Erlend Samnøen

Erlend Samnøen is a choreographer and director who works in theater, dance, opera, and musicals. He trained as a dancer at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts. 

He has directed productions at a number of different theaters in Norway, including *The Neverending Story* at Hålogaland Theater (Tromsø), *Mio, My Son * and *Bør Børson Jr.* at Trøndelag Theater, *The Tempest* and *A Midsummer Night’s Dream * at Haugesund Theater, and *Agnes Cecilia* at the National Theater. 

In 2014, he co-founded the performing arts company Ymist with actor Morten Espeland. Among other works, they have produced the plays *Melancholia II* by Jon Fosse, *Morgon med lysande hestar* by Tarjei Vesaas and Sara Li Stensrud, and *Draumkvedet*. In the fall of 2023, Samnøen directed the opera Dido and Aeneas at Den Ny Opera in Esbjerg, Denmark. That same year, he made his debut Kilden , directing Gudmund Vindsun’s Villskudd. In 2025, he returns to Kilden direct Vårkonsert på festningen—with texts by Jon Fosse.