Hotel Pro Forma 2022

2022 

Performance art as an 

investigation of the world

Hotel Pro Forma 

Artistic investigator 

Hotel Pro Forma is an international 

production house and a meeting place 

for cross-disciplinary artistic work. The 

main focus is large scale performing 

arts projects, aiming to challenge different 

approaches to both the creation and 

the experience of performing arts. 

Hotel Pro Forma is recognized for a 

genre-wide and innovative work in 

the fields of opera, performing arts 

and in stallation, which transcends the 

bounda ries between visual arts, text, 

music, theater, design and architecture. 

Hotel Pro Forma works with universal 

themes in conceptual, visual and musical 

set tings, applying the latest technology 

and artistic innovation. 

Hotel Pro Forma is a researcher of performing 

arts. The artistic work is like 

a set of binoculars looking into microscopic 

matter and out on the grand 

universe. A framing of existence, with 

time being of the essence. Hotel Pro 

Forma discusses and depicts the future 

and the past, and not least, the challenges 

of our time. In season 2021/22

AVAILABLE FOR TOURING 

Photo: Andreas Sommer 

Rachmaninov Troika, 2015, La Monnaie, Brussels, Belgium 

we dive curiously into the authorship of 

the acclaimed Danish author Helle Helle 

and present the monologue ‘At the intersection, 

they get at new sofa’, based 

on her novel ‘they’ from 2018. 

In 2022/23 we present a new huge 

experimental museum work which 

examines the discovery of electromagnetism, 

the scientific golden age, 

and the phenomenon of electricity in 

collaboration with the National Gallery 

of Denmark. 

At the intersection, 

they get a new sofa (2022) 

Electricity (2023) 

“The director of the year never repeats 

herself. And yet, one only has to watch 

one minute of a performance to recognize 

this artist’s fingerprints.” 

- From speech for Directors’ award, 

2021


Operation:Orfeo 

A visual opera in three movements 

Underworld Trilogy #3 

Drawing on the myth of Orpheus and 

Eurydice the performance is a musical 

work that uses the basic principles of 

the visual arts to create metaphysical 

images and sounds of incredible 

beauty. 

Photo: Roberto Fortuna 

ascent into the land of the living, and 

following the loss of Eurydice comes 

the light of part three like memory laid 

bare. The performance is as simple as a 

surgical incision and as complicated as 

major surgery. 

Music by John Cage is combined with 

compositions by Bo Holten to reconceptualise 

the operatic genre. The 

libretto by Ib Michael is a sensuous 

flow of words performed as symphonic 

a capella singing. 

The myth is employed as a dramaturgic 

sequence in three parts: The darkness 

of part one reflects the descent 

of Orpheus into the land of the dead, 

the dim light of part two refers to the 

Thirteen singers from the Latvian 

Radio Choir and one dancer manoeuvre 

throughout the performance on a 

never-ending staircase, completing the 

tableaux of a truly unforgettable work. 

“One of the most epoch-making performances 

of recent years… it proves to 

be nothing short of a modern classic.“ 

Politiken (DK)

MUSIC BY JOHN CAGE, BO HOLTEN, CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD GLUCK 

Duration 

80 minutes 

Cast and crew 

23 persons (15 on stage) 

Performed in Danish and 

English with surtitles 

Co-production 

Latvian Radio Choir 


Set-up 

1 st performance on 2 nd day 

Min. stage dimensions 

width: 8m at proscenium 

18m on stage 

height: 7m at proscenium 

12m to grid 

depth: 12m from 

proscenium 

World premiere 

2 September 1993, 

Festival Week Aarhus 

Repremiere 


Latvian National Opera 

2 June, 2021 

Royal Danish Theatre, Cph, 

and The Concert Hall of 

Aarhus, DK


At the intersection, 

they get a new sofa 

“At the intersection, they get a new 

sofa. It’s for sale used, but it’s not 

used. It is in red velour with fringes. 

They put it in front of the window, a rat 

gets lost under the fringes. It comes 

from the hotel, her mother chases it 

out. But from now on they will sleep 

with shovels”. 

- From the novel ´they´, 2018 by author 

Helle Helle. 

