Constellation #1 – 4, from Dawn Obliges Us To Dream to Shows for Futures
Animalariums’ Constellations is a performing arts project that weaves together dance, gesture, spoken language and song 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?
These performative constellations can be described as living cartography, sensory sculptures and a contemporary ritual, where a collective narrative unfolds in the moment. Each performance is unique and is led by a performance host who, together with the audience, makes a selection of topics. Only the audience and the host know which topics have been chosen – the participating performers do not know which topics they will portray. When they step onto the stage they choose an unknown topic and from there they use the improvisational method Choreo-Constellating to give the subject a bodily expression and a physical presence – through movement, language and voice.
In 2025 Animalariums’ Constellations toured 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 unique social and ecological contexts. Each iteration of Animalariums’ Constellations poses questions on countdown, extinction, and who is allowed to dream and what can their dreams be?
The project created a series of performances named Constellation #2, Constellation #3 and Constellation #4 Shows for Futures. 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.
Quotes
“The most contemporary dance I’ve ever experienced – it doesn’t get more contemporary than this! Here and now, thematic, emotionally present, in relationship with the world. You are absolutely redefining the term ‘contemporary dance’ for me.”
Tanja Erhart, dance artist, cultural anthropologist, intersectional pleasure activist for disability justice
“Constellation #4 reminded me of how powerful dance and performance can be—exciting, educational, fun and emotional, all at the same time.”
“Despite our human role in the demise of the planet, the work still holds space for glimmers of hope.”
“The care, research, and attentiveness of the artists left me inspired and a bit in awe.”
“Their relationships are built up through improvisation of dance, movement, sounds, made up songs but also conversations… through these bizarre and funny interactions I am able to grasp, almost on a visceral level, how entangled the past, the present and the future are. How nothing is independent from anything else.”
Deborah Hazler, dance and performance artist, artistic director
Team
Concept and choreography Liv Schellander and Alexandra Wingate. Co-creators: Performance by Ina Dokmo, Siri Anna Flensburg, Liv Schellander, Emma Elliane Oskal Valkeapää and Alexandra Wingate. Site-responsive topics together with Eric Sjögren, Elle Sofe Sara and Ellen Oddveig Hætta Gaup. Light design Eric Sjögren and Joe Albrecht. Production: Animalarium in collaboration with 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.
Animalarium 
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