Physical, poetic, insistent
DATE: Nov 23
TIME: 19.30
DATE: Nov 24 november
TIME: 18.00
DURATION: 70 min
TICKETS
200:-
Supporting members/
DanscentrumSyd member:
150:-
Student/Senior/Under 26 years:
100:-
Hagar Malin Hellkvist Sellén is a choreographer renowned for creating works that are both timely and deeply engaging. Throughout her career, she has explored a wide range of themes, including working-class heritage, queer life stories, dance band culture, the inherent poetry of movement, and the difficulty of letting go. Her work is distinguished by a constant curiosity about the endless possibilities of choreography.
Hellkvist Sellén’s new work, Driv Hunger, is a standalone continuation of Tiden det tar, which premiered in 2023. Like its predecessor, Driv Hunger takes movement as its point of departure, following it to discover where it leads. Rather than adopting the language of the written word, the work highlights choreography’s own unique capacity for communication.
Without a predetermined concept, Hellkvist Sellén and her dancers enter the creative process with open and inquisitive minds. Together, they transform the floor into a space for both physical and philosophical exploration. Rooted in trust in the craft itself, the choreographic landscape and the work’s other forms of expression gradually emerge. The result is a poetic act of resistance through movement, challenging the contemporary demands of measurement, efficiency, and distance in an increasingly quantified world.
In Driv Hunger, Swedish dancer Elin Hallqvist performs alongside Norwegian dancer Pernille Holden, who has appeared in several of Hellkvist Sellén’s previous works.
The title Driv Hunger is borrowed from a work by graphic artist Lina Nordenström.
Driv Hunger will have its world premiere on 13 November 2026 at Norrlandsoperan in Umeå, and will also be performed on 14 November, followed by a tour with Dansnät Sverige.
This year marks 20 years since Hellkvist Sellén premiered Better people — her first co-production with Norrlandsoperan and Dansnät Sverige — adding an extra sense of anniversary celebration to this premiere. Better people became a groundbreaking work that has influenced many subsequent generations of dance artists.
Hagar Malin Hellkvist Sellén
Choreographer
Hagar Malin Hellkvist Sellén is a Swedish choreographer with roots in Västerbottenin the northen part of Sweden, where she has been living and working for the past two years after many years based in Stockholm. Last year, she premiered her choreographed exhibition Vi rör oss mot slutet (We Move Towards the End), which is her most extensive work to date, lasting nearly six hours. For three weeks, visitors at Västerbottens Museum in Umeå could experience the exhibition’s choreographic immersion. We Move Towards the End was selected for the Swedish Performing Arts Biennial, which took place in Östersund.
For two decades, Hellkvist Sellén has been a powerful voice in contemporary choreography. Early on, she introduced queer perspectives, themes, and expressions into dance art, and through her works, she has both challenged and embraced audiences. Each piece seeks its own unique format, moving between thematic deep dives, documentary storytelling, and poetic physicality. She has created works for dancers, actors, and individuals with no prior stage experience. Through her work, Hellkvist Sellén redefines the boundaries of what is possible.
Born in 1978, Hellkvist Sellén trained in choreography at the University College of Dance (now Stockholm University of the Arts). Among her most acclaimed works are Bättre folk (Better People), Rosa löften (Pink Promises), Missionären (The Missionary), and Flottarkärlek (Raftsman’s Love), where she has highlighted themes such as lesbians within revivalist movements, physical labor, and Swedish folk culture. She has toured both nationally and across the Nordic region, and her works have been presented at venues such as Dansens Hus, MDT, Dansstationen, and Norrlandsoperan, among others. Hellkvist Sellén has received several awards, including the Swedish Theatre Critics’ Dance Prize and the IRIS Prize from the Swedish Directors’ Association.
CREDITS
Concept: Hagar Malin Hellkvist Sellén
Dancers: Pernille Holden, Elin Hallqvist
Choreographer: Hagar Malin Hellkvist Sellén in collaboration with the dancers
Costume Design: Hagar Malin Hellkvist Sellén
Composer: Anna Levander
Lighting Design: to be confirmed
Producer: Nadja Nilsson and Anne Koutonen
Production: Hagar Malin Hellkvist Sellén
Co-production: Norrlandsoperan, Dansnät Sverige
Produced with the support of The Swedish Arts Council
Photo: Elin Berge
World Premiere on November 13, 2026 at Norrlandsoperan in Umeå
Touring with Dansnät Sverige in autumn 2026.
