Review: (re)use

Kvarnström’s movement folds into a vortex



(re)use is the third part of Kenneth Kvarnström’s series of works about the viewing event. At the same time, it is the choreographer’s last work for Helsinki Dance Company as the company’s artistic director.

Inevitably, the work is seen as a kind of closure, a farewell. However, there is a strong taste of the new in the work, despite the idea of recycling old works.

(re)use brings parts of Kvarnström’s previous works from 20 years to the stage space alongside the new. The oldest shot is from the work … that was all I wanted, so I stuck my finger in his eye… (1991) and the most recent works (play) (2011) and YOUMAKEME (2011). However, everything looks different when the sections have been compiled into a completely new entity.

The concrete event of viewing is highlighted in the work. The normal composition of Studio Elsa has been broken down, and the space has been turned into a dancing gallery. Chairs will circle all the walls, and the audience will be able to choose their seats or sit on the floor. There are also display cases with props from previous performances. The costumes are also recycled.

Differently from different directions

The gallery-like nature is emphasized especially in the early part, when the dancers are placed on display in different parts of the performance space. Spectators are allowed to move around until they are asked to sit down. During the evening, you will also be asked to change seats.

In other words, viewers see differently, from different directions. During the performance, the space is also split in half with a curtain, so you can only guess what is happening on the other side of the curtain.

To cover, to show, to offer a close-up, to take you further away – all these variations related to viewing are concretised in the performance. At the same time, the material physicality of dance and movement is brought closer, and what has been seen before looks different when viewed up close.

The effectiveness of Kvarnström’s movement is effective and fascinating. The five dancers sometimes become a common body, whose trajectories are like a wind or a whirlwind. The choreographer’s skill of making the dancers dance together into a continuous fold is extremely fascinating. On the other hand, Kvarnström manages the stop, where the bodies of individual dancers nevertheless vibrate in movement.