The surreal Blood Wedding, which combines flamenco and contemporary dance, looks at the present day through Lorca’s eyes
The premiere of the spring season of the Helsinki City Theatre’s dance group Helsinki Dance Company is Blood Wedding, a combination of flamenco and contemporary dance with the renowned Compañía Kaari & Roni Martin. The work will premiere at Studio Pasila on 24 January. Inspired by the life and work of Federico García Lorca, the performance is poignantly topical, as it creates points of contact with Spain in the 1930s and the artists’ escape from war.
“Avant-garde artists such as Lorca, Dalí and Buñuel lived in Europe at a time when poetry was a weapon and when artists were persecuted. Together, they created surrealist art, the images of which crystallized the present time and which already foreshadowed the coming conflagration of the world. Dali and Buñuel fled and Lorca was executed as a prelude to the Spanish Civil War. The Wedding of Blood is dedicated to those artists who plunge into the horns of the bull,” says the trio of Atro Kahiluoto, Kaari Martin and Roni Martin, who are responsible for directing the work.
“The Wedding of Blood is our covenant with overeating and self-deception, senseless consumption and indifference. It is an autopsy of the humanity of animals and the animality of humans,” the trio describes.
The performance features the Helsinki City Theatre’s brilliant dance troupe, reinforced by the group’s former dancers and actors: Sari Haapamäki, Jyrki Kasper, Heidi Naakka, Unto Nuora, Mikko Paloniemi, Justus Pienmunne, Aino Seppo and Kaisa Torkkel, as well as an internationally top-level flamenco orchestra: Victor Carrasco, Roni Martin, Sanna Salmenkallio and Juan Antonio Suárez “Cano”.
The choreography of the work is by Kaari Martin, the composition by Roni Martin and the performance dramaturgy by Atro Kahiluoto. All three are responsible for directing the work together. The set and lights are designed by Jukka Huitila, the costumes by Elina Kolehmainen and the camouflage by Hanna Piispanen. The sound design is by Eppu Helle.
In December 2023, flamenco dancer, choreographer Kaari Martin and composer and musician Roni Martin were awarded the Finland Prizes for their pioneering work as artists in the joint, internationally acclaimed Compañía Kaari & Roni Martin, which has won several awards for its original and innovative performances.
Read the joint interview with the directors on the theatre’s website: Surrealistic Images and Live Flamenco Blood
Wedding premieres on 24.1.2024 at the Helsinki City Theatre’s studio Pasila (Ratamestarinkatu 5).
Tickets: basic ticket 34 €, student ticket 16 € (Mon-Thu) and pensioner ticket 31 € (Mon-Thu)
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Helsinki City Theatre’s ticket sales and customer service by phone (09) 394022 Mon-Fri 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ticket offices First line 2, Mon-Fri 12-17, Eläintarhantie 5, Sat (on performance days) 11-18 and one hour before the performance and Lippu.fi, Mon-Sat 9-21, Sun 10-18, tel. 0600 900 900 (2 €/min + local network charge) www.hkt.fi
In the photo: Juan Antonio Suárez “Cano”, Roni Martin, Jyrki Kasper, Unto Nuora, Victor Carrasco and Sanna Salmenkallio. Photographer: Janne Mikkilä.
Further information, media ticket reservations and interview requests:
Kaisa Pelkonen, Communications Manager, kaisa.pelkonen@hkt.fi, 040 552 3788
Helsinki City Theatre, Ensi linja 2, 00530 Helsinki