Elle Sofe Sara, 2021. Photo: TSFotoDesign
Elle Sofe Sara
- 1984
- Choreographer & director
- Guovdageaidnu
Elle Sofe Sara is a choreographer, director and filmmaker. She is Unit-Ántte Rávnná and Heik-Erke Niillasa youngest one from Ávži Guovdageaidnu. Her work expands upon seemingly mundane, often overlooked areas of Sámi physicality—unspoken rituals that have escaped the vice grip of colonialism. Elle Sofe uncovers a space in which the past and the present coincide.
Vástádus eana/The answer is land. Photo: Antero Hein
While her choreography is known for its playful approach, she also delves into taboo subjects such as trauma, abuse, and suicide. As an Indigenous artist, Elle Sofe seeks to create work that resonates as strongly for her community as it does for the art world.
BIRGET; Ways to heal ways to deal. Photo: Haara/Carte Blanche
Beatnaga ii galgga gulgii geahččat/Dont judge the dog. Photo: Matti Aikio
Photo: Niels Ovllá Dunfjell
Photo: Niels Ovllá Dunfjell
Hailing from Guovdageaidnu, Norway, Elle Sofe holds an MA in choreography from the Oslo Academy of Arts (2010) and studied dance at the LabanTrinity school, London. She is the featured artist of the Arctic Arts Festival in Harstad (2020, 2021), winner of the Moon Jury Award at the Imagine Native Film Festival (2019) and one of four artists selected for Talent Norway’s emerging filmmakers program (2020-2023). When she is not working with choreography or film, or traveling for work, Elle Sofe can be found marking reindeer calves with her children or reading animal tracks in the snow.
Get to know Elle Sofe Sara through this filmportrait.
Excert from the performance Vástádus eana/The answer is land.
BIRGET; ways to deal, ways to heal, 2023.
