winter guests is an international touring company performing works by Alan Lucien Øyen from Bergen, Norway. They tell stories of the contemporary world with words, video, music and movement. The works are often based on real life experiences, including original text, transcribed recordings and improvisations.
Described as “sincere and emotive”, the performances have won several awards and engaged audiences and critics alike. In 2014 they won the distinguished HEDDA award, in the category best written stage-play, for their epic 5 1⁄2 hour long play Coelacanth.
Daniel Proietto is one of the founding members of winter guests and has worked with the company as performer and choreographer on several productions. Proietto has also created works for the Wiener Staatsballett as well as the Norwegian Opera and Ballet.
Alan Lucien Øyen’s work as writer, director and choreographer is highly acclaimed. In the spring of 2018 he was among the first two choreographers ever to create a full-length work for Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch. Øyen’s work for the company - Neue Stück II - received great critical acclaim and is currently touring the world.
Øyen’s works are informed by the world around him, allowing him to draw inspiration from a myriad of sources including high-art and popular culture as well as personal conversations and experiences – always in pursuit of a sincere and human expression.
winter guests has been closely associated with BIT-teatergarasjen, and as of January 2013 Alan Lucien Øyen has been Artist in Residence at the new Norwegian Opera House in Oslo, a commitment that extends to winter guests as a company. The company receives annual funding from The Norwegian Arts Council.