Kenneth Flak was born 1975 in Kristiansand, Norway. He is based in Stockholm, Sweden, and freelances as a dancer, choreographer and composer. He worked as a dancer for, amongst others, André Gingras (Netherlands/Canada), Dansdesign (Norway), Preeti Vasudevan (India/USA) and Richard Siegal (France/USA). He is educated at the Stage Direction department of the National Academy of Dramatic Arts, Norway; the Mime Department and Modern Dance Department of the Amsterdam Arts School.
In 2007 he received a Bessie Performer’s Award in New York for his interpretation of Gingras’ solo CYP17; in 2010 he was nominated for the BNG Award in Amsterdam for Of Gods and Driftwood. He received the Norwegian Government Grant for Young Artists 2004 and 2008-9.
Flak is a regular guest teacher at universities and workshops around the world.
He is a self-taught composer, and frequently writes the music for his own choreographies. He has also written music for choreographies by Wilfried Seethaler, Kosmas Kosmpoulos, Yael Gaathon and others.
2010
The Fork, duet, 55 minutes, collaboration with Harakiri Farmers and Chazam
2009
LOTTA/LOTTA, solo, 10 minutes, Moderna Dansteatern c/o Kosterhavet Nationalpark
MEAT/LIGHT, solo, 15 minutes, Europe in Motion
2008
Of Gods and Driftwood, trio, 55 minutes, Korzo Produkties
God Studies #3, solo, 20 minutes, Dansateliers Rotterdam
Wild Vlees, collaboration with visual artist Natascha Helmer
Photo: Amina Husberg
2Halves, collaboration with Manuel Ronda for the CaDance Festival 2011, The Hague
Collaboration with Charlotta Öfverholm, premiering at Moderna Dansteatern, Stockholm in September 2010, subsequent performances at Atalante Teater, Gothenburg and Dansstationen, Malmö
The Chinese Room, collaboration with light designer Thomas Dotzler, dancer Külli Roosna and multimedia artist Matsuo Kunihiko, produced by Korzo Theater, The Hague
The Fork, collaboration with Polish performer's collective Harakiri Farmers and composer Chazam
The Wolf Project, collaboration with choreographer and dancer Külli Roosna
Dancing in Richard Siegal's choreography Homo Ludens
Dancing in Preeti Vasudevan's The Absent Lover
Kenneth Flak teaches a variety of classes and workshops for different needs and contexts, ranging from martial arts through contemporary dance technique, acrobatics and movement compositon. Classes can be adapted to both professionals, students or amateurs. For further information, please take contact via email.
Upcoming teaching:
Contemporary technique for professionals at Danscentrum Stockholm September 24-27
Contemporary Dance at Tallinn University, Estonia
Composition workshop for the Circus Department at the University of Circus and Dance, Stockholm, Sweden
2010
April 16: Richard Siegal's Homo Ludens in Bremen, Germany
April 23: God Studies #3 at the Mandala Arts Festival in Wroclaw, Poland
May 13: Preeti Vasudevan's The Absent Lover at the International Dance Festival Birmingham, UK
June 5: God Studies #3 in Riga, Latvia
June 19: Premiere of The Fork in Bordeaux, France
July 12-18: Workshops and performances of God Studies #3 at the Dutch Cultural Center, Shanghai, China
August 13-14: The Wolf Project at Fjæreheia, Grimstad, Norway
September 16-17: The Chinese Room in Korzo 5Hoog, The Hague, The Netherlands
September 25-October 2: Öfverholm & Flak Festival at Moderna Dansteatern, Stockholm
September 25: The Fork at the Avant Art Festival, Wroclaw, Poland
October 17-24: Öfverholm & Flak on tour in Turnéslingan Tre Scener: Atalante Teater, Gothenburg and Dansstationen, Malmö, Sweden
October 28-29: The Fork at Oktoberdans, Bergen, Norway
2011
January 21-22: Richard Siegal's Homo Ludens at the Temps d'images Festival, Düsseldorf, Germany
February 8-9: 2Halves at the CaDance Festival 2011, The Hague, The Netherlands
March 6: The Chinese Room at Utsikten Kunstsenter, Kvinesdal, Norway
Photo: Ida Engqvist
[God Studies # 3 is an] impressive solo by virtue of the beauty of its pure dance language and the transformation of Kenneth Flak’s powerful stage presence.
- Nederlandse Dansdagen Selection Committee
[…] superb Kenneth Flak […] Here is a world that couldn't be evoked by anything other than the physical detail of Mr. Flak’s extraordinary dance.
- Roslyn Sulcas, New York Times
Flak is a gifted profiler of movement.
- Katja Schneider, Goethe Institut Canada
Successful return to the Norwegian dance scene […] Flak plunges deep down into the theme and the movements and uses good craftsmanship to bring the essential core of the expression to light.
- Melanie Fieldseth, Bergens Tidende
Bessie Performer Award to Kenneth Flak for a primal, yet hyper-clinical performance with an unflinching intensity of focus; a complete embodiment of man as a twitching, convulsing lab rat in a future world shaped by genetic engineering and alien abductions in “CYP 17” by Andre Gingras, presented at Danspace Project
- The Bessie Committee
Fascism, broadly, is an attempt by the state to extend control over all aspects of life. If fascism had a face, Flak came very close to capturing it.
- Cheryl D’Couto, Deccan Herald, India