“This isn’t nostalgia. This is ballet,” emphasizes Camilla Spidsøe, choreographer for The Grey Swan, a one-night only performance in Oslo.
It features dancers who may have hung up their ballet shoes at a certain age not because of will so much as constructed societal perceptions of what the human body is capable of upon entering their fifth decade of life.
On May 13, 2025, Oslo Concert Hall in Norway (where the majority of dancers take their final bow around the age of 41) will present the premiere of The Grey Swan which highlights retired professional artists who are between 43 and 74 years old.
As the title suggests, the choreography is inspired by the epitome of classical ballet, Swan Lake. Yet instead of recreating the full-length, Spidsøe – a former principal dancer with Norwegian National Ballet and recipient of the Norwegian Critics’ Award and the Wilhelmsen Ballet Prize – has opted to showcase only its iconic solos.
The performance is stripped down, direct, and emotionally resonant. Its power lies not in perfection, but in presence.
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The Grey Swan Cast
The ensemble includes dancers who have had celebrated careers across the globe in companies such as Norwegian National Ballet, Staatsballett Berlin, and English National Ballet.
- Yolanda Correa
- Yoel Carreño
- Irina Zavialova
- Josephine Jewkes
- Ole Willy Falkhaugen
- Anne Cecilie Fjeldstad
- Karin Sundgren
One of the goals of the project is to demonstrate that a dancer’s performance life is not limited by a number and that there is much to be appreciated by watching artists who have a profoundness and maturity that only decades of experience can yield.
“The love of dance doesn’t retire. Every cell still remembers how to speak through movement. The Grey Swan is not about proving something – it’s about expressing something that never left us.
– Camilla Spidsøe, Choreographer for The Grey Swan
Featured Photo of Karin Sundgren in The Grey Swan. Photo by Senay Berhe, courtesy of 11:11.
