Birds of Paradise
Tiia Kasurinen’s Birds of Paradise draws on the courtship dances of birds of paradise, show wrestling, love songs and longing. The choreographic work shows how both birds and humans construct seductive rituals to be noticed, accepted and chosen. The end result is a physical and playful performance that examines power, gender roles and vulnerability.
In addition to bird courtship dances, Bird of Paradise is inspired by the stereotypical masculinity of humans: show wrestling, martial arts, boy bands, princes and club culture. On stage, we will see four utopian birds of paradise, whose costumes are from costume designer Leevi Ikäheimo’s No Pain No Glamour collection, which explores hypermasculinity.
Birds of Paradise is the stage repertoire of the Contemporary Performance. The Contemporary Performance Stage in Studio Pasila brings new forms of performing arts into the Helsinki City Theatre’s repertoire and creates unique encounters between a permanent professional theatre and independent operators.
An early version of Birds of Paradise attracted international interest as early as 2024, when it was selected for the finals of the Danse Élargie choreography competition in Paris – the first Finnish work in the history of the competition. Kasurinen graduated from the Stockholm University of the Arts in 2017 with a degree in dance. Her choreographies have been performed at Dance Base in Yokohama, Japan, and at the One Dance Festival in Bulgaria, among others. At Inkonst in Sweden, as well as at the Helsinki Festival and Zodiak – Center for New Dance. Through her works, Kasurinen explores identity, gender and pop culture. The Internet and its various forms are an important source of inspiration for him.
Supporters and partners: Kone Foundation, Finnish Cultural Foundation, Institut Finlandais, pARTir, Dansé Elargie, Zodiak – Center for New Dance / Loisto, Helsinki City Theatre’s Contemporary Performance Stage
Residencies: Cité Internationale des Arts, Atelier De Paris, Saari Residence, Helsinki City Theatre’s Contemporary Performance Stage
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