Male and Animale

Finnish choreographers Arja Raatikainen, Jyrki Karttunen and Alpo Aaltokoski have circled around Europe with their latest pieces so assiduously, that they have managed to present the pieces in Finland only twice. They hardly complain about the situation, but Finnish viewers have surely been wondering whether they will see the pieces at all. Nomadi’s in-demand dancers have become guest choreographers in their homeland.
Arja Raatikainen’s new 30-minute solopiece “Flow“ is simplistic and powerful.

It contains familiar elements from her previous solo “Omen,” such as the minimalism of movement and Raatikainen’s ability to integrate the beings and mysticism of humans and animals into timeless dialogue. Raatikainen’s solo is literally a flow, the piece is a stream of movement that roams, crawls and creeps in vicinity of the floor, from the corners of the stage towards the center. Her movement’s are springy like on an animal, her light hands have turned into the heavy paws of a wolf or a savanna lion. In the book “Tanssintekijät” (Factors of dance) which came out recently, 35 Finnish choreographers write about the foundation of their work. In this book, Raatikainen writes how she dives into ...