As part of Dansehallerne’s international festival OPENINGS (9–19 September), we have invited the new director of Udviklingsplatformen and former director, choreographer and performer Erik Pold, interdisciplinary artist Maji Claire, artistic director of HAUT and choreographer and artist Lili Blum, and performance artist Linh Le to a conversation about who and what gets space in the performing arts – and how we can create a more open and representative field.
They bring different artistic and professional experiences and positions to the table, providing a foundation for a nuanced, honest and engaged dialogue.
You are invited to gain insight into their perspectives on what is currently shaping the field: Which artistic practices and genres are seen, recognised and supported, and which find it more difficult to gain access to established structures? How do existing categories and funding systems affect opportunities for artists working across genres, communities and traditions? And what does it take to create greater mobility, representation and more pathways into the professional field?
The conversation is free and open to everyone, but please book a ticket here on the website.
Snacks and something cold to drink will be served.
The event is initiated and supported by EDN – European Dance Development Network’s Local Advocacy Programme, which supports initiatives that strengthen the position of dance and foster dialogue between the arts sector, institutions and the structures that shape the framework in which they operate.
Erik Pold (he/him)
Works with artistic leadership and development. Erik is the new director of the Development Platform for Performing Arts. In addition, he is part of the artistic leadership of the performance theatre Public Performance, where he has more than 25 years of experience as a director, choreographer and performer. From 2020–26, he worked part-time as an associate professor at the Theatre Academy in Malmö, and over the years he has held a number of positions of trust and board roles within the performing arts sector.
Lili A. Blum (she/ her) is a trained choreographer from the School for New Dance Development in Amsterdam and holds a degree in political science from Freie Universität Berlin. She is a member of the queer performance-pedagogical collective In Pursuit of Otherwise Possibility and has been the artistic director of HAUT in Copenhagen’s Nordvest district since 2025. She is the drag daughter of Aryelle Freeman Hopelezz and a member of the Amsterdam-based House of Freeman.
Maji Claire (she/ her) is a Danish/Rwandan, multidisciplinary artist working within the realms of movement, acting and music. Having a broad training background spanning from various street-styles to contemporary she has had an extensive commercial dance background working with artists such as FKA Twigs, Christine & The Queens & Robyn. Furthermore she is one of the pioneering founding forces behind the Danish ballroom scene, as a part of the internationally acclaimed House of Miyake Mugler, and has been awarded the title ‘ The European Princess of Seduction’ by the international ballroom community for her contribution to- and undefeated status in the ballroom-category ‘Sex Siren’.
What drives performance artist Linh Le is the desire to free herself from capitalism and fight for a world where nature, as well as human beings, are not exploited for profit but valued for their inherent worth.
This is reflected in Linh’s installations and performances, where she transforms herself into other species in an attempt to dissolve the barrier between humans and nature. Through her work, she explores the relationship between liberation and alienation, while asking what it means to be human/a species today.
