The Split Waltz

A mother works in a small kitchen. Her hands rhythmically knead the dough, wash the dishes, and put them back in their place as she moves in a circle around the small room. The oil sizzles as the chopped vegetables hit the pan, steam rising in the dim light. A waltz of care, repetition, and adjustment that continues until dizzying.

The Split Waltz is a new commission by artists Jacky Jaan-Yuan Kuo and Wei Ting Tseng taking the form of a festival at UKS (Unge Kunstneres Samfund / Young Artists' Society). At the crux of The Split Waltz sits this image of the waltzing mother, abstracted into a spatial installation and a series of curated, site-specific performances, workshops, food, talks and concerts, examining how we are shaped by intimate and regulated, gendered spaces - and how they reappear as complex memories, feelings and sensual impressions.

Entirely electronic and played without loops or playback, stereå's set builds soundscapes, textures and rhythms that emerge in the moment: music with presence and pulse, searching but always with direction, moving freely between airy sounds and driving rhythms.

Akerselva Women's Choir brings their repertoire of peace songs, protest songs and songs of feminist community into the festival. The songs travel through different spaces of the UKS building, honoring the many forms of labor and the places where work happens.

Programme

Friday 04/12

19:00–19:30

Doors open

Special drink offered.

19:30–20:10

Prelude to Kjøkenbenkdrama

Anna Einemo Frøysland, Tora Skår Midtbø, Emilie Maria Karlsen Takla, Laura Lihua Nilsen and Jonas Evenstad

At the opening of the festival, choreographer Anna Einemo Frøysland and dancer Laura Lihua Nilsen, together with percussionist Jonas Evenstad, present the prelude to Kjøkenbenkdrama. Here the attentiveness of the kitchen is still sweet and innocent, a first look at what will grow into the main act on Saturday.

Performance

Free of charge

Saturday 05/12

14:00–17:00

Workshop with Blikkåpnerne

Blikkåpner Oslo is a group of fifteen young people, each representing one of Oslo's fifteen districts. Working in teams, they explore creative ways to introduce art and cultural experiences to other young people, drawing on their own experiences, interests and perspectives. As part of The Split Waltz, Blikkåpner Oslo invites you to an event in the kitchen at UKS.

Workshop

Free of charge. Open to everyone aged 16–19.

18:00–18:40

Kjøkenbenkdrama

Anna Einemo Frøysland in collaboration with Jonas Evenstad, Tora Skår Midtbø, Emilie Maria Karlsen Takla and Laura Lihua Nilsen

Kjøkenbenkdrama follows the mother in the kitchen – her attentiveness and raw energy of femme identity. Choreographed by Anna Einemo Frøysland and created in collaboration with percussionist Jonas Evenstad, the work brings dancers Tora Skår Midtbø, Emilie Maria Karlsen Takla and Laura Lihua Nilsen from the sweet and innocent toward something untamed and chaotic, testing how individual impulses can turn into a unified front.

Performance

19:00–20:00

Artist talk

Jacky Jaan-Yuan Kuo, Wei Ting Tseng and Anna Einemo Frøysland moderated by Heloisa Amaral

Over a bowl of soup, Jacky and Wei Ting share the stories and ideas behind the festival. Led by Heloisa Amaral (Ultima), the conversation explores the experiences and questions woven through the festival and its installations: Why a waltz, and why does it split? Whose labour is present, and who is usually left out of the picture? Is this a festival, an exhibition, or a dinner party that got out of hand?

The artist talk begins with a family recipe soup from southern Taiwan, brought by the artist duo Jacky and Wei Ting: a deep-flavoured vegetable broth, with rice dipped in the clear, heart-warming soup.

Talk

20:15–21:00

stereå

Åsmund Skjeldal Waage and Åsmund Kvarme Skuterud

The lectronica duo stereå is made up of Åsmund Skjeldal Waage on vibraphone and synths, and Åsmund Kvarme Skuterud on electronic percussion. Both are active jazz musicians in Oslo, sharing a curiosity for exploring electronic sound worlds through improvisation.

Their music lives at the intersection of art music and underground club music, shaped on the terms of the dance floor at venues like Hærverk, Villa and Hausmania.

Concert

Sunday 06/12

13:00–16:00

Be My Guest: Ji Jia

Visual artist Ji Jia

Be My Guest is an informal, open-hearted dining event where artists share their work and thoughts over a creative home-cooked meal. On Sunday 6 December, visual artist Ji Jia opens her kitchen for Northern Chinese pastry making and tasting. A lifelong pastry lover, she will guide you through some of her favorite pastries from growing up. Drop by for a bite, or sit down and make them together with her, just like at your grandparents’ house.

Open kitchen

Doors open at 12.00. Special pastry offered.

14:00–15:00

Akerselva Women's Choir

Akerselva kvinnekor (Akerselva Women's Choir) is a socialist and feminist choir that marked 10 years as an institution in 2026. Never tied to a single genre, the choir arranges many of its works with conductor Sølvi Elise Halvorsen and the choir's founder, Toril Hjorthol.

Texts and works by women writers and composers are also an important part of the repertoire. The songs travel through different spaces of the UKS building, honouring the many forms of labour and the places where work happens.

Concert

About the curators

Jacky Jaan-Yuan Kuo works between Taipei and Oslo. He works with installations, sculptures, sound, and collaborative storytelling. Much of his work circles around traces left behind: by family, by cities, by things that were said or misremembered.

Wei Ting Tseng was also born in Taiwan. She plays the cello, composes, listens, and rarely separates one from the other. She moves between contemporary, improvised, and early music, drawn to how sound bends space. She is figuring out how to express herself in various art forms, guided by the ways space, history, and acoustics shape her, and vice versa.

They work together in the loose space between sound, memory, and perception. Their collaborations wander through installation, performance, and shared readings, following how narratives migrate, change shape, and return.

Artistic concept and installation

Jacky Jaan-Yuan Kuo
Wei Ting Tseng

Choreography

Anna Einemo Frøysland

Music

Jonas Evenstad
stereå
Akerselva kvinnekor conducted by Sølvi Elise Halvorsen

Artist, cooking and hosting, "Be My Guest"

Ji Jia

Moderator

Heloisa Amaral

Produced by

Young Artists' Society

Supported by

Sparebankstiftelsen DNB

Jacky Jaan-Yuan Kuo & Wei Ting Tseng