IETM's recap of Ice Hot 2024

Last week, the 7th biannual edition of Ice Hot Nordic Dance Platform took place in Oslo, Norway. 

The event showcased 21 Nordic productions in four days to an audience of international presenters. In addition, fifteen works were pitched in the special Ice Hot More More More programme and several seminars were held on different topics, each equally important for the international dance community.  

As one of the largest global gatherings for dance each year and a forum which multiple IETM members and performing arts professionals within our network gather for, IETM took part in the programme and hosted with the EDN network a Perform Europe Information Session - a project co-led by IETM with a consortium of five other partners. The new innovation of Perform Europe was well received, in particular the matchmaking platform available for partnerships and idea seeking, as well as the Perform Europe toolkit, which assists partners in writing their application. 

It was heartwarming to see Siri Paulsen, who authored the IETM publication Understanding the Greenlandic Performing Arts, take part in a seminar entitled Dance in Greenland: Development, activism and self-determination. Paulsen´s article is one of the valuable outputs from the IETM Aarhus Plenary held in June 2023. It has received deserved attention and is a contribution to the long overdue appreciation that the Greenlandic dance scene is now starting to experience. 

As a proud dissemination partner of Europe Beyond Access, we followed the Ice Hot seminar Accessibility in the Nordic Dance Field: Status, challenges and concrete actions, which allowed participants to reflect on accessibility in the dance field from a Norwegian point of view with Scandinavian and European perspectives. 

The Nordic collaboration in contemporary dance is an example of regional collaboration which brings real value to the artistic community and has lasting effects, ever since Keðja was conceived in Oslo 20 years ago. The Nordic dance scene has been strategic in their collaboration, proving again and again the ‘Nordic added value’ of their work and meaningful collaborations with colleagues from all corners of the world have benefited from professionals and organisations beyond their borders.

Being led by several IETM members, we are proud to see the growth and continuation of Ice Hot Nordic Dance Platform.