Review: (re)use

Helsinki City Theatre – (re)use


The Elsa stage of the Helsinki City Theatre has been decorated as an art gallery in choreographer Kenneth Kvarnström’s new (re)use. According to the name, which refers to reuse, the dance material is largely old material that has been tuned up to be new. The City Theatre’s dance group HDC empathizes and makes an impact.

The audience walks around the space, as is customary in a gallery. This time, the artworks are people walking among the audience. During the dance, which requires space, the audience sits on the chairs on the walls, but everyone is asked to change seats from time to time.

Kvarnström wants to create a personal experience for each viewer. No one else sees the work from the exact angle where I happened to sit. In addition, the curtain that sometimes closes between the viewers concretely prevents you from seeing what is happening on the other side. Of course, it’s hard not to peek at the curious, and the curtain feels like a little teasing.

The Elsa stage has plenty of space for dancers, spectators and a few sets. Some of the clothes needed for the performance can fit on the stage. And, of course, a glass cube in which the dancers sometimes dance. So there is more space, than usually in galleries where dance shows are performed. Breaking the stage space works in a way.

However, the hall is a performance space, not a white-walled, bright gallery. The black walls intensify the atmosphere, and Vesa Ellilä’s lights guide the gaze. When the spot lights up on the floor, the spectators sitting in it urgently know to move further away from the dancers.

However, the best thing is the opportunity to see the dancers up close, on the same level. Their charge hits you directly when you sit almost within touching distance.

The dancers don’t seem to be affected by the special space, at least not negatively. They empathize and dance in earnest.

The trio of Kenneth Bruun Carlson, Kai Lähdesmäki and Janne Marja-aho is powerful. Sofia Karlsson and Terhi Vaimala dance as soft princesses, with a crazy gleam in their eyes and knives in their hands. The scale of these dancers is wide.

There is no story or even one theme in the work. The viewers’ interest is maintained by changing spaces and places and changing outfits. The atmosphere is guided by a soundscape for which the choreographer has chosen a variety of music.

Sometimes I recognize a special sequence of movements or remember a performance outfit. Still, (Re)use is its own, new work, and the viewer should not ponder the old ones.

Kvarnström’s movement language is always related to his previous works. Dance touches even if it’s the viewer’s first time.

This is Kvarnström’s farewell book about the group’s leadership. In the autumn, the group will be led by the next director, Jyrki Karttunen.