Alexander Ekman is one of the most celebrated choreographers working today — roughly 50 works, performed by nearly as many companies across the world, and a reputation for being as demanding as he is brilliant. Hammer, his meditation on ego, self-image, and the cost of being chronically online, premiered at Göteborg Opera in October 2022 to sold-out houses and has been touring internationally since.

I spent four months in Sweden embedded in the development of the piece — working alongside Alex and the dramaturg on concept and narrative structure, collaborating with costume designer Henrik Vibskov on the visual world of the work, and developing a marketing campaign and printed zine distributed across Gothenburg.

I was in the rehearsal room daily, pitching ideas for movement concepts, narrative direction, set design and props — many of which made it into the piece. I worked with Henrik Vibskov one-on-one to develop and assign costumes to each dancer. When the production hit creative roadblocks, I was the person in the room helping find a way through. Ekman would always make the final call, I just made sure there were always good options on the table.