Animalariums’ Constellations is a performing arts project that weaves together dance, gesture, language, song and yoik as forms of expression to process and create a resonant space for some of the most burning questions of our time – countdown, extinction, and who is allowed to dream and what can their dreams be? 

In the wake of rapid global climate change, polarizing political climate and a sense of hopelessness, Animalarium wants to connect experiences of humanity, care and empathy through its constellations and give an opportunity to reflect and relate to the world through the work’s questions and topics.

These performative constellations can be described as living cartography, sensory sculptures, and a contemporary ritual, where a collective narrative unfolds in real-time. Each performance is unique and guided by a performance host who, together with the audience, selects several topics. Only the host and the audience are aware of the choices made— the performers themselves do not know which topics they will bring to life. Once they enter the stage, the performers choose an unknown topic and, through the improvisational method of Choreo-Constellating, give it a bodily expression and a physical presence – through movement, language and voice.

In 2024 and 2025, Animalariums’ Constellations will journey to Norwegian Sápmi, Sweden, and Austria, including the Arctic landscapes of Guovdageaidnu and its indigenous Sámi community, the post-industrial site of Ställbergs gruva (a decommissioned iron ore mine), and the Future Farm at the edge of a growing Vienna. These sites shape the energy and focus of each performance through their social and ecological contexts. Creating a series of performances named Constellation #2, Constellation #3 and Constellation #4. These presentations will happening with the support of Perform Europe as part of the Animalariums´ Constellation project.

The first iteration, Constellation #1 Dawn obliges us to dream, was premiered at 3:e Våningen September 2024 and was created in the context of the coastal archipelago of Bohuslän.

Currently it is Liv Schellander and Alexandra Wingate who work with the Animalariums´ Constellations project. The idea was developed together with Lena Kimming (the third Animalarium member), but since fall of 2024 Kimming is on a break from her artist’s work.

Participating artists are Alexandra Wingate, Liv Schellander, Ina Dokmo, Elle Sofe Sara, Emma Elliane Oskal Valkeapää and Siri Anna Flensburg. The project is a collaboration between Animalarium, Elle Sofe Company, Ställbergs gruva, and WUK performing arts, with support from Perform Europe, Swedish Arts Grants Committee, Davvi – Center for Performing Arts, Dáiddadállu, 3:e Våningen, Scenkonst Gerlesborg, Västra Götaland Regional Council and The Swedish Arts Grant Committee, and ACT OUT, a project of the IG Freie Theaterarbeit, funded by BMEIA Austria.

Constellation #1 Dawn obliges us to dream, at 3:e Våningen September 2024.

Concept by Lena Kimming, Liv Schellander and Alexandra Wingate. Choreography by Liv Schellander and Alexandra Wingate. Performers Ina Dokmo, Liv Schellander, Alexandra Wingate. Sound and light design by Finn Pettersson. This production is supported by 3:e Våningen, Scenkonst Gerlesborg, Ställbergs gruva, Västra Götaland Regional Council and The Swedish Arts Grant Committee, and ACT OUT, a project of the IG Freie Theaterarbeit, funded by BMEIA Austria. Photos by Per Pixel.