Fast, light, precise, crazy and playful
Music inspired me to explore the opposites and kinship within the performance
Fast, light, precise, crazy, playful. This is how choreographer Carl Knif describes the new choreography Two-Colour Fugue, based on Dmitri Shostakovich’s piano music, the theme of which is the different experiences of the performance.
Knif became acquainted with Shostakovich’s preludes and fugue 10 years ago. Already on the first listen, I was fascinated by the timeless beauty and austerity of the form. The music remained haunting his subconscious, and Knif thought he would like to take it up as a choreographer one day.
However, the music did not fit into the earlier works. In them, Knif has used text, and there has been a certain theatricality in the works, which he decided to leave out when he started creating The Two-Color Fugue. The common thread of the choreography was found in Shostakovich’s piano music.
“The goal has been to find a fresh way of approaching music, as well as a more playful approach and a more sprawling language to the choreography. That it doesn’t have to be so tied to form or a certain aesthetic,” Knif says.
The two-colour fugue is the first choreography that Knif has made for classical music. He admits that the choreography has been challenged by the tendency of classical music to dominate or define scenes. It has been important to find my own relationship with music and my own way of using it.
“When you don’t work with the plot, there are no psychological cues created by speech or narratives, and you have to find your own directions, the aesthetics of the work and the rules you follow here,” Knif says.
From the form of music to the idea of the theme
Shostakovich’s preludes and fugues always begin with an introductory section, in which the theme of the piece is brought out in different tones. After this, the structure of the music can vary greatly, but the theme continues to appear throughout the song. The form of music has served as an inspiration for the theme of the choreography.
“I’ve been thinking about the kind of dualism and duality that exists in preludes and fugues. Its relationship to opposites and parallels,” Knif explains.
Therefore, the relationships discussed in the work are related to the opposites and kinships within the performance. These include, for example, the performer in relation to the work, the performer as the material of the work, and the different spaces of the performance, such as the auditorium–stage, the stage–side space. Relationships are used to try to access different experiences of encountering the work and being inside the performance.
The performance utilizes three levels, which is also reflected in the costume design. The private level is close to the private clothing of the performers or spectators. The visuality of real-time performance manifests itself in dance performance clothing. Knif calls the third elevated level the world of art or the illusion of art. It can be seen in black, velvety, covering and heavy suits.
Improvisational method as part of choreography creation
The abstract theme of the choreography is mainly reflected in the movement language, which has been honed in the rehearsals together with the dancers. The choreography utilizes a method based on improvisation developed by Knif.
Knif gives the dancers improvisation tasks and movement phrases, and scenes are created from these two different directions. How much freedom the dancer has to interpret and react and how much is pre-decided varies from scene to scene.
“In the end, the proposals are probably not very different from each other. The action is quite regulated due to the length of the scenes,” Knif explains.
The performance features seven dancers, four of whom Knif has worked with for a long time. For the dancers of the Helsinki City Theatre, Knif’s method based on improvisation has been new.
“It’s been inspiring and great to work with new people and see how people feed each other. This is a joint expedition that everyone has embarked on with an open mind.”
Ida Henritius