Honesty and closeness on stage
The solo performance Self Portrait by Pirjo Yli-Maunula is this year's DanceFestival Barents warmest and most beautiful dance experience.
This is a performance where all the audience is sitting on the first row. A performance where all details are revealed because of the proximity to the stage.
- I like to sit close to the stage when I watch dance performances. I want to see the heart pound, see the sweat when they move and the expression in their eyes, says Pirjo Yli-Maunula.
Pirjo Yli-Maunula from Finland has worked as a dance artist for 25 years. This performance is a self-portrait, but also a portrait of what it is like to live up north. Pirjo lives in Oulu in North-Finland and has throughout her life been taken and inspired by the beautiful nature, the icy winter cold and the light summer nights.
- Nobody remains the dame person throughout life. Nature, the climate and the big differences in the seasons will influence the people that live up north, says Pirjo Yli-Maunula.
- People that live there are tough people. The nature is an important element you will always carry with you. People up here do not give up without a reason, she continues.
The performance can give associations to both the urbane and the very desert country that after all fills most of both Norway and Finland’s geography. During the performance you will be able to hear whale song in the background and different languages spoken.
- I like to travel. This is why the performance includes film from New York, where the audience will see me as a person, Pirjo Yli-Maunula explains.
The performance is a combination of dance, music, sounds, beautiful light, gorgeous costumes, relaxing smells and film from New York. It sounds like contrasts, but in Self Portrait life’s contrasts play a part in shaping the person. In Self Portrait the contrasts tell an honest story about a creative human being from the north.
Some of the most innovative and hopeful Finnish talents in performing arts have been onboard making this performance. Jukka Huitila is a talented young light designer, who has worked with the best dance artists in Finland. Jussi Lappalainen (light design) and Pase Räbinä (costume design) both work at Oulu Theatre and are highly recognised within their fields.
Duration: 30 min.
Choreography, idea and dance: Pirjo Yli-Maunula
Lighting design: Jukka Huitila
Light designer in Hammerfest: Matti Jykylä
Sound design: Jussi Lappalainen
Costume design: Pase Räbinä
Video production: Tapani Launonen
Produced in collaboration with JoJo – Oulu Dance Centre and Pirjo Yli-Maunula
Performance: Hammerfest Cinema, Thursday 29th of March 7 p.m.
