Review: Apospasmata

IN THE GRIP OF A VIOLENT GAME

Helsinki Dance Company’s new premiere work Apospasmata evokes conflicting impressions. On the one hand, when looking at the work, one thinks that a similar theme, i.e. the relationship between the big city and violence, has been dealt with a lot in dance as well as in other arts. On the other hand, the final scene of the work is so great that it completely removes the doubts that have arisen in the mind.
The choreography of the work is a collaboration between Greek Andonis Foniadakis and a dance company. Foniadakis (b. 1971) currently lives in Lyon, France, where he has his own group, Apotosoma Dance Co. Previously, she has worked as a dancer in Maurice Bejart’s troupe, among others, and has since visited as a choreographer in the United States and various European countries.
The music for the work is by the Frenchman Julien Tarride. Music is a sound carpet made by machines. It is an essential element of the work, which creates not only sonic but also spatial effects. Through music, the work gets the feel of a big city through various effects. They include the roar of heavy machinery, sirens or the sounds of the subway.
Tarride also combines an organic female vocal voice with machine-produced tunes. The most intense part is the rhythmic movement created by the various percussion instruments. Tarride’s soundscape is one of the most profitable departments of the work.

Impersonal darkness

Apospasmata means excerpts, parts, pieces. The work is divided into parts, the first of which focus on physical fervor and violent urban behaviour – albeit in a relatively suggestive way.
Unlike, for example, Kenneth Kvarnström’s early works for a dance group, Apospasmata does not aestheticize harshness and violence by using purified, crystallized and streamlined movement elements.

In Apospasmatata , the movement is more of a quick hiss, even hissing with lifts and rotations, which are not done in a controlled manner. This is a good choice, because violence is smudged. It doesn’t always need to be aestheticized to be beautiful.
Also interesting is the impersonality of the dancers, which is not characteristic of the group in question. In this work, the dancers do not have a concrete face, as they are covered with black tights. In the beginning, everyone, both men and women, also wear long-haired wigs, which also makes them genderless.
The visual appearance of the work is very dark, which suits the theme. The dancers in one scene dance naked, so their skin color combined with the darkish space creates subtle tones. In the second scene, the fluorescent lights flicker at a tempo that matches the rhythm of the music.

A new beginning

The movement rolls in a continuous stream as nine dancers form different body compositions and piles. Describing violence and the mentality of the big city as impersonal does not in itself give new impulses for thinking or experiencing, especially since the movement material of the work is by no means exceptional contemporary dance.
But just for the sake of the final scene, the work is worth seeing. It downright hurts.
After a violent scene that has risen to a climax, there are two naked dancers on the bare stage, Valtteri Raekallio and Jenni-Elina Lehto. They represent some kind of utopia of the new man.
The movement of the scene is the most interesting thing in the work. It has ugliness, animal-likeness, innocence, but also points of contact with the imagery of different religions.
The scene causes even more shivers when red marks start to appear on the dancers.
As if full of bloody wounds, they face a world that ultimately seems to offer nothing but violent play. Pathetic, perhaps, but very impressive.