Mancopy© Dansekompagni

Mancopy© Dansekompagni, under the direction of Jens Bjerregaard, is among the few dance companies in Denmark offering  contemporary dance year-round. With a varied repertory representing Bjerregaard's choreography as well as acclaimed choreographers from around the world, and a full-time company of four, the company performs at home and abroad to ever expanding audiences. Bjerregaard's intention is to forever expand, artistically as well as culturally, directions which are often interrelated. All this results in greater possibilities, experience, and opportunities for his dancers, associated choreographers, and not least the audience. Ultimately, this results in an exciting and versatile company whose dancers have a rich vocabulary of movement and style.

Dancers, especially contemporary dancers, typically come with their own unique style and interpretation of movement. The added dimension for this Danish company is that its four dancers, Lodie Kardouss, Johan Ohlson, Katri Siipola, and Taneli Törma, come from France, Sweden, Finland, and Finland, respectively. Chosen for their diversity, the dancers bring with them varied training and approaches to dance. Each elegant and capable, the dancers contribute interpretations distinctly individual. The culmination of their exchange delivers work both passionate and bold. 

The company also distinguishes itself by its repertoire, one that continuously expands in terms of style, approach, creation, performance. While the productions have always been of contemporary dance, and the choreography has always integrated the experiemental with the more traditional, the company has also begun to work with site-specific works. Stage productions continue to be important, but a greater number of pieces are either a choreography created with a specific space in mind, or a set choreography spontaneously placed in an environs where the walls, floor, and "stage" elements are not predefined.

A final element inherent in Bjerregaard's plan is the commitment to include other choreographers' works in Mancopy's repertoire. This commitment is equally focused on works of both experienced as well as newly developing choreographers, but moreover, each choreographer is brought to Archauz as choreographer-in-residence, creating the dance on Mancopy for Mancopy. In this fashion, Mancopy has performed works by choreographer team Olga Cobos and Peter Mika of Spain, Dominique Porte of France, Kuik Swee Boon of Singapore, Cristina Caprioli of Italy and Archauz' AICC 2008 winner Rachel Erdos of Israel. Imagination is not necessary to know, this contributes to an always changing, always evolving, ever exciting repertoire.

The company has been the resident company at the Koreografisk Center Archauz in Aarhus since 2007.

What does Mancopy mean?

Mancopy is a word that suits artistic director Jens Bjerregaard. The name is abstract and an anagram for "company"; the components of the name - man+copy - indicate it's something we know. The name was created in cooperation with the renowned graphic design agency Scandinavian Branding®, which sponsored the company in its founding phase by creating a clear and modern profile.

Board of Directors

• Kim Helweg, Composer (Chairman)
• Jan Abildgaard
• Dorte Linneballe, Scandinavian Branding
• Tine Holscher, Artist
• Signe Brønserud, Author
• Susanne Ravn, Associate Professor at the Institute of Physical Education and Biomechanics ‘SDU’