What happens when you connect young people with and without disabilities with professional artists? Interaction, friendship, personal development - and a performance that touches and breaks boundaries.
In the performance SPOR, around 100 high school students with and without disabilities are on stage together with the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra. In March 2022, the fourth SPOR performance will be staged in Kilden. Each time it's built around the participants' stories, expertise and level of disability, so it's always completely unique. What doesn't change is the mark it leaves on both the audience and the performers.
- Once again, SPOR is the most important art event of the year in Kilden. No one leaves unaffected after experiencing it. Fædrelandsven's reviewer after the previous SPOR performance.
Learning from each other
Students from Kristiansand Cathedral School Gimle and Kvadraturen Upper Secondary School participate in SPOR. The idea is to use art as a tool for mastery, understanding and inclusion.
- The project is a meeting place for the able-bodied pupils at KKG, and the pupils in everyday life training who all have a disability. "We believe that when we do something together, we learn from each other - and it turns into something great. That's what's unique about this project, and also the whole intention," says Mette Midling-Jenssen, special needs teacher at KKG.
Rehearsals usually start over a year before the performance. A lot of time is spent getting to know the individual students and their stories in order to build the performance around them.
Hours of work have already gone into next year's performance, and much still needs to happen before March 2022. The choreographers, set design workshop and costume department at Kilden are well on their way to creating the various elements of the performance, which are tailored to the students' abilities and wishes.
- "It's very important to us that everything is done properly and with dignity, and that's consistent throughout the project," explains Midling-Jenssen.
It was KKG that first approached Kilden with the idea of creating something together. The school was in the midst of its long-term focus on inclusion between the different student groups, and believed that co-creative art could lead to inclusion, an increased sense of mastery and courage. This developed into an important collaboration.
- Kilden chooses to spend resources on this because we believe that co-creative projects can inspire and create growth among the participants, and because we want to give them a voice. When we tell real stories, it often reaches the audience and then it becomes touching art," says Elisabeth Lindland, director and script manager at SPOR.
SPOR is part of Kilden Dialog, which creates projects where non-professionals are participants in the process and performance together with professionals. In 2018, Kilden Dialog was established as a national competence center for co-creative art.
Who are we on the inside?
On Wednesday, November 3, a dress rehearsal will take place in Kilden's dance hall, and the room will be surrounded by princesses, aliens and magicians. The costumes for the final number will be chosen, a catwalk that will show the diversity of the students - just as they want to be seen.
- "In rehearsals, we've talked a lot about who we are on the inside, or 'behind the mask'. On the catwalk, the students are given free rein to wear exactly what they want, and Kilden's costume department facilitates turning the students' vision into reality," explains Lindland.
When David Føreland Velle (18) had to choose an outfit for the catwalk, there was little doubt what it would be: a fur coat, sunglasses and a headband.
- Tix has Tourette's syndrome. His name is Andreas Haukeland and in secondary school he was called Tix. Then he was bullied and teased," explains Velle.
He himself has been diagnosed with Down's syndrome, and recognizes himself in Tix's stories.
- "When it comes to life management, we strongly believe that you have to own your own diagnosis, then you'll feel better. In this project, everyone knows what each other has and we talk openly about it," explains Midling-Jenssen.
".... Now we're having fun," Velle and Midling-Jenssen sing in unison. Besides this one, "Fallen Angel" and "Out of Darkness" are the favorite songs from Velle's big idol. In SPOR, Velle will be dancing with fellow student Eirin from the sports line. This time it's not music from Tix they'll be dancing to, but the song "Bara få vara meg själv" by the Swedish artist LALEH.
I'll just be myself
Ba, ba, just be myself
I'll just be myself
Ba, ba, just want to be myself
According to Velle, the best thing about SPOR is being allowed to dance and sing, even though it can also be a bit scary.
- "I'm looking forward to it, but it's scary to stand in front of so many people. I'm not embarrassed, but I get nervous. I get butterflies in my stomach.
With pets on stage
While some choose to dress up as their role model, others choose to walk the catwalk dressed as their best friend. For Celina Edvardsen (18), this is her dog Ynwa, named after the Liverpool song "You'll Never Walk Alone".
- Why did you want to dress up as Ynwa?
- Because I love all animals," she explains.
Edvardsen is in a wheelchair and a large skirt with a dog's head and tail will be sewn around him.
- "Celina's costume is probably the coolest of all. Kilden's workshop presented Celina with several different sketches for the custom-designed costume, and she got to choose the one she liked best," explains Midling-Jenssen.
On stage, Edvardsen will sing solo on the song "Alt du har" by Maria Mena, translated by Hanne Krogh in the TV2 program Hver gang vi møtes.
There you stumbled and fell again.
The soul got some new abrasions though,
Brush your knees and you'll see that you're fine.
Televised documentary
In September, a two-episode documentary series about the SPOR project was shown on NRK1 in prime time. The documentary touched many people, and both Kilden and the participating schools have received a massive response and praise for the project.
- The feedback has been overwhelming. People have been touched, and the stories have made an impression. I think the documentary team has captured SPOR beautifully, and the participants have experienced this as very big," explains Lindland.
The previous SPOR productions have all been sold out, and tickets are already flying for next year's performance.
- There's a lot of pressure on tickets, and we've previously received several enquiries from people who didn't have time to buy a ticket before it sold out. Next year, we're playing in a larger hall than we've done before, and we're also playing more shows than we've done before so that as many
people as possible can experience this," says Lindland.
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