The Laughing Crowd

Pop-up Dance during Malmö Gallery Weekend

Laughter can bring people together. It can be joyful, liberating and contagious, but it can also be uncomfortable, uncontrollable and reveal power dynamics within a group. What happens when we let go of control and make room for the wild, the awkward, the excessive and the unfiltered? 

Using both dance and voice, the eight performers explore laughter beyond its familiar meanings. As laughter spreads through bodies, sounds and relationships, it unfolds into a rich landscape of emotions. The performers stretch, distort, magnify and transform laughter, revealing laughing not as the expression of a singular emotion, but as a complex human expression capable of holding and releasing a wide range of emotional states. 

The musicality and power of laughter

Moving between the energy of the crowd and the vulnerability of the individual, The Laughing Crowd celebrates the pleasure, intimacy and collective energy that can emerge through laughter, while also exposing its more unsettling and ambiguous sides. The performance invites you to look at laughter with fresh eyes and open senses, discovering its physicality, musicality and social power. 

As an audience member, you are invited to move freely through the space and choose your own perspective within the unfolding experience. Surrounded by laughter in all its shades, you become part of a shared landscape of affect, resonance and human connection. 

A playful, moving and thought-provoking celebration of one of our most fundamental human expressions. 

Practical Information

• The Laughing Crowd is performed on the roof of parking garage Fullriggaren on Slupens gränd in Västra hamnen, accross the street from Skånes Dansteater. 
• The performance lasts approximately 60 mins.
• To access the roof there are stairs and an elevator at the entrance to the parking garage on Slupens gränd.
• In case of rain the performance moves in under the roof of the parking garage. 
• The space is shared by performers and audience with no designated stage or audience area. This means that the dancers might come close to you during the performance.
• You are welcome to sit, stand and move around during the performance. 

Malmö Gallery Weekend

What is now known as Malmö Gallery Weekend began in 1997 as “Gallery Night” and has since been an annual highlight for all art lovers, as galleries and art institutions open their doors together during the last full weekend of September. Gallery Weekend is free for all visitors and takes place September 25–27, 2026.