After World War II an optimistic wave spread through the Norwegian theatre community, generating the widespread view that in addition to rebuilding the country’s material losses this was a time to revitalise the Norwegian cultural sector and reinforce its sense of national identity. Subsequently the Ny Norsk Ballet (New Norwegian Ballet) performed national romantic ballets at the open-air theatre of the National Museum of Cultural History at Bygdøy, outside Oslo. These included such pieces as Veslefrikk med fela (‘Veslefrikk and the Fiddle’) and Tyrihans som fikk Kongsdatteren til å le (‘Tyrihans who made the Kings’ Daughter Laugh’), both popular humorous pieces based on traditional Norwegian folk tales. These first performances showed ballet and dance as a dispatcher of a theme, not ballet only as an aesthetic performing technique.

The Norwegian National Ballet was the superior dance company in Norway until the end of the 1960s, at which juncture questions began to be raised as to what new ballet impulses were actually being created. When Anne Borg took over the position as ballet director in 1971, she established a new initiative called Balletverkstedet (Ballet Workshop) which offered inexperienced Norwegian choreographers the opportunity to create new ballets in an informal environment. Prior to this the Opera had been unable to risk offering a platform to an unknown Norwegian name since only two premieres were allowed each year. However, this new initiative involved no risk since the new choreographers would not receive any salary if their work was not accepted as part of the Opera’s repertoire. Thanks to this initiative new choreographers such as Kari Blakstad (b1938) and Kjersti Alveberg (b1948) were discovered, alongside members of the Opera’s own company such as Alejandro Meza and Toni Herlofsen.

New trends in the dance sector encouraged other performing groups to establish alternative companies to the national ballet. This development was given increased impetus by the fact that from the mid 1960s the number of dancers graduating from Norway’s ballet institutes increasingly outstripped the number of employment opportunities available, forcing dancers to create their own opportunities for work. The first independent contemporary dance company, Høvik Ballett, was founded in 1973 under the artistic direction of Merete Bergersen. Declaring that ‘all movement is dance’, this group laid the essential groundwork for the innovative work of many of today’s contemporary dance companies. Before long others followed, including Collage (1974) and Fri ballett (Free Ballet, 1974). In 1976 a new dance studio Danseloftet (‘Dance Attic’) opened, aiming to incorporate the activity of all independent dance companies. Thereafter numerous new groups were established, including Danseloftets gruppe, Dance Attic’s own company, and Torild Frostad’s Dance Company, which worked in the newly-developed field of jazz-dance.

However, new initiatives were constantly coming to the fore and none of these pioneering companies survived the perpetual lack of financial support and recognition. Dans Design was established in 1978 under the direction of Anne Grete Eriksen and Leif Hernes. Their debut performance, A Cosmic Joke, portrayed post-modern and surreal trends. The company has since become a veteran of Norwegian contemporary dance and is still active today. During the 1990s various new companies have been established, Norwegian choreographers have won international acclaim and the Norwegian dance community has demonstrated increasing variation and profundity. The opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games at Lillehammer in 1994, broadcast live throughout the world, featured dance as its main attraction and received very positive reviews.