BIOGRAPHY

Dr Elizabeth Svarstad
Dancer, choreographer, movement director and dance researcher

Education

Elizabeth Svarstad graduated from the Norwegian Ballet Academy in 2000. She holds a Nordic Master of Arts in dance studies (NOMADS) from the University of Copenhagen, the University of Stockholm and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and a PhD in dance studies from NTNU, the Department of Music. In 2015 Svarstad had a six months’ research stay at the Sorbonne University supported by the Research Council of Norway.

She has studied Art History at the University of Oslo, and Labanotation and Elicitation Interview Technique at the NTNU.

Dance, Choreography and Movement Direction

Svarstad has studied baroque dance in France, England and the USA and is Norway's foremost specialist in baroque dance and early dance. She is a sought-after artist, and has performed in dance performances, concerts, opera productions and solo performances.

She has collaborated with choreographers, directors and artists such as Brit Ingrid Wang, Iréne Ginger, Morten Røhrt, Anne Grete Eriksen, Janne-Camilla Lyster, Kari Anne Bjerkestrand, Nasjonalballetten Ung, Torkel Braathen, Matias Rønning, Steven Player, Karin Modigh, Henriette Pedersen, Kim von Binzer, Ellen Røed and Christina Lindgren.

Performance venues include The Royal Castle in Oslo, The Norwegian Opera and Ballet, Norwegian Hub for Traditional Music and Dance (Riksscenen), The Norwegian Theater, Trøndelag Teater, Akershus Fortress, Bogstad Manor, Den gamle krigsskolen, Oslo Ladegård, Linderud Manor, Oslo Concert Hall, Norwegian Academy of Music, Oslo National Academy of the Arts, Krapperup Castle, Gammel Estrup Castle, Aarhus Concert Hall, Fredriksten Fortress, Copenhagen City Hall, The National Gallery in Oslo, The National Library in Oslo, Norsk folkemuseum and Eidsvoll 1814.

Festival performances include Stockholm Early Music Festival, Festival Musique de Baroque de Sarrebourg, Oslo Early Music Festival, Valle Baroque, Copenhagen Opera Festival, Barokkfest in Trondheim, Olavsfestdagene, Oslo Opera Festival, Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival, Stavanger International Chamber Music Festival and Vårsøgdagene.

TV and radio productions include Anno (NRK), En bit av historien (TV2), Firestjerners middag (TVNorge) and Møte med pianisten Liv Glaser (NRK), Klassisk musikkfrokost (NRK Klassisk), Kulturhuset and Spillerom (NRK P2), Kveldsåpent (NRK P1) and Sveriges Radio. She has also been interviewed by Aftenposten, Gemini, Musikkultur, På Spissen and the French magazines Danse and Ballroom revue.

Research

Svarstad is a freelance researcher in the field of dance history. She has published scientific articles in Ibsen Studies and with publishing companies such as Dreyer forlag, Verlag Frank & Timme and Routledge, and in journals such as Dansekunst, På Spissen and Folkedansforskning i Norden.

She holds positions of trust as vice chair of The Nordic Forum for Dance Research (NOFOD) and is editorial member of The Nordic Journal of Dance. She has served two terms as chief treasurer of NOFOD and been a board member of the Norwegian Association for 18th Century Studies, and she was elected representative in the programme council for the PhD programme in the Faculty of Humanities at The Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

Teaching

Elizabeth Svarstad is a lecturer in Baroque dance at The Norwegian Academy of Music, The Opera Academy at Oslo National Academy of the Arts, Nordic Master's Program in Dance Science and Choreomundus at The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), and The Faculty of Performing Arts at The University of Stavanger.

Other teaching experience includes dance history, dance analysis and classical ballet at The Department of Dance and The Department of Design at Oslo Academy of the Arts, The European Chamber Music Academy, The Department of Music at NTNU, The Norwegian Ballet Academy, Det Multinorske at The Norwegian Theater, Ringve International Summer Course in Early Music and Dance, Barratt Dues Music Institute, The Swedish School in Paris, Elizabeth Svarstad Ballet, Blaker, for HTC and Facebook, at the Grand Hotel, Fagerborg Upper Secondary School, Dans i Skolen, The Department of Teacher Education at the Østfold University College, Sarpsborg Municipal Cultural School, Kirkenær Ballet School and a large number of other ballet schools.

Merits

Svarstad has received grants from the Research Council of Norway, Arts Council Norway, Fund for Performing Artists in Norway, The City of Oslo, Norwegian Musicians Union, Government Grants for Artists, The Swedish Arts Grants Committee, Sleipnir travel grant, and Follow-up studies for artists.

In 2019 Svarstad was awarded the Parelius prize for deserving artists for her work with dance in the performing arts field.
In 2020 she received a writer’s grant from the Norwegian Non-Fiction Writers and Translators’ Association.