PROGRAMME
SERVICE
Mette Ingvartsen is a Danish choreographer and dancer. She began her studies in Amsterdam and Brussels in 1999, graduating from the performing arts school P.A.R.T.S. in 2004. Her first performance, Manual Focus (2003), was created while she was still studying. Her early works include 50/50 (2004), to come (2005), It’s in The Air (2008), and GIANT CITY (2009), performances that explore affect, perception, and sensation in relation to bodily representation. Mette's work is characterised by hybridity and seeks to expand choreographic practices by combining dance and movement with other fields such as visual art, technology, language, and theory.
A significant part of her artistic journey took place between 2009 and 2012, with The Artificial Nature Series, in which she focused on reconfiguring the relationships between human and non-human agency through choreography. The series includes three performances without human presence: evaporated landscapes (2009), The Extra Sensorial Garden (2011), and The Light Forest (2010). It also includes two works with human figures: Speculations (2011) and the group performance The Artificial Nature Project (2012). In contrast, her series The Red Pieces – which includes 69 positions (2014), 7 Pleasures (2015), to come (extended), and 21 pornographies (2017) – focuses on the history of human performance, particularly examining nudity, sexuality, and how the body has historically served as a site for political struggles.
In 2019, she premiered Moving in Concert, an abstract group choreography, that focuses on the interlacing between humans, technological tools and natural materials. In 2021 Mette presented two new projects: The Life Work, an in situ project with elderly people in the Ruhr region in Germany which addresses migration issues. Her new solo The Dancing Public (2021) was inspired by a fascination with historical dancing manias. In 2023, she premiered Skatepark, a large-scale performance for skaters, dancers, and local skatepark communities. At the beginning of 2024, she presented RUSH, a solo performance for Manon Santkin, which draws on their 20-year collaboration. Skatepark, a large-scale performance for skaters, dancers and local skatepark communities, premiered in 2023. And in the beginning of 2024, she presented RUSH, a solo performance for Manon Santkin that draws on 20 years of collaboration. The year 2025 brings two new creations: Delirious Night premieres at KFDA in May, followed shortly after by Choreomania, a graduation piece performed by 40 students from P.A.R.T.S.
Mette established her company in 2003 and her work has since then been shown throughout Europe, as well as in the U.S.A., Canada, Australia and Asia. She has been artist-in-residence at Kaaitheater in Brussels (2012–2016), at Volksbühne in Berlin, and associated to the APAP network.
She holds a PhD in choreography from Stockholm University of the Arts / Lund University. In addition to creating, performing, writing, and lecturing, her practice includes teaching and sharing research through workshops with students at universities and art schools. She has collaborated and performed with artists such as Xavier Le Roy, Bojana Cvejić, Jan Ritsema, and Boris Charmatz. Mette has also contributed to collective research projects like the artist platform EVERYBODYS (2005–2010), for which she co-edited its publications, as well as the educational project Six Months, One Location (2008) and the performative conference The Permeable Stage.
In 2024, Mette received the lifetime achievement award from the Danish Arts Foundation Statens Kunstfond). In 2025, Mette will present two new creations: Delirious Night, which premieres at KFDA in May, followed shortly by Choreomania, a graduation piece performed by 40 students from P.A.R.T.S.
2025