‘At the intersection, they get a new 

sofa’ is based on excerpts from award 

winning Danish auther Helle Helle’s 

critically acclaimed novel ‘they’. The 

performance is a monologue placed 

in a very simple scenography consisting 

of 50 LED light bars, 3 m high. ‘At 

the intersection’ is a sensuous performance 

created as a memory machine 

with images of light, video, music, and 

sound images. 

A young woman walks around a forest 

of glowing LED bars. She relives her 

life, not chronologically but in fragments. 

Her memories are evoked as 

text, light, colors, images, and sounds. 

The individual scenes in the performance 

are moments that take place in 

the main character’s consciousness. 

The memory of her and her mother’s 

life fills everything, and we never see 

where the main character is located 

now, some years after when the 

mother is dead. 

Direction and dramaturgy by Kirsten 

Dehlholm and Marie Dahl, LED bars 

by the artist collective VERTIGO, AI 

by VERTIGO and Ole Kristensen and 

sound work by Kristian Hverring.

Duration 

80 minutes 

Performed in Danish or 

English (please contact 

Hotel Pro Forma re. 

language) 

Cast and crew 


Set-up 

1st performance on 2nd 

day 

Co-production and 

collaboration 

‘At the intersection’ is 

created in co-production 

with Aalborg Theater in 

collaboration with 

Aveny-T. 


width: 10m 

height: 4,5m 

depth: 9m 


March 26, 2022 

Aalborg Theater, DK


NeoArctic 

12 Songs. 12 Soundscapes. 12 Landscapes. 1 Planet. 

Photo: Andreas Sommer 

Hotel Pro Forma and Latvian Radio 

Choir continue the award-winning collaboration 

in this visual music performance. 

The first cruise ship has already left on 

its journey via the North West Passage. 

The rest of us will soon follow as the 

eco-tourists of the New World, loaded 

with equipment to record nature’s wonders 

and to map geological, biological 

and climatic changes. Nature’s Titanic 

is well under way. 

We have entered the Anthropocene, a 

new geological age defined by human 

disturbance of the eco-system to an 

unprecedented extent. Humanity has 

become a ‘natural force’, causing rapid, 

violent changes to the planet. 

The diversity in scale and nature of the 

highly dynamic changes the planet is 

undergoing is vast: Climate changes, 

soil erosion, urbanisation, digitalisation 

of all areas of life, a loss of biological 

species, etc. all characterise the new 

age. This is the complex point of departure 

for NeoArctic. Based on thorough 

research and artistic developmental 

work, the performance is a disturbingly 

beautiful journey into the future age of 

the Anthropocene. 

Text for NeoArctic written by Sjón (IS). 

Music by Andy Stott (GB) and Krists 

Auznieks (LV).

♥♥♥♥♥“The experience is 

intense and meaningful.” 

Politiken (DK) 

“...one of the 

most successful and wellprepared 

performances I 

have ever seen.” 

Ungt Teaterblod (DK) 

“Mercilessly beautiful.” 

Information (DK) 

Duration 

80 minutes 

Performed in English with 

surtitles 

Cast and crew 


Set-up 

1st performance on 2nd 

day 



10,5m flying height 

width: 10m at proscenium 

15m backstage 

depth: 14m from front of 

stage to rear wall 

9m from first fly 

bar to rear wall 

Co-production 

Hotel Pro Forma and 



26 Aug. 2016, Riga, 

Latvia 

Danish premiere 

15 Sept. 2016, 

Copenhagen


War Sum Up 

Music.Manga.Machine. 

A highly original work of scenic and 

operatic art. 12 singers and a remarkable 

stage design give a powerful visual 

and musical impression of the nature 

of war. The depiction of war is told by 

three main characters: the soldier, the 

warrior and the spy. Their transformation 

from battle to death or liberation 

is seen and heard. Manga drawings 

are the visual storytellers in XL format. 

They show how man becomes a machine, 

a war machine. 

WAR SUM UP blends various musical 

expressions and styles. New composed 

music by British The Irrepressibles 

and Latvian composer Santa Ratniece 

combines chamber pop and electronic 

music with an unearthly soundscape. 

“This extraordinary production from 

Denmark-based company Hotel Pro 

Forma is an example of how opera is 

being redefined, leaving old-fashioned 

opera companies struggling to keep up. 

... Everything about this production has 

the stamp of originality, honesty and 

dramatic insight without any gratuitous 

gimmickry. The result is completely 

engrossing, and the singing sublime.” 

