Our dance group, Helsinki Dance Company, brings one of the few classics of Finnish contemporary dance to the Small Stage. Kenneth Kvarnström’s no-no premiered at Helsinki City Theatre in autumn 1996, ushering in a new era of powerfully physical contemporary dance. This year, we celebrate the work’s 30-year journey with a new version for nine dancers.

 

Balancing extreme physicality with sensual poetry, no-no unfolds as an intense ritual of movement that speaks to both body and soul. It is a dance work that does not explain its themes. It places its trust in dance that expresses itself, in and of itself.

Equal partners with Kenneth Kvarnström’s movement language in creating this total work of art are Jens Sethzman’s lighting and spatial design, and the music, which carries the dancers from ecstatic physicality towards a sacred, transcendent sensitivity.

Premiered by Helsinki City Theatre’s dance group in 1996, no-no transformed Finnish contemporary dance and captivated audiences both in Finland and on tour across Europe. The work was last performed at Helsinki City Theatre to sold-out audiences in 2008.