Review: Tunteet, tunteet

Emotions are bubbling on the beach of youth

On the small stage of the Helsinki City Theatre, you can see a misty and beautiful sandy beach. Because the dancers of the dance group Helsinki Dance Company (HDC) take the audience to the innocence of youth and the intensity of a new world of experiences.

HDC’s Emotions, Emotions is aesthetically guaranteed HDC. Samuli Laine , who is responsible for the lighting and set design, has done a beautiful, romantically wistful job. The ensemble is completed by Tuomas Fränti’s sound design and Karoliina Koiso-Kanttila’s costume design.

HDC has top dancers at its disposal, but Jyrki Karttunenhas not aimed for the most spectacular dance expression in his choreography. I would have liked a more technical choreography in a couple of scenes.

This is the case, for example , in the moving scene performed by Anne Hiekkaranta, Sofia Hill and Heidi Naakka  wearing their acquaintances . On the other hand , Eero Vesterinen’s bunny girl solo, which ends predictably tragically from the animal’s point of view, makes the viewer overwhelmed with delight.

Emotions, Emotions continues HDC’s great tradition, where humor is skillfully rhythmic with serious. Even though I hate coarseness, not even fart humor could dilute my crush.

The working group has also included text in the performance, and it has a director, Juhana von Bagh. The dance performance now has a lot of features of contemporary theatre, which is refreshing in the Helsinki City Theatre’s repertoire.