Charlotte Engelkes is national and internationally active as a director, choreographer, and artist. Her repertoire covers dance, theatre, opera, and performance. Characterized by an unrestrained genre mix, a personal appeal, warm humour, and surprising conclusions.

Engelkes has been touring all over the world and performed at most of Europe’s international dance and theatre festivals. Her own works include SWEET, MISS VERY WAGNER, BLACK HOLE- A QUANTUM PHYSICAL VAUDEVILLE, KAHLO –THE CONCERT, SIEGFRIED -THE VERY WAGNER HERO HOUR, KAHLO THE CONCERT, MY MOM- A DOCUMENTARY MUSICAL.  

Engelkes has been a dancer and member of Sasha Waltz & Guests since 2003. Most recently toured with Dido & Aeneas and EXODUS. She has collaborated with composer Heiner Goebbels, choreographer Raimund Hoghe and director Ong Keng Sen for extended periods. Engelkes toured Hamlet with the Tiger Lillies music group since 2005.

She directed FLYING DUTCHMAN and BERGMAN, inspired GLÄDJEN at Helsingborgs Stadsteater, performed her own version of MISS JULIE – THE MUSICAL at Dramaten and guest played The Baltic Sea Festival with MISS VERY WAGNER. She drew a crowded house at the Royal Opera with VERY WAGNERIAN NIGHT and her GULDET ( THE GOLD) performance for children 5 onwards inspired by Wagner’s opera DAS RHEINGOLD has played over 100 performances at the Stockholm City Theater and at the Malmö Opera.  The dance piece LOHENGRIN DREAMS premiered at Norrlandsoperan in 2019, performances in Dansens Hus and toured with Dansnät Sverige and to Radial System Berlin 2020.  

Engelkes awarded Expressen’s Music Prize Spelmannen in 2012. Sachefonden’s Fellow 2017.

”Charlotte Engelkes is a primitive power. She skips doubt, borders, and mastery. Engelkes steps right through all kinds of prohibitions and taboos. She is a red-haired exclamation mark that runs like a sharp knife through all she embarks on with her mix of performance art, burlesque, and dance.” Svenska Dagbladet (SE)

AVAILABLE WORKS 2022-2023: 

TRANSPLANTATION – A LOVING DANCE AT A CELLULAR LEVEL
November 19, 2021 is the premiere of Charlotte Engelkes’s latest work TRANSPLANTATION at Norrlandsoperan in Umeå (SE). Together with dancer, choreographer, and drag king, Sofia Södergård, a performance about identity, existence, death, and rebirth emerges.
The performance TRANSPLANTATION starts from Engelkes’ experience of her own bone marrow transplant and invites us into an organic greenhouse where gardeners grow hearts for new planting. Two characters seek their similarities, but who really donates what to whom? Where do I stop and do you start? Like the famous love story between Tristan and Isolde where the old must die in order for the two of them to finally become one. Engelkes and Södergård create a life-affirming variety show with dance, cultivation tips, music, standup, comedy and drama, passion – and Wagner.

In February 2022, TRANSPLANTATION was shown at Dansens Hus in Stockholm (SE) ) and in the fall of 2022, the production will go on tour with Dancenet Sweden.  More info here.

Direction and concept: Charlotte Engelkes Choreography: Sofia Södergård On stage: Charlotte Engelkes and Sofia Södergård Music, sound design: Willi Bopp, The Norrlandsoperan Symphony Orchestra Lighting design and scenography: Karl Svensson Costume design: Anna Ardelius

MY MOTHER- A MUSICAL DOCUMENTARY
A celebration to all mothers in the shape of a new genre, documentary-musical. It explores how to bring documentary material and performing arts together in the space between personal and global issues. Premiere 28 October 2016.

MISS JULIE- THE MUSICAL
Engelkes’ version of Strindberg’s classic play is called musical to emphasize that it is not only a tragedy. Engelkes plays a dangerous and strong Julie in search of kicks and attention and meets Andreas Rothlin Svensson in the role of illusionist Jean. With drastic humour, they throw us into the long Swedish summer night and the magic of seduction. MISS JULIE – THE MUSICAL was originally made for Hamburg Schauspielhaus.

“She (Charlotte Engelkes) and Rothlin Svensson are, in the midst of the frenzy, the finest duo I have seen at Dramaten in a long time. They express the awkwardness and lust of love, the individual’s eternal lack of courage and the loneliness of the closeness so that one could actually cry if one were not so busy laughing”  Expressen (SE)