The Advertiser (AUS) 

“Painfully beautiful.” 

Politiken (DK) 

Photo: Gunars Janatitis 

Performed by Latvian Radio Choir.

“..a fantastic work of art 

that both provokes, makes 

you think and works on a 

story-telling level. A seldom 

experience, a pearl, 

totally unique..” Gaffa (DK) 

“It breaks new ground… 

melds into a powerfully 

lush, immersive soundscape…Gorgeously 

composed.” 

Bachtrack (UK) 

“Just the kind of thing that 

could get adventuresome 

opera lovers thinking 

and talking. Gorgeously 

sung…” New York Times 

(US) 

Duration 

80 minutes 

Performed in Japanese 

with local surtitles 

Performers 

12 singers from Latvian 

Radio Choir 

Cast and crew 


Set-up 

1 st performance on 2 nd 

day 



10m flying height 

width:10m at proscenium 

16m backstage 

depth:14m from front of 

stage to rear wall, 

13m from first 

flybar to rear wall 




Co-production 




Touring the world since 

2011

Photo: Karoline Lieberkind 

Amduat. An Oxygen Machine 


AMDUAT. An oxygen machine examines 

our relationship with death and its 

rituals by putting ancient stories into a 

contemporary perspective. The word 

Amduat means “what is in the underworld” 

and represents the ancient 

Egyptian understanding of the land of 

the dead. 

The performance fusions vividly auditive, 

visual, and performative elements, 

and is created for long black box 

spaces. On the wide stage, six dancers, 

one performer, a boy, and a DJ mix the 

settings of an Egyptian burial chamber 

and a Danish hospital. 

Interacting with sculptural elements 

and objects, video, light, laser and 

soundscapes, two worlds and time 

periods meet in one tale of death and 

grief. 

The text origins from Amduat. An oxygen 

machine, in which contemporary 

Danish writer Harald Voetmann merges 

the ancient Egyptian story of Ra the 

sun god’s journey to the underworld 

with the contemporary experience of 

loss when the author’s father died of 

pneumonia in a Danish hospital. 

Music and sound is created by DJ 

Hari Shankar Kishore, composer Marie 

Højlund and sound artist Kristian 

Hverring.

Duration 

90 minutes 

Performed in English 

Cast and crew 


Set-up 

1 st performance on 2 nd day 

Co-production 

Hotel Pro Forma and 

Østerbro Teater 


height: 5 m 

width: 24-28 m + 3 m 

side stage to both sides 

depth: 5,5 m 


1 June, 2021 

Østerbro Teater, 

Copenhagen, DK 

Teater Republique 

“A knife is a door 

A door is an hour 

Your life is a stream 

And your bed is a boat 

You rest in the barge 

that will ferry the ancient 

Egyptian sun god 

from night towards day“ 

- Harald Voetmann

Gilgamesh 


GILGAMESH is a site-specific performance 

created for antique museum 

spaces and based on the epic of Gilgamesh 

– the world’s oldest tale. 

In interaction with performers and musicians 

and surrounded by antique classical 

sculptures and 66 contemporary 

sculptures created by Hotel Pro Forma, 

we are led on a musical and theatrical 

walk into the story of Gilgamesh, 

a major king in ancient Mesopotamian 

mythology. 

Arrogance and cruelness characterize 

king Gilgamesh until the gods send him 

the untamed man Enkidu with whom 

he fights and vows eternal friendship 

while Gilgamesh’s mother Ninsumun 

adopts him as her own. 

Photo: Ditte Valente 

The grief of the death of Enkidu changes 

Gilgamesh. The loss of his friend torments 

him, he wants to conquer death 

and seeks eternal life. 

The epic of Gilgamesh is more than 

4.000 years old, but still it mirrors eternal 

human problems. The text is a new 

translation of the original cuneiform, 

transformed poetically for 2019. 

The music is created and performed 

live by the award-winning FIGURA Ensemble 

and the text is conveyed by an 

actor, a rapper and a performer. 

“… The final scene reminding of the 

great flood, was so strong that everyone 

had to stand still. While the music 

slowly took over and an endless melody 

of grief faded in the sound of drum 

beats. Like when the heart stops.” 

Dixikon (SE)

“A unique experience! 

Totally different on 

all parameters... The 

costumes and sculptures 

were all unique works 

of art and had a great 

expression both from a 

distance and close up. 

