Charlotte Engelkes: I Believe in Being Honest on Stage

Sweet is the first solo piece that I created myself for myself. The woman, the director’s wife, is powerful and smart but the discovery of a sugar conspiracy trying to take over the world, obsess her completely and make her like "Hamlet" a rather tragic and weak figure.

Sweet is something like a cabaret in the land between stand –up and theatre. It is based on my own songs and stories. The fact that I started as a dancer will always affect my performances.

I feel closer to dance than traditional theatre. I think that chorographers, more often than theatre directors, use different art forms and seem more open to un-traditional methods in their work.

My method has more or less always been the same even in projects with other directors/ choreographers. I do. There might be a theme or story for the piece. I try to feel what this means to me personally. Then I do, before thinking too much. Afterwards I analyse and see if there is any use in it. And start to compose. This method, I noticed, is often frustrating for theatre actors, since there is never the question "why"? To me it has been more interesting to ask myself "how" and "when" and "what" instead. And it is easier to keep freedom with that. I also believe that if material is from me personally it must relate to others as well. But it is not the same as being private on stage, this I am not interested in.

Is it theatre? Is it dance?

There is a big need especially in Sweden compare to rest of the world to put a word, a definition, to what it is you do on stage. Is it theatre? Is it dance? I do what I can do and sometimes what I cannot. This includes dancing, singing, acting and what is needed to do. I perform. Some people like to call it performance art. I associate that word with more improvised happenings or installations, but I don’t mind being called performance artist since I work with improvised material. And I think today performance artist includes the fact that you do different things.

I wanted to become a painter, but discovered quite late in life that I had to move my body and dance first.

I started in an oriental dance group 1984 and we performed over 300 performances one year. We performed in theatres, shopping centres, and parties, home for old people, in hospitals, in concert houses, in tents, libraries, whatever. We made an old traditional art form available for a lot of people. I am autodidact and I see these years as big part of my education. We sew our costumes, we made the dances and we sold our show. My education is still going on though. Life.

I have been to one audition in my life, for Michael Laub, Remote Control production. We worked for nine years together. My view on theatre is definitely affected by him. "- If it looks good it makes sense".

I challenge my dancing

A project with Raimund Hoghe Dialogue with Charlotte has deepened my believe in being honest and personal on stage. A six-year long touring piece with composer Heiner Goebbels Hashirigaki has let me trust in repeating and in musically own visions. It has also given me the opportunities of playing in really big Theatre and Opera houses all over the world.

With different projects since 2002 by choreographer Sacha Walz I happily challenge my dancing and way to improvise together with really good dancers from all over the world. The last piece; Dido and Aeneas gives me great pleasure of being part of an opera and a big company.

I try to suffer more relaxed

I am always in jobs that include different stage languages. Like with the Singaporean director Ong Keng Sen. In one piece we have a traditional Chinese opera singer together with Thailand mask dancer, French modern dancer, Japanese techno composer, Korean Court singer and me. Everyone asks what on earth I do there then. I am telling stories from my childhood and singing James Bond songs. It is a Buddha project.

My own performances is developing me the most I think. It is a practice of staying strong and focused and same time trusting the process. The female perspective is strong. I never search for it but it is always there and important. It can be painful to do your own shows, but nowadays I try to suffer more relaxed. I admit I also enjoy it a lot. A lot!

I did Strindberg Miss Julie - the Musical and lately Miss very Wagner. I call my work folklore because they are my versions. I like my pieces to be for everyone. Not necessary for educated or only interested in art-people.

Miss very Wagner show contains the essence off four different female opera characters and I present them in a way that I like. The Wagner operas transformed down to a one-woman show with depth and humour but not really satire. With love for the art but no respect for the form.

Humour is the most important thing for me. But of course it can be very sad at the same time. I think total commitment as well as distance to your self is good ingredients to art and life itself.

Charlotte Engelkes