THESHIFT
THESHIFT
dance with a classical baseline
New dance with a classical baseline
The Shift is a production company housing the projects and works of choreographer, Melissa Hough. Based in Oslo, Norway, its mission to educate and stimulate an international audience. As a noted artist of versatility, Hough produces provocative, detail oriented work that is a combination of philosophical and psychological concepts, realised in unlimited ways. The movement language develops from the music, conceptual ideas, as well as the dancers’ abilities. The outcome is an ever evolving experience with successful amalgamations of several styles, keeping the viewer watching with bated breath. The Shift aims to to focus its efforts on new stories, which have never been told through live performance, while giving audiences a feeling of acceptance and accessibility.
The Shift is a production company housing the projects and works of choreographer, Melissa Hough; its mission to educate and stimulate an international audience. As a noted artist of versatility, Hough produces provocative, detail oriented work that is a combination of philosophical and psychological concepts, realised in unlimited ways. The movement language develops from the music, conceptual ideas, as well as the dancers’ abilities, the outcome being an ever evolving experience with successful amalgamations of several styles, keeping the viewer watching with bated breath. The Shift aims to to focus its efforts on new stories, which have never been told through live performance, while giving audiences a feeling of acceptance and accessibility.
About the process
Hough’s process is a combination of philosophical and psychological concepts, realised in unlimited ways. Her artistic versatility has been noted through the years. Her main inspirations come from music, life situations, the Stanislavsky method, films and the dancers. She uses the boundaries surrounding a project to shape her ideas. The movement style develops from the music, conceptual ideas, as well as the dancers’ abilities.
“As an audience member, I value hearing great music and seeing works that have structure, dynamic uses of movement and interesting uses of the space.
Understanding a choreographers’ concept or point of view is not of the greatest importance, however, as a choreographer I must be brave enough to first look within myself and then present my deepest thoughts, feelings, fears and ideals.
I am careful to create visual “arcs” of symmetry and poetry while simultaneously consciously breaking these rules in order to stay true to the concept when necessary. I approach my work as if it is a puzzle to be solved. Creating performances that are high in artistic merit and accessible to today’s audience is essential to me.”
Melissa Hough
Melissa Hough
Melissa Hough was born in Baltimore, Maryland and trained under Alla Sizova at the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, DC.
She has been a principal dancer with Boston Ballet, artistic director Mikko Nissinen, Houston Ballet, artistic director Stanton Welch, and Norwegian National Ballet, artistic director Ingrid Lorentzen.
As a choreographer, Hough has made both independent projects as well as commissioned works in Norway and The United States. In 2017, she received the Tom Wilhelmsen Opera and Ballet Prize for her work as a soloist dancer and for her choreographic endeavours since coming to Norway.
Her piece, Epic Short, made in 2016 for Nasjonalballetten’s Sleepless Beauty program, received recognition in Dance Europe Magazine’s Critics Choice for Best premier, and was invited to be performed at the 2018 Diaghilev P.S. Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia.
In 2019, Klara Mårtensson, lead dancer in Hough’s piece, Bout of the Imperfect Pearl, won recognition in Dance Europe Magazine’s Critics Choice for best female performance.
With the mindset of a director/entrepreneur, Melissa Hough has used her time as a principal dancer to theorise and develop methods of working with her artistic teams, using open communication to collaborate with the passionate, creative minds of all involved.
By leading The Shift, Hough intends to push her own abilities while maximising the capacity of her collaborators’ talents by creating trust and the common goal that everyone is striving to create new work that is relevant, authentic and provocative.
All black and white rehearsal shots: Anne-Sylvie Bonnet