The Handmaid of Metamorphosis

Kitt Johnson, dancer, performer and choreographer (born 1959). Began dancing as a 24-year old, after 12 years as an elite athlete and an education in sports studies. Founded the company in 1992 along with the Swedish composer Sture Ericson.

Artistic Profile
She has been described as “the handmaid of metamorphosis,” and her style as “an amalgam of the styles of Kazuo Ohno crossed with Mary Wigman”. With sublime body control, she transforms herself in her solos into mythic/mystic creatures from another world that crawl under the viewer’s skin. This has made her one of the most internationally renowned and widely-touring Danish artists. She appeared in the New York Times’  top 10 list of the dance experiences of 2003.
Her unique idiom has developed through encounters with many different forms of expression, such as modern dance, contact improvisation, martial arts, German Expressionist theatre, shamanistic dance, and Japanese Butoh. 

The works are characterized by an intense search for the archetypical and a unique ability to create an interplay between dance, space, light, and sound.  Composer Sture Ericson’s characteristic music is always performed live, complemented by Mogens Kjempff’s lighting design.
Many of Kitt Johnson’s performances have been site-specific. Most of them have been produced as a member of the outstanding European artists network, Provinz Europa.
In recent years, she has begun doing ensemble choreographies that have reaped much renown for their rich diversity of scenic expression: including new circus, juggling, dance, theatre, lived mixed sound, text, video and slide projections.

Johnson is also a much sought-after and committed educator who sees teaching and workshops as an important contribution to the development of her own works.

Current Productions

Solo Works

Rankefod / Cirrepede
(2005)
An evolutionary work in celebration of the origin of the species. Concentrates specifically on uncovering the body’s evolutionary memory, beyond its physical reality.

Spejlet eller det der ånder i skyggen / The Mirror
(2002)
A performance about the human need to perceive oneself through journeys of mirrored reflections. Received the prestigious Danish Reumert Award.

Stigma
(1999)
A dark, enigmatic solo performance focusing on the brand (burned into the flesh) that places one apart from others. Sounds, lights, and movements create a dramatic and taut expression that appeals to the emotions and intrigues the intellect.

Ensemble Works

Palimpsest
(2006)          
A mapping of the two sides of the skin.  Focuses on the relationship between the human being as an organic whole and the surrounding world. Choreography with five dancers.
Premiered February 2006. Available for touring April – June 2009

The Lemonkeepers
(2004)
A visual chamber piece for three men, 221 lemons and a blue rope. Elements of dance, new circus, and theatre are included in the performance.
Available for touring October-December 2006

Site-specific work

Kitt Johnson has mounted up to 30 site-specific performances at such spectacular localities as a limestone quarry, a water tower, public bathhouses, streets and alleys.  Contact the company for more information about the possibilities for site-specific performances.

Review Extracts

“Rare is the choreographer who can say a great deal with very little … Johnson knows how to fashion something original out of Expressionism’s distortions of the body … Evoking an enlightened ideal before compressing her body into shrivelled mortality: an intense dance, intensely performed.”
New York Times (US), The Mirror

“A masterpiece on stage. Huge bravura, a lot of atmosphere, deep emotion. The plasticity of the body, the perfection of the gestures and the absolute harmony between sound and movement fused into the most excellent artistic expression.”
La Paginaquattro (IT), Stigma

“A fascinating loner in Danish dance; her body, a perfectly tuned instrument. Simultaneously she performs both meditatively and intensely and it is this tactile, corporeal experience her dance brings to the audience. It strikes a chord in all of us.”
Politiken (DK), Rankefod

“Superbly skilled performers … Beckett with a dash of Dada … Danish choreographer Kitt Johnson is an ace at wringing more from less.”
National Post (CA), The Lemonkeepers

International Tours

2007
August:
Edingburgh Fringe Festival (Edinburgh/UK)
Bellone Brigittines (Brussels/BE)
The Nordic House (Thorshavn/The Faroe Islands)
Maqamat Theatre Dance (Beirut/Libanon.

2006
Ooppera (Helsinki/FI)
Festival de la nouvelle danse d’Uzés (Uzés/FR)
Porsgrunn Internasjonale Teaterfestival (Porsgrunn/NO)
Dancehouse, (Melbourne/AU)
International Mime Square Festival (Aarschot/BE)

2005
London International Mime Festival (London/UK)
European Theatre Festival (Torino/IT)
Opera de Lille (Lille/FR)
euro-scene (Leipzig/DE)
Crossroads 2005 (Warsaw/PL)