Spring Break Festival to be held at Stoa in May

Stoa will host the Spring Break Festival dance performances from 9 May to 15 May. Movement is at the heart of the annual contemporary dance event. This week-long dance festival will include three works by well-known Finnish dance and circus professionals: dance artist Mia Jaatinen’s Red Desert, contemporary dance company Kinetic Orchestra’s Mistakes and contemporary circus company Race Horse Company’s O’DD. All the works and their creators are linked by an uncompromising desire to study movement and its multitude of ways to reflect humanity.

Spring Break Festival is produced by the Helsinki-based contemporary dance company Kinetic Orchestra. In addition to buying tickets to individual performances, one can also buy a joint ticket to the festival, including all three performances (€40/30) at lippu.fi.

Red Desert

In Mia Jaatinen’s Red Desert, the performers focus on studying different bodily manifestations of aggression and illustrations of femininity. In the performance, aggression is approached in all its diversity both as a physical event and as a universal and dynamic phenomenon that resonates against the performers’ own experiences. The work has been inspired by Clarissa Pinkola Estés’ book Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype (1992).

Mistakes

Kinetic Orchestra’s Mistakes unveils the essence of mistakes and uncertainty on the stage. The work approaches failure as a creative force and explores the essence of wrong choices, mistakes and poor taste in the dramatic arts. The virtuoso movements of five dancers and the amazing sound of three musicians playing live are joint by the absurdly humorous idea. The atmosphere is both highly energetic and delicate. The choreography is by the award-winning dance choreographer Jarkko Mandelin.

O’DD

Race Horse Company’s O’DD is a contemporary circus performance inspired by the world of science fiction that explores humanity and change in the hands of forces greater than the individual. Directed and scripted by trampoline virtuoso Rauli Dahlberg, the work takes the viewer to a futuristic dream reality of contemporary circus.

The starting point of the performance is man’s aspiration for a better tomorrow through rebirth. Can man ever start from a clean slate when he is by default the continuation of mankind already at birth? The world of circus and physical expression, combining martial arts with contemporary dance, clash with a bang in this barrier-braking work.

More information:

Spring Break Festival 9–15 May 2022
Stoa Cultural Centre
Turunlinnantie 1, Helsinki
www.stoa.fi

Red Desert
Mon, 9 May at 19:00
Tue, 10 May at 19:00
Wed, 11 May at 19:00

Tickets: €18.50/11
Age recommendation: 10 and older
Duration: 60 min
Choreography: Mia Jaatinen and work group
Performers: Sanni Giordani, Mia Jaatinen and Elisa Tuovila
Sound design: Josu Mämmi
Light design: Riikka Karjalainen
Producer: Mia Jaatinen and Kinetic Orchestra

Mistakes
Thu, 12 May at 19:00
Fri, 13 May at 19:00
Sat, 14 May at 13:00

Tickets: €18.50/11
Duration: 50 min
Age recommendation: 7 and older. Please note: The work includes partial nudity.
Choreography: Jarkko Mandelin and work group
Performers: Sanni Giordani, Mia Jaatinen, Anni Koskinen, Kalle Lähde, Oskari Turpeinen
Music: Janne Hast, Eero Tikkanen, Petri Kautto
Sound design: Janne Hast
Light design: Jukka Huitila
Producer: Sofia Suomalainen
Production: Kinetic Orchestra and JoJo - Oulu Dance Centre

O’DD
Sun, 15 May at 17:00
Tue, 17 May at 19:00 (not part of the actual festival programme)

Tickets: €20/15
Age recommendation: 12 and older
Duration: 60 min
Concept & direction: Rauli Dahlberg
Choreography: Jarkko Mandelin
Performers: Rauli Dahlberg & Miro Mantere
Music and sound design: Miro Mantere
Light design: Jere Mönkkönen & Eero Alava
Set design: Jere Mönkkönen & Rauli Dahlberg
Costume design: Tiina Valve
Producer: Antti Suniala
Production: Race Horse Company