The inclusion of a rapper 

(red. Manus Bell) of this 

particular league was really 

impressive – it added 

an unique presence and 

atmosphere.” 

An audience menber (DK) 

Duration 

90 minutes 

Performed in English or 

German 

Cast and crew 


Set-up 

1st performance on 3rd 

day 

Co-production 

Hotel Pro Forma and Ny 

Carlsberg Glyptotek 

Stage requirements 

Classical antique collection, 

several (min. 10) en 

suite or adjacent rooms 

Sound design 

Facilities ready for sound 

set-up incl. hanging 

speakers approx. every 

3 m, amplifiers, cabling, 

etc. 


4 April, 2019 

Glyptoteket, Copenhagen 

DK

Opera staging 

Hotel Pro Forma is increasingly developing 

contemporary stagings of classic 

and new opera works. Our unique 

conceptual approach is in great demand 

from performing arts institutions and 

opera houses. Our work is carried out 

as commissions or as co-productions. 

Recent collaborators include Latvian 

National Opera, La Monnaie Opera in 

Brussels, Nationaltheater Mannheim. 

Our next opera staging is Pelleas & 

Melisande at The Hungarian State 

Opera, Budapest, premiering February 

25, 2022. 

“In an effectively functional interaction 

between orchestra, soloists and the 

powerful female choir and boy choir the 

most powerful moments arise to form 

an overall, moving gesamtkunstwerk. 

It is impossible not to get gooseflesh 

in such passages, of which there are 

several.” 

Die Rheinpfalz, Germany 

(Vespertine, 2018) 

”There is no realism, psychological intrigue 

or unnecessary unrest in Kirsten 

Dehlholm’s staging, but rather a visual, 

formal score, an emotional piece of 

music, which opens up the field and 

unleashes the frames of interpretation” 

- Le Soir, Belgium 

(Rachmaninov Troika, 2015)

Madama Butterfly, 2017, La Monnaie / De Munt, Bruxelles, Belgium, Photo: Baus

How Hotel Pro Forma works 

Hotel Pro Forma’s work is strongly 

linked to the artistic method, which we 

apply in all our productions. 

Hotel Pro Forma develops artistic 

concepts in an extensive research process 

that often lasts for several years, 

exceeding art, genres, subjects, disciplines, 

industries and national borders. 

Our work is a continuous artistic investigation 

of the world and the practical 

application of new technology. An 

investigation which benefits through 

strong collaboration and co-creation 

with partners and artists, creating new 

artistic innovation together. 

Aligned with our project development 

processes, Hotel Pro Forma runs a host 

of activities that challenge and renew 

the artistic creation process and explore 

the possibilities of using new technologies 

in performing arts. 

We invite artists – both experienced 

and young upcoming people – to play 

and work with us in exploring new 

technological and artistic instruments. 

The interaction between our project 

development and our artistic partners

Navigare, 1996. Photo: Roberto Fortuna 

and interns has proven indispensable 

as a dynamic and creative contribution 

to Hotel Pro Forma’s vivid production 

environment. 

Through interdisciplinary workshops, 

projects and contributions to our artistic 

development, one ambition with the 

exchanges is to qualify and create 

consistency across Hotel Pro Forma’s 

artistic work. 

productions and our multi-artistic approach 

to performing arts. 

We collaborate with different partners 

on development, exchange or research 

projects. On occasion, our production 

office space in Copenhagen hosts activities 

that present our interdisciplinary 

work methods to a wider public. 

Our work is focusing on exploring the 

meeting between art and technology, 

combined with artistic research based 

on Hotel Pro Forma’s current and future

Partners and funding 2022

The One Who Whispers, 2012. Photo: Claudi Thyrrestrup

Artistic Director 

Kirsten Dehlholm 

Manager 

Ulla Katrine Friis 

International representation 

Quaternaire 

CultureLink 

M.O.ving Arts 


Tomsgårdsvej 19, st.th 

2400 Copenhagen NV 

Denmark 

t. +45 32 54 02 17 

mail@hotelproforma.dk 

hotelproforma.dk 

facebook.com/hotelproforma 

twitter.com/hotelproforma 

instagram.com 

Watch videos of Hotel Pro 

Forma’s productions on 

vimeo.com/hotelproforma

Hotel Pro Forma 2022

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