Ingrid Lorentzen

Since taking the helm as Artistic Director of the National Ballet in 2012, Ingrid Lorentzen has revitalised the Norwegian National Ballet and enhanced the visibility and position of ballet in Norway. She has distinguished herself with numerous successful commissioned works, and by launching a systematic initiative aimed at promoting female choreographers. Under her guidance, the Norwegian National Ballet has also visited the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, the Royal Opera House in London and leading stages in cities like Paris, Madrid, St. Petersburg, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

After many years as a principal dancer with the Norwegian National Ballet, Lorentzen was appointed Artistic Director in 2012. In a review, The Financial Times wrote: ‘In a demonstration of notable creativity, Ingrid Lorentzen, Norwegian National Ballet's new director, has scheduled five world premieres for her debut programme’. Among the choreographers she has since commissioned to create new works are Alexander Ekman with A Swan Lake in 5,000 litres of water on stage and the dance installation Rooms, Alan Lucien Øyen with The Hamlet Complex, Timelapse and Petrusjka, Kaloyan Boyadjiev with a new Nutcracker, Marit Moum Aune and Cina Espejord with Ibsen's Ghost and Marit Moum Aune’s Hedda Gabler. The latter two have become international successes, sought after in many countries.

The Norwegian National Ballet works closely with the choreographic legend Jiří Kylián and is now one of the companies with the greatest number of his ballets in its repertoire. In 2019, the Norwegian National Ballet performed La Bayadère for the very first time in Norway, with the choreographer Natalia Makarova present and it received excellent reviews from critics. Under Lorentzen’s direction, the company have also danced works by major choreographers such as William Forsythe, Sol León and Paul Lightfoot, Ina Christel Johannessen and Christian Spuck.

Lorentzen appointed Alan Lucien Øyen and Jo Strømgren as house choreographers, and since 2019 Marit Moum Aune has been house director as part of a systematic commitment to cultivating more female choreographers. The international dance magazine Dance Europe named Lorentzen ‘Director of the Year’ in 2015. That same year, she launched a new company for young dancers – Norwegian National Ballet 2 – with the aim of securing and nurturing the greatest Norwegian and international talents under the auspices of the Oslo Opera House.

As a dancer, Lorentzen has distinguished herself in both the classical repertoire, including as Odette and Odile in Swan Lake, and in modern works by contemporary choreographers like Jiří Kylián, Jo Strømgren, Sol León and Paul Lightfoot. Additionally, she has been involved in a range of artistic productions beyond the Oslo Opera House as a choreographer, dancer and actress. In 2001, she received the Norwegian Dance Critics Award for her role in Kim Brandstrup’s work Place of Stone and in 2004 received the Telenor ‘Boundless Communication’ Culture Prize. She has held several roles with Arts Council Norway and in 2019 was appointed the new chair of the jury for the International Ibsen Award.