Retour en Avant / Past Forward Biennale de la Danse Lyon - France

Tero SaarinenBorn in 1964, Tero Saarinenis currently the best-knownFinnish choreographer in theinternational scene.He began his career in 1985 as adancer at the Finnish National Ballet,where he soon attracted attention asa soloist. He left the company in 1992 toseek new influences in contemporary dancefrom Western Europe and in traditional Japanesedance and Butoh, which he studied in Japanwith Kazuo Ohno, among others. His solo dancecareer began in 1988, when he won first prizeat the International Dance Competition in Paris.Today he is considered one of the most brilliantdancers of his generation, performing both hisown works and solos offered by other celebratedchoreographers such as Carolyn Carlson,Jorma Uotinen and Murray Louis.In 1996 he founded The Toothpick Company,which in 2002 became Tero Saarinen Company.With it he has created his own choreographiclanguage. He sees each of his works as a visualentity, and is intensely involved in designing theirlighting, sets and costumes. He also has a veryprecise idea of the music and soundscape hewants for each piece. “But”, he adds, “I wantmovement to take pride of place in my works.”He already has 40 or so works of choreographyto his name, created for his own outfit but alsofor other prestigious companies such as NederlandDans Theater I, Batsheva Dance Company,Ballet Gulbenkian, Ballet de Lorraine, Ballet del’Opéra National de Lyon, and Ballet National deMarseille.His creations for his company include: WestwardHo! (1996), Overdosed Mood (1997), CouldYou Take Some of My Weight…? (1999), Kaze(2001), Petrushka (2001), HUNT (2002) andBorrowed Light (2004).He has received many awards for his achievementsas an artist, including the Finland Prize(Suomi-palkinto, 2001), the Pro Finlandia medal(2005), and the Movimientos Dance Prize forbest male performer (Germany, 2004). He wasalso named a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts etdes Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture inJune 2004.Next of Kin / 2008 creationPerformed by six dancers and an on-stagemusician, Next of Kin addresses the theme offamily – what leads us to find one another, andstay together. Tero Saarinen here explores therelationship between the individual and thecommunity, and manifestations of humanity.The choreographer derived the look of the piecefrom the expressionism of old horror movies. “Inthe group, we realised that several of us had hadthe same type of scary imaginary character inour childhoods. There’s something unconsciousand highly intuitive about it that is totally detachedfrom intelligence. There’s a certain degreeof sensitivity that brings certain people together,even though one knows nothing about them tostart with. But in everyday life, so many thingsare laid over this sensitivity that bringing it outcan be dangerous.”Tero SaarinenHow can the past shape the future?I feel that we can’t avoid carrying the inheritance ofour ancestors in our minds and bodies. And in myopinion an awareness and a deep respect and humilitytowards the past is the only way to achieve positiveevolution in the future.I believe we choreographers have a great mission –even a responsibility – to keep the ancestral “vein”open. To me, it is essential to connect with the ritualisticessence of dance in order to be able to createanything new.Tero SaarinenExtra info:French PremiereThe company performed at the2004 Biennalewww.terosaarinen.com57