Troels Primdahl (b. 1984, Incheon, South Korea) has been carrying out collaborative and interdisciplinary stage productions since 2010. He’s a versatile director, choreographer, and producer with a catalogue of works that spans over dance pieces, operas, art films, performance interventions and fashion shows. Between 2005-2012 he studied B.F.A + M.F.A. in ‘Aesthetics and Culture’ at Aarhus University, Denmark, while he was concurrently trained in installation and conceptual art at Aarhus Art Academy and in classical piano at The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus. Apart from being characterized by a visual lucidity, combined with a certain existential unrest, Primdahl’s works are often created from within a site-specific curiosity.

In 2015 he was commissioned by Decoda (the Affiliate Ensemble of Carnegie Hall) to compose his first chamber suite NIGHT IS ALSO A SUN, which was staged as a vertical concert in the departure hall of a Danish airport. In 2017 he premiered a grand techno ballet MY ICARUS COMPLEX inside a former military airbase on Djursland Peninsula. Over four years between 2018-2021 Primdahl was engaged in the establishment and artistic direction of the hybrid art space and production house TRAUMA BAR UND KINO – a venue that exists to facilitate an authentic dialogue between the realms of contemporary art, performance, music and club culture.

Bora Bora – Dance & Visual Theatre, Aarhus, Denmark (2014, 2017)

REITIR, Siglufjörður, Iceland (2014)

Arts Letters & Numbers, The Mill, Averill Park, New York, United States (2014)

Tækker AIR Berlin, Berlin, Germany (2014, 2015)

Centro Negra, Murica, Spain (2016)

Centro Colombo America, Medellín, Colombia (2016)

Sostrup Castle, Grenaa, Denmark (2017)

Work Grant from Danish Arts Foundation 2020 – for continued artistic practice. 

Special Recognition from Danish Arts Foundation – for the centrifugal operetta UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL, created in collaboration with Kaj Duncan David. 

Work Grant from Danish Arts Foundation 2018 – for continued artistic practice. 

Work Grant from Danish Arts Foundation 2017 – for continued artistic practice. 

Quarantine Lifted at The Quarantine Film Festival 2015, Varna, Bulgaria – for the choreographic documentary PEOPLE. MOVES. PLACES.

Memefest Recognition for Socially Responsive Art at Memefest Festival 2014, Australia – for the choreographic documentary PEOPLE. MOVES. PLACES.

The Audience Award 2014 at Aarhus Scenekunstcenter & Aarhus Stiftstidende Annual, Denmark – for the experimental performance piece FALL.

The Jury’s Special Announcement at international choreography competition Make Your Move 2013 – for the piece THE BEGINNING IS THE SAME, THE END IS DIFFERENT.

Choreographers & Performance Artists:

  • Ania Catherine
  • Jaamil Kosoko
  • Jill Sigmann
  • Johannes Wieland
  • Judith Sácnhez Ruíz
  • MJ Harper
  • Sedrig Verwoert
  • Yotam Peled

Composers:

  • Allan Gravgaard Madsen
  • Alin Gherman
  • Esben Valløe
  • Jeppe Kjellberg
  • Kaj Duncan David
  • Kate Whitley
  • Line Tjørnhøj
  • Louis Aguirre
  • Louise Alenius
  • Michael Harrison
  • Mikey Woodbridge
  • Nils Rønsholdt

Ensembles

  • Bastards Assignments
  • Decoda – affiliate ensemble of Carnegie Hall
  • Lydenskab
  • Musique Nouvelle
  • Neue Vocal Solisten
  • Skt. Clemens Boys Choir

Visual Artists

  • Anders Bigum
  • David Ramirez Gomez
  • Dehja Ti
  • Guillaume Arriud
  • Jane Pedersen
  • Jolene Mok
  • Kenny Campbell
  • Michael Steger
  • Nelson Santos
  • Peeryah Supphasidh
  • Richard Kennedy
  • AADK Spain
  • Aarhus Film Workshop
  • Augustinus Fonden
  • Bikubenfonden
  • City of Aarhus
  • Danish Arts Foundation
  • Danish Actors’ Association
  • Koda
  • Kulturstiftung des Bundes
  • TRAUMABARUNDKINO
  • UNHCR / ACNUR

Why do you do what you do?
»I’m driven by a certain existential unrest. It feels like a psychological state close to agitation and I’m not really sure if it’s healthy or not. But it makes me want to move and create movement. Not just any type of movement. I’m talking about transporting a person to undiscovered territories. In that sense, both the performer and the audience must be moved by the work we do. That doesn’t always work out as intended though. Then I continue. Stubbornly.«

What is one of your best lessons learned?
»I learned nothing. Or maybe that’s not the truth. I learned something from nothingness; from the lack of guarantees. This led me to a warm embrace of the mistakes and the crises that always tend to occur no matter how hard you try master a creative process. Mistakes can be divine! (But even this lesson is not a guarantee for anything!)«

[Troels Primdahl, from a mini-interview with Helen Sakkas for The Artist Story, July 2019]