Hooman Sharifi

The choreographer Hooman Sharifi (NO) was born in Tehran in 1973 and came alone to Norway at the age of 15. His dancing career began with hip-hop in his teens and continued with classical and modern ballet in his twenties. He graduated in choreography at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts and is particularly interested in the artistic expression found at the intersection between dance, theater and visual arts. In 2000, he founded his own company, Impure Company, which in its art focuses on social engagement and politics and has created over thirty dance works since its inception. Physically challenging, intense and powerful, Sharifi’s movement language explores the emotions and structures behind hierarchies, power, political systems and violence, through precise movements and stage effects.

From 2014 to 2018, Sharifi was artistic director of Norway’s national contemporary dance company, Carte Blanche in Bergen, where he programmed works such as Birthmark, We Are Here Together, Soufflette and Jerada. His own works include Shadows Remain Silent, which premiered on Den Norske Opera’s main stage in 2014, and While They Are Floating. Sharifi has collaborated with several large institutions and his works have achieved great success in Norway and internationally.