Review: Apospasmata

… so that your eyes flicker

Like a fierce painting that creates something new is Helsinki Dance Company’s novelty, Apospasmata. The title of the work alone gives a good reason for the parallel, because just as the usual structure is sometimes deliberately broken in visual art, the same seems to have been done in his creation by the Greek-born choreographer Andonis Foniadakis. Apospasmata is Greek and refers to parts, extracts. The dancers have their own firm grip on the premiere, since its inception, and not least the music, which burns Julien’s fire. The composer is Julien Tarride from France. The pair is well-known throughout Europe.

Dance speaks and speaks above all with its pure movement language. But there is also a fragmentary story to be read in this work; The bits of red thread peek out like the headdress of the title character in a fairy tale from behind a tree.
I think Apospasmata declares, so that my eyes glow. It realises the fragmented identity of modern man, it seems to find the skeletons in our closet and analyse the passion that dwells in hatred and violence. There will be victims and marginalized people, the pain will not end in the world, but these pictures do not feel sorry for you. They challenge the viewer.

If Apospasmata were performed in a bright light, it would no longer be the same work. The adjustment of the lights, the semi-darkness, is essential for the whole. Covering the dancers’ faces or their entire heads can be seen as a symbol, a reference to commandos or terrorists, but it becomes particularly impressive as part of the dance performance.

The dancer’s instrument, his body, now gets to show how nuanced it expresses itself when the facial expression language is not supportive. Even if half- or full-nudity is a little confusing at first, it soon ceases to be an intrinsic value. Possible references to social games, cover-ups and revelations can also be seen concretely in the undressing and dressing that takes place on stage, and at times also in the peeling from under the mask.

How easy the performance seems when the group is homogeneous in terms of skills and expressive to the last detail. It’s as if a choreographer were playing with rope dolls and making them work as they pleased, crawling and rolling on the ground, soaring to flying jumps, seeking the limits of their flexibility. The action is as hectic as it is enchanting. Demanding dance art that, at its most intense, gives a feel for really big crowd scenes…
The evening was so full that it is difficult to pick out any particular highlights. Gang youths in the night of a city of millions, the whole astonishing soundscape… What about the soloist part, where the couple hurt by life – the gradually bookish power of physical traces – is at the center. Above all, this rich episode builds an irresistible image that surrenders unconditionally to dance. Do you experience it as familiar or new? You say so.