Review: Rakkaus

Love has many uses


Helsinki Dance Company and Ari Numminen did not freeze their heads when the theme and title of the new work were chosen to be Love. On the one hand, this topic has been discussed to the point of boredom in both art and entertainment, on the other hand, there is always something new on the subject, if not elsewhere, then in the way it is implemented.

With five dancers, the performance sings and dances love, tells love stories, has fun and even gets a little gloomy. The pace gets pulling at times, sometimes on a wide and slow path. Sometimes they dance courtship dancing like capercaillies or horses, sometimes they surrender to an oriental-tuned hip swing.

There is no need to present anything deeper or deeper about love, because it tells itself.

However, Numminen and HDC weave an approach to their treatment of love that appeals to young people in particular. The performance is a precise implementation for young viewers. Its language and love stories have been designed with young people in mind and ears.


Love is a performance that is intended to be recycled in schools and educational institutions. The nature of the touring performance can be seen in the external framework of the performance and, in a nice sense, in the lack of finishing. During the performance, there are no gimmicks with lighting, but more so with changing costumes. Easy-to-carry boxes and a small platform on wheels are used as sets.

The performers, Jenni-Elina Lehto, Kai Lähdesmäki, Heidi Naakka, Mikko Paloniemi and Eero Vesterinen , get to transform into many characters dressed in many ways during the party, which lasts less than an hour. They sing a cappella, dance together and alone.

Lehto, in particular, gives great performances as a teenager who speaks some incomprehensible flap and as an entertainer dressed in a gorilla mask. Lehto brings out a hilarious comedy of herself. Vesterinen’s movement is magical as always.