Review: no-no

Kvarnström’s no-no shakes even as a remake

I saw Kenneth Kvarnström’s first no-no for the dance group of the Helsinki City Theatre 12 years ago. It was the opening work of his two-year time as the leader of the dance company, and for that reason alone, it was interesting in advance.

Now no-no comes again and again as a kind of opening work. Kvarnström ended his four-year term as director of Dansens Hus in Stockholm at the turn of the year, and no-no is his first choreographic work since then. According to him, it is also the only one of his works that he wanted to do again.

However, it is not exactly a question of reconstructing the former work. In the original version, there were seven dancers, now there are ten. Kvarnström has also made some additions to the choreography. However, the content, the movement language, the subject matter and the whole are the same.

Passing the time is even an advantage

Right off the bat, it must be said that at least time has not invalidated anything about the work. Quite the opposite. If the Islam and Arabic music of the performance once emphasized mysticism and the mysterious beauty of the unknown, now the experiential perspective is more harrowing and emphasizes people and the easily vulnerable, but extremely important contact between them.

The performance begins on an almost dark stage slowly, as if flowing underwater, then explodes into an energy split by the beams of light, and culminates in a frantic African-toned ritual at the end, the rhythm and speed of which stretch the dancers’ physical endurance to the limit.

Although no-no is an abstract work based on movement in itself, it has a lot of appeal. The intimacy and touch between two people has the effect of an electric shock, and the movement language of some episodes, and especially the inwardly curled pain of the black-clad Inka Tiitinen’s solo, cannot be viewed without thinking about the war and the losses it causes.

Like Kvarnström, the work is also very aesthetic, wonderfully breathable in terms of movement, precise and finished.

Effortless dancing

Of the ten dancers, Unto Nuora and Kai Lähdesmäki were also involved in the first version. Both they and the rest of the group danced wonderfully. There is air and emotion in the movements and the dance is controlled without any effort.

The black and white of Jens Sethzman’s set and lights and Sari Salmela’s costumes is at once harsh and soft, and very multi-layered in its simplicity.

No-no is not an unambiguous work anyway, but allows for an interpretation that moves in many directions. It is both timeless and firmly in the present at the same time. In other words, it is a true classic.