Láhppon/Lost, with music by Valgeir Sigurðsson, will appear at the Venice Biennale in July 2026, following a revival at the Harstad Kulturhus in June. Choreographed by Elle Sofe Sara and Hlín Hjálmarsdóttir, the 60-minute work – featured in the New York Times – is a physical narrative of the 1852 Kautokeino rebellion – a turning point after years of conflict between the Sámi and the Danish-Norwegian authorities. Watch an extract from the work here.
Láhppon/Lost made its celebrated debut at the Norwegian National Ballet in October 2025, who commissioned the work in collaboration with the Sámi National Theater, where it received further performances in November 2025. The piece examines the event – one of the most violent in Sámi history – from the current global perspective. Elle Sofe Sara is the first Sámi choreographer to work at the Norwegian National Ballet, and her own ancestors participated in the uprising. Sigurðsson’s electronic soundscape brings together traditional and newly-composed joiks – chanting songs of the Sami people – by Lávre Johan Eira and Sara Marielle Gaup Beaska; the former also starred in the show. onstage.
Costumes and sets are by Danish fashion designer Henrik Vibskov, with the action taking place on a futuristic stage landscape that playfully interacts with nature and tradition; the mise-en-scene also draws on Sámi traditions, building practices and techniques.
The scenes are fierce – a blistering opening that sets the bar high for what is to come… Sigurðsson's music is also highly effective: here traditional Sami music, modern electronics, vocal sequences and church organ are in a bold union….you are unlikely to be unmoved.
Aftenposten (Maren Ørstavik) 2 November 2025
…it starts overwhelmingly… the yoiks create a special, magical atmosphere…two dancers float feather-lightly above the floor as if in an infinite silence. Beautiful, visual and wild. Strong and magical…The red ending, with heavy breathing that slowly weakens and dies out...Fantastic…first-class scenic art. It is not often that so much power and elegance is gathered and performed from the stage here on the plateau.
Altaposten (Johan Mathis Gaup) 18 November 2025
The performance combines elements from classical ballet and contemporary dance. A beautiful love duet in the first part shows technical brilliance…The scenography is stylish and cool…The music by Valgeir Sigurðsson reinforces the feeling of a remote, raw society. Joiks and hymns are included…The interplay between these expressions gives the work authenticity and emotional power.
Morgunblaðið (Sesselja G. Magnúsdóttir) 16 November 2025
The contrast between the organic and the mechanical is repeated in both sound, choreography and visuals. Joiks join together with electronic sounds, rusty steel against wooden sticks, soft movements in contrast to the more angular, mechanical ones. The scenes are like tableaux with moods, one replacing the next…the music, choreography and mise-en-scene…conveyed to me explosive rage, numbing fear and cautious hope…a pity it is only showing for one week.
Morgenbladet 7 November 2025
The performance starts with the yoik…followed by undulating, vast electronics in combination with choral singing, classical instrumentation, and new and traditional joiks…In the soundscape, the joik is a supporting element along with Valgeir Sigurðsson's electronic compositions…This mix works very well… Láhppon/Lost delivers many powerful moments…
NRK (Karen Frøsland Nystøyl) 4 November 2025
Láhppon/Lost is Sigurðsson’s third ballet score. Architecture of Loss, a 30-minute ballet for a chamber ensemble of 3 players and electronics, was created in 2012 for the Stephen Petronio Company and toured the United States; in 2017-18 excerpts from the show toured the United Kingdom and China with Avant Garde Dance. In 2015 Sigurðsson’s composed the electronic score to Extremalism, an 80-minute piece created for the Holland Festival presented by the combined forces of Ballet National de Marseille and ICKAmsterdam, choreographed by Emio Greco and Pieter C. Scholten. In 2016 the production toured to the Netherlands, Belgium, Slovenia and France.