Review: Sukka, Nukka ja Tuulispää
Dance Theatre Tsuumi reaches the children’s audience in a funny dance fairy tale.
Tsuumi, which has been in theatre for fifteen years, has sought competent support for its first performance for children. The story of Sukka, Nukka ja Tuulispää is written by Eppu Nuotio and the music is composed by Anna Anttonen . In addition, Kurt Nuotio has directed Johanna Elovaara’s choreographies into a compact package.
On stage, you will see Tsuumi’s strong performers, who will dance contemporary dance spiced with folk dance and also sing along. Jamming musician Jarno Tastula conjures up fast-paced rhythms from any instrument to dance and sing. The music changes the moods, but also connects the scenes into a whole.
Tastula begins the performance like a poet, he tells the background of the story and leads us to the future. The whole group soon joins the song poem. At first, you have to listen carefully to the words so that nothing misses your ears. It is the story of three sisters who embark on different paths in their lives. The sisters are played by Unna Kitti , Salla Korja-Paloniemi and Kaisa Pesonen . With them, viewers are led to the events by Pekka Louhio and Samuli Nordberg .
In the end, the story of three siblings doesn’t really matter. The performers freshly engage the child audience in imaginative scenes. The children also get to speak, they get to invent animals, which the performers then imitate. In the performance I saw, the dancers bent at least into jellyfish and foxes. At the same time, Tastula conjured up life in the animals with his mandolin.
The beginning of the pram
In the middle of the stage was a giant pram. The programme reveals that the carriages designed and implemented by Terhi Kaakinen are the source of inspiration for the entire work.
It may have been the initial impetus, but the carriage itself feels even a little outside in the colourfully meandering performance. However, poplar wooden carts and especially their carriage part can be transformed into many things. They become a mountain to climb. When you remove the canopy, you can see a boat on the stage. At first, it is a rowing boat, but it turns into a sailing ship. Sound effects can be heard splashing water. When the sound of the water becomes more closed, the dancers also turn into fish. With reflective mirrors in their hands, viewers believe that the fish are swimming in the depths. The frightening snake wriggling in the sky is revealed to be a pike in the song, but it doesn’t matter that much either. The main things are a happy atmosphere and performers that captivate the audience.
Every now and then, one of the three women returns to the original story and wonders where the sisters are.
Because even though everyone has their own direction and mission, it’s great to be together. Differences colour this story as well and create an experience for children that can be pondered for a long time.