Jyrki Karttunen: «Human Imitations»

After his computer-aided trip into the digital world with “Fairy“(2002) , the Finnish choreographer is now searching again for the basics of performance: how the action on stage forms a relationship between performers and spectators and how the different roles of the dancers affect this relationship. According to Karttunen, “Human Imi­tations” could equally be named Theatrical Imitations or Dance Imitations.

He seems to be making observations on the pivotal moment when the imitation of a character starts to dominate the situation so intensely that it turns from more than just demonstration into storytelling with a meaning.
It starts with a motionless tableau, the dancers standing there as if frozen between steps. The set is simple, pure and minimalist, with nothing more than a worn-out, slightly oriental looking rug and a naked bulb hanging in the middle of the stage, giving off a stark light that lends the whole a cinematic boxing-ring feel. The stage front is lit from the sides and above with the kind of spots familiar from the circus. The four dancers, Carl Knif, Antti Seppänen, Akseli Kaukoranta an Jyrki Karttunen, dance lightly and with ease, along with the fifth ...