Care for a spontan dance beer?

Mikkeller, People Like Us, Royal Danish Ballet dancers, Aaron Dessner and Henrik Vibskov unite in a unique dance beer collaboration: Spontan Goes Spontan.

Bjarke Østergaard is autistic and has ADHD - and is really good at dancing. He was given up on by the system and declared “not suitable to work”. Now he’s the World’s first brewery dancer - and he works at the Danish brewery People Like Us, doing marketing on a special dance beer series through dancing.

“I love the feeling I get when I dance; to feel the tempo and that everything runs smooth”, says Bjarke Østergaard.

Mikkeller are close supporters and business mentors of People Like Us, which besides brewing craft beer creates jobs for people from socially marginalized groups. 90 percent of their 60 employees have a diagnosis. Mikkel Borg Bjergsø, founder and CEO of Mikkeller joined the Spontan Goes Spontan project both because it is fun and important.

“People Like Us I such a great company doing very important work. In many people’s minds, breweries are mainly producers of products to be put on the shelves. One day you buy one product, the next another. For the last 14 years I’ve been working on changing the beer world and one of the ways of doing this is by bringing new elements into play – and to embrace and endorse the diverse. I like to be part of creating an experience surrounding the product and this is for sure one of those cases”, says Mikkel Borg Bjergsø.

Spontan beer for a spontan dance

“Spontan Goes Spontan is a great collaboration between various artists and breweries to create a full experience surrounding the beer and share the story of Brewery Dancer Bjarke. It also shows that dance is a universal language. Just like beer”, says Carling Talcott-Steenstra, dancer at the Royal Danish Ballet, who joined the project because of her love for beer, the Mikkeller universe, and the admirable goal of People Like Us.

She got Royal Ballet Choreographer Sebastian Kloborg involved in the project and along with Brewery Dancer Bjarke Østergaard, they developed the choreography and came up with ideas for the style of beer.

“We started talking about what style of dance and what style of beer, and because we are inspired by freestyle and contemporary dance, I thought, why not do a Spontan?”, says Carling Talcott-Steenstra.

The dancer also reached out to friends of Mikkeller, Danish designer Henrik Vibskov, who contributed to the collaboration with costumes, and Aaron Dessner from The American rock band the National, who has composed the music for the choreography.

“Growing up, I was surrounded by ballet as my sister was a serious ballerina and later a modern dancer. I’ve always had a love for dance and the role music plays in it. My brother (editor’s note: Bryce Dessner, the National) and I have often collaborated with dancers and choreographers. I also understand the mission of People Like Us as I didn’t exactly fit into a specific path. I was lucky to be able to craft my own over time. The opportunity to collaborate with brilliant dancers, choreographers and my favorite brewery in the world is too much to pass up!”, says Dessner.

SPONTAN GOES SPONTANThe craziest dance beer project so far!

Featuring: Mikkeller x People Like Us x Bjarke Østergaard (Brewery Dancer) x Carling Talcott-Steenstra (dancer at the Danish Royal Ballet) x Sebastian Kloborg (choreographer) x Aaron Dessner (music) x Henrik Vibskov (costumes).

Spontan Goes Spontan is a sour ale brewed with Bergamot, aged in oak barrels, which will be available at Social Revolution By Beer Festival.

LAUNCH PERFORMANCE: Friday, March 6th, at Social Revolution By Beer Festival

Join the #socialrevolutionbybeer! Secure your tickets for the beer festival to experience the Spontan Goes Spontan launch performance and enjoy crazy amounts of good craft beer here.

The beer will be available at the festival this weekend and at select Mikkeller locations plus the Mikkeller and People Like Us webshop from next week.