A space for representation, celebration, and desire: Butch Tribute is both an artistic and political performance by Norwegian choreographers and dancers Marte Sterud and Ann-Christin Kongsness. The project stems from a desire to expand the imaginary surrounding female masculinity, offering multiple, intimate, and political visions. It explores the butch identity within the queer community — a form of female masculinity often marginalized or rendered invisible, which here finds expression, embodiment, and presence.
The work consists of three choreographic pieces: Flirt, Roses, and Flannel Dream.
Flirt is an anthem of self-assertion: the performers flirt openly with the audience, subverting the traditional gaze between viewer and stage.
Roses is a raw, powerful tribute to Rosas danst Rosas by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker — reimagined through a butch lens.
Flannel Dream tells a tender love story between two butches, woven through flannel shirts and shared intimacy.
The three performances premiered in 2021 at Teater Innlandet during MOVE dansefestival and have since toured extensively across Norway and abroad, including appearances at Reykjavik Dance Festival, Stockholm Pride, Dansstationen in Malmö, and Orlando Festival in Bergamo.
Bio
The Norwegian dancers and choreographers Marte Sterud and Ann-Christin Kongsness (Sterud/Kongsness) connect through their personal and theoretical interest in the relationship between dance and the body, gender and performativity. In their performance Soft Manifesto (2015), they explored the androgynous and ambiguous body, with a playful and fluid relationship to gender expression, moving in and out of different bodily states. In 2018, they organized Queer Dance Art – a conversation series (www.skeivdansekunst.no) during Oslo Pride, with contributions from sixteen dance artists who actively take a stand on questions around gender expression and sexuality. Since 2021 they have been working on the performance series Butch Tribute, consisting of the three dance pieces Flirt, Roses, Flanell Dream (2021) and the text-based performance A Butch is a Butch is a Butch is a Butch (2023), which has toured throughout Norway and abroad.
Credits
Choreography & Dance: Marte Reithaug Sterud, Ann-Christin Kongsness
Music: Kari-Helene Blystad, Ragnhild Nelvik Bruseth
Voice: Frida Ånnevik
Lighting Design: Elisabeth Kjeldahl Nilsson
Costumes: Alva Brosten
Graphic Design: Ylva Greni Gulbrandsen
Production: Sterud/Kongsness
Co-production: DansiT, Black Box teater, Art House Wrap, RAS
Supported by: Norwegian Arts Council, The Audio and Visual Fund, The Fritt Ord Foundation, FFUK
