Ingrid Lorentzen

Since taking the helm as Artistic Director of the National Ballet in 2012, Ingrid Lorentzen has revitalized the Norwegian National Ballet and enhanced the visibility and position of ballet in Norway. She has distinguished herself with numerous successful commissioned works, and by launching a systematic initiative aimed at promoting female choreographers. Under her guidance, the Norwegian National Ballet has also visited cities like Paris, Madrid, St. Petersburg, Moscow, London, Vienna, Berlin, The Hague, Hong Kong and Shanghai. 

After many years as a principal dancer with the Norwegian National Ballet, Lorentzen was appointed Artistic Director in 2012. In a review, The Financial Times wrote: ‘In a demonstration of notable creativity, Ingrid Lorentzen, Norwegian National Ballet’s new director, has scheduled five world premieres for her debut programme’. Among the choreographers she has since commissioned to create new works are Alexander Ekman with A Swan Lake in 5,000 liters of water on stage and the dance installation Rooms, Alan Lucien Øyen with The Hamlet Complex, Timelapse ,Petrusjka and Nothing Personal, Jo Strømgren with Stigma and Hunger, Marit Moum Aune and Cina Espejord with Ibsen’s Ghost and Marit Moum Aune’s Hedda Gabler and The Wild Duck.  

 
The Norwegian National Ballet works closely with the choreographic legend Jiří Kylián and is now the company with the largest number of his ballets in its repertoire, demonstrated the 2025 Kylian festival Wings of Time. Under Lorentzen’s direction, the company have also danced works by major choreographers such as William Forsythe, Sol León and Paul Lightfoot, Christel Pite and Christian Spuck. 

Lorentzen appointed Alan Lucien Øyen and Jo Strømgren as house choreographers, and since 2019 Marit Moum Aune has been house director. Lorentzen also developed the company’s choreography initiative Artemisia, aimed at offering aspiring choreographers equal opportunities regardless of gender. It is now a decade ago since she launched a new company for young dancers – Norwegian National Ballet 2 – with the aim of securing and nurturing the greatest Norwegian and international talents under the auspices of the Oslo Opera House. 

As a dancer, Lorentzen has distinguished herself in both the classical repertoire, including as Odette and Odile in Swan Lake, and in modern works by contemporary choreographers like Jiří Kylián, Jo Strømgren, Sol León and Paul Lightfoot. Additionally, she has been involved in a range of artistic productions beyond the Oslo Opera House as a creator, dancer and actress. In 2001, she received the Norwegian Dance Critics Award for her role in Kim Brandstrup’s work Place of Stone and in 2004 received the Telenor ‘Boundless Communication’ Culture Prize. She has held several roles with Arts Council Norway and has chaired the jury for the International Ibsen Award since 2019 and the Fedora Van Cleef and Arpels Dance Prize since 2022. From August 2025, she serves at Non-Executive Director to the Board of Scottish Ballet.