin Theater, and “EKKO” at the Tank Theater. Other New York City venues include the Jack Crystal Theater, the Estonian House, the Norwegian Seamen’s Church etc. I have received numerous stipends and awards for my artistry, the most recent being the Engebrėt Stipend awarded by the Artist Association in Norway. I am also a member of Nordic Artists of New York and recently performed at their immersive performance “True North”.
Ingeborg Dance Works’ choreographic mission is to facilitate cultural exchange by exploring the universality of human emotions. My artistic vision explodes with motion and emotion, drawing inspiration from the climatic and folklore elements of my Nordic roots. By weaving together movement and stories from my heritage, I aim to reveal the raw essence of shared human experiences.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
In my own experience, even after finishing an Undergraduate degree in dance, I felt like I was lacking a lot of knowledge in regards the business sides of the industry. I think resources offering professional development should be more accesible: As artists, we’re often trained in our specific discipline, but not in the business side of things. Workshops, mentorship programs, and resources on marketing, fundraising, and legal issues would be incredibly helpful for me and many others to navigate the industry.
However, the most important thing the society could do for artists is to increase/continue funding for the arts. More funding would allow artists to focus on their craft, rather than constantly worrying about how to pay the bills. In Norway, there’s a strong system of government support for the arts, and I think the US could learn a lot from that model. We are all surrounded by art at all times, and artists have always been pushing social and political boundries, making us vital in the development of our world.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
A facet of vulnerability that I think might be hard for non-creatives to truly grasp is the constant exposure to subjective interpretation and judgment of something deeply personal. As a dancer and choreographer, when I put a piece out there, it’s not like presenting a spreadsheet or a data analysis. It’s an expression of an emotion and a story that has taken root within me and has been painstakingly brought to life through my body and the bodies of my dancers. It’s very intimate.
When someone watches my choreography, they’re not just seeing steps; they’re seeing a piece of my inner world made visible. And because dance is so open to interpretation – because each viewer brings their own experiences and perspectives – the meaning they take away might be completely different from what I intended.
That’s the vulnerable part. It’s like opening a window into your soul and knowing that anyone can look in and form their own opinion, and sometimes those opinions can feel incredibly personal, even if they’re just about the work itself.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ingeborgdanceworks.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ingeborgkolstad/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@IngeborgKolstad/videos
Image Credits
Mark Liflander, Nisa Tatum, Vibecke Dahle Dellapolla, Alix Angulo