Kirsten Lian (1942- ) ran her ballet school from 1982 until 1993. Starting in 1983, Lian’s students danced in the yearly Operetteaftener (operetta evenings) and the yearly VU Presseshow (Winter Festival Press Shows). They also performed in visiting productions by Den Norske Opera (DNO: The Norwegian Opera), including: La Traviata in 1985; and Den Glade Enke (The Merry Widow) in 1989. They also danced in Orfeus and Euridike in 1987, which was the first production by Narvik Opera Committee.
Later in 1991, Kirsten’s created the choreography for Dido and Aeneas, produced by Narvik Kirkes Kammerkor (Narvik Church Choir). In 1991, the newly established, but short lived, North Norwegian Opera Committee, staged Spelemann på taket (Fiddler on the Roof), with Kirsten’s choreography. This was followed by the musical Chess in Concert in 1992. Despite having retired from teaching, Kirsten created the choreography for the restaging of Dido and Aeneas in 1996; and her senior students danced in DNO’s Czardasfyrstinnen (Die Csárdásfürstin) in 1997.
Originally Kirsten had not planned to run a ballet school, however when she returned to Narvik in 1980, Henry was exhausted and asked Kirsten if she could help out with the school. A short time later, he retired. Kirsten had the choice of taking on the challenging task of following in Henry’s footsteps, or letting a vital cultural institution in Narvik vanish . Courageously, she took over Haagensens Ballett. (Skarsfjord, Ballett-Kirsten, 1989)
When Kirsten Lian took over Henry’s school in 1982, she was nearly forty. Lian’s school was smaller than Haagensen’s. Whereas Haagensen staged full evening shows with over a hundred students; Lian was happier to collaborate with small choreographic interludes in larger functions, such as the annual Presseshow during Vinterfestuka (Winter Festival Week), the Good Old Days, and in other cultural events. The school had half the number of pupils.
At the most Kirsten Lians Ballet had a total of fifty students divided into four groups, from children up to adults. They danced twice a week. As in Henry’s school, the vast majority were girls. The younger children studied technique, and the seniors spent most of their time on rehearsing choreography. According to her students, Lian’s classes were run in the same manner as Haagensen’s.
Kirsten is very modest about her achievements; and was greatly admired by her public and is loved her students. Like Henry, Kirsten was not a formally trained dance teacher, and hence her classes were based on what she had learnt from Henry, in the thirteen years she danced in his school, from age eight until twenty one.
What she lacked in formal training, she made up in self-study. Her recitals showed the profits of her diligence, and that she was a natural born teacher. She created entertaining choreographies and was a talented costume maker. Lian prepared her classes studiously by studying dance steps in books and films, which she later taught to her students. She based her dance instruction on the RAD syllabi, and gave her students “exams” and a certificate if they passed each “grade”.
As a rule, the RAD (Royal Academy of Dance) does not permit unqualified teachers to use their syllabi. Even a talented ballet dancer, does not necessarily make a good ballet teacher. Teacher training is important because through it, you learn the anatomy of the body, correct alignment, posture, how to develop turn-out and correct dance technique. Kirsten Lian’s strength was that she understood her limitations, and worked as hard as possible to make sure that her classes were run “by the book”. There are many Norwegian dance teachers who like Kirsten, lacked formal teacher training, but successfully taught dance to children and youth in small out-of-the-way communities.
In Lian’s defense, taking teacher education in dance in the late 1970’s was both expensive and difficult, as the only teacher training was in Oslo or overseas. Many dancers, who dreamed of becoming a professional dancer or teacher, did not get any formal education then, and taught dance based on what they had learnt during their early training.
When interviewed in 1989, Kirsten pointed out how important it was to perform in local cultural events. When asked if she planned to stage student recitals like Henry had earlier, she said that unfortunately her school was not large enough, and her students had insufficient rehearsal time to choreograph the number of dances required for a full evening recital. Kirsten added that she ran a recreational dance school aimed at fostering the enjoyment of movement, and not to educate dancers with professional ambitions.
Henry in his later years was very disappointed with the direction his school had taken under Lian. He felt that standards had dropped, but also that the focus had moved from developing dance in its own right, to being part of something else – like the icing on a cake – in operettas, in shows and in musicals. (Haagensen, Dans i Narvik, 1992)
Haagensen was well known for his artistic temperament, which could be explosive when he was under stress. One of his earlier pupils confided in me that if you had fallen out with Henry, he would rip you out of his scrapbook. At his request, I was given his scrapbook after his death; a scrapbook covering two and a half decades of his school. It did not contain any articles from the Lian period, however, there are some photos of Kirsten and other pupils, so it seems Henry’s disappointment came in the last few years of his life. The scrapbook is now held by Museum Nord.
Kirsten explained in her oral history that she never understood Henry’s disappointment. Perhaps it was simply that when Henry handed over his school, he was no longer the centre of attention and gradually, as Lian gained confidence and popularity, lost control of its direction. It was no longer his ballet school. Somewhat unfairly, he pointed to Lian’s lack of a formal dance teacher education as the reason for his dicontent.
In the 1980’s Narvik started a long downturn that has continued to this day. When the mining company, LKAB, renegotiated its contract with Narvik council, it resulted in significantly less tax income. Narvik went from being one of the richest communities in the country in the 1950’s and 1960’s; to a situation where the council needed to make severe cuts in the budget; hence, it was no longer able to give generous subsidies to culture.
The council historically had never supported dance instruction, but now when dance had become such an important part of the town’s cultural life it lacked the finances to give support even if the council wanted to. The resulting economic downturn coincided with the start of Kirsten Lian’s ballet school. With no council support, Kirsten, like Henry, had limited resources to run her school.
In Haagensens time, most mothers were at home, however when Kirsten started her school, the majority of mothers worked, and hence were unable to follow up their daughter’s ballet interest as closely as in the generations before. Children had more recreational activities to choose between and hence the era when “every” small girl in Narvik took ballet was over.
When Kirsten closed her school in 1993, Narvik was once again in a situation where dance faced a standstill as in the years when Henry was in Oslo from 1954-1957.
Kirsten was awarded Æresrallar, Vinterfestuka in 2016 for her contribution to the yearly Presseshow from 1983 until her retirement in the early 1990s. She was awarded Sprellemannsprisen in 1992. This prize is awarded by the Student Organization (Narvik Studentersamfunn) at Narvik University College, to outstanding local cultural activities for youth.
Click here for a list of Kirsten Lian’s choreographies.
Featured photo
Henry Haagensens Ballet School, 1951 at Bondeheimen (later Albatross). Top: from the left Elise Turid?, remainder unknown. Row 2: from the left, Elin Brattberg, Kjersti Røsok, unknown, Sissel Sørensen, Inger-Lise Sund Petersen. Front row: from the left Frid-Lillian Bergfall and Kirsten Foshaug (married Lian) Photo: Carl Knudsen
Sources
Haagensen, H. (1992). Dans i Narvik. (F. J. Ellingsen, Intervjuer)
Haagensen, H. (1992, 10 18). Danseprosjekt 1993/1997 i Narvik kommune. Brev til Narvik Kulturavdeling v/ Fiona Jane Ellingsen. Narvik, Norge: privat.
Olsen, F. (1993, 03 10). Ber Lians Ballett fortsette. Fremover.
Skarsfjord, G. (1989, 03 18). Ballett-Kirsten. Fremover, s. 11.
This page is written by Fiona Jane Ellingsen and based on extensive research in local Narvik newspapers, films on NRK, Henry Haagensens personal archives, interviews with Kirsten Lian and research in works about dance in Norway.
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