Red Desert Swan - the idea orginates from the the stage trilogy production (2012-2019) by director, dancer, choreographer and producer Ella Fiskum.

Background:

Ella Fiskum hails from Trondheim, Norway. She studied classical ballet at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts, privately under Natalia Papina in St. Petersburg, Russia, and Norway, and at The John Cranko Schule in Stuttgart, Germany.

After working extensively as a contemporary dancer for several choreographers and companies in Norway and Canada from 1991, she founded the dance company Ella Fiskum Danz in 2000 working both as a choreographer, dancer, performer, director, and producer.

In 2002 she started working with film. She has created over 17 full length stage productions performed in US, Mexico, Morocco, Russia, India, Iceland and Norway.

Ella Fiskum has made 2 short films and a documentary series (10 episodes). Her films have been invited to festivals and venues in Mexico and the US, and have been screened at a movie theatre in Norway.

In 2012 Fiskum relocated to a farm in Eina, Toten, outside of Oslo for the purpose of starting R.E.D., an international arena for art and culture, and a production house for dance and film of which she is running. In 2015 she initiated the annual RIFF, R.E.D. International Film Festival – dance –art –cinema.

R.E.D. has been supported by Innlandet County since 2014, and is now a Regional Competence Centre for Dance (since 2018) funded by the Government since 2020.

Ella Fiskum was awarded Oppland County’s working grant for 2017, Vestre Toten Cultural prize for 2019, Oppland Arbeidersblad’s Culture Name in 2020, and is currently a recipient of Arts Council Norway 5 year working grant 2021-2025.