Øy is a duo consisting of tap dancer Janne Eraker and electronic musician Kristoffer Lislegaard. The sound from Eraker's tap dance is sent into the electronics and used to modulate different parameters, to trigger sequencers, or as a sound source for processing and sampling. Exactly how the tap sound interacts with the electronics is programmed live on the spot as part of the performance. The result is a two-way communication where they both are reacting to what the other one is contributing.

The music is based on improvisations and has its roots in tap dance, jazz music, electronic dance and art music, free improvised music and nordic nu jazz. The focus of their collaboration is to work together as one complex unit or as two completely separate parts, and the changes between these two states bring a wide dynamic variation into their artistic expression. They are also interested in exploring how they can use each other's features to augment their own instruments.

Tap dance is often limited by having a very defined and narrow sound, and gets a much wider range from the electronics. Electronic instruments on the other hand can often have a cold and robotic quality, but by having the dance as a trigger and modulation source it adapts some human qualities.

Tap dance Janne Eraker Electronics Kristoffer Lislegaard

Janne Eraker is a tap dancer who works full-time as a musician and dance artist in projects in Norway and abroad. Born in Germany and raised in Norway, she moved on to get her dance education in Oslo, Rotterdam and New York. Also her dancing has many roots, starting with Balkan folk dances, swinging by competition dancing, musicals, contemporary and modern dance, and now fermenting all of it into her tap dancing. Eraker is fascinated by the sound of tap dance, and has worked a long time to create all kinds of music with it. Her work spans from improvised concerts to choreographed dance pieces, collaborating with a wide range of artists. As a performer she also dances in the Sebastian Weber Dance Company in Germany.

Both out of practical necessity and artistic curiosity, Eraker investigates the possibilities of amplifying, modifying and recording the sound of tap dance. Much like an acoustic guitar becoming an electric guitar, this results in new sounds and ways of using the instrument. In the duo Øy and the performance installation Tap Noir she goes further to trigger samples, sounds and light via contact microphones on the floor. She has also “played” the full size organ of Stavanger Concert House via wireless microphones attached to her shoes. In 2022 she released her first album Gol Variations with the trio One Small Step. In 2023 Eraker is releasing the album Movements for Listening, recorded with 11 musicians in 10 different locations. 

Eraker received a 3 year Artist grant from Arts Council Norway (2015-2017), and is the first tap dancer to be included as a musician in the Norwegian Jazz Forum and to be employed by the Alliance for Actors and Dancers. She's also leading the studio collective Dansens Haus, which resides in a 70m2 studio in the heart of Oslo.

https://www.janneeraker.com

Kristoffer Lislegaard is a Norwegian electronic composer and performer. He has a bachelor in music technology from the Norwegian university of science and technology and has also studied at the Nordic Institute for Stage and Studio, the Norwegian Academy of Music and the University of Oslo. Lislegaard makes highly evocative electronic music and his biggest passion is focused around pairing his sounds with different collaborators contributing towards a shared vision. This includes composing for contemporary dance, theatre, film, installation, poetry, performance and events. His music invites people into a layered cinematic world of sound that envelops the listener.