SEE I OBEY

Susanna Leinonen Company

Cool, physical dance and a reminder that life can be seen from many sides - a must-see under årets festival!

SEE | OBEY is dance about the absurdism of life. The dark themes of Leinonen still rise from the reverse side of life but the new piece finds a brighter angle and even touches some borders of humour. The piece opens a window to the world whose lines only dance and movement can draw and who receives a full form through the imaginative music, illogically rational texts and eye-pleasing visuals.

SEE | OBEY is not only a dance piece by Susanna Leinonen but also a dance film by Jouka Valkama. SEE | OBEY film tells simultaneously three different narratives about human emotions, every day events and conflicts by physical expression and movement. The time is manipulated by cinematic means and the moments that happen in a blink of an eye get a new depth with slow motion. The film uses both several professional dancers and almost a hundred volunteers.

Duration 65 min (no interval)
Language English

Choreographyr Susanna Leinonen Sound design Kasperi Laine Costume Erika Turunen Film Jouka Valkama Light design Joonas Tikkanen Texts Jukka Viikilä Voice-over-actors Laura Birn, Minna Kivelä / Sanna-Kaisa Palo, Emmi Parviainen Dancers Sanni Giordani, Misa Lommi og Natasha Lommi Production Susanna Leinonen Company

Supported by National Council for the Perfoming Arts, The City of Helsinki Cultural Office, Kone Foundation og Finnish Cultural Foundation. The performance during DFB is supported by Norwegian Film Institute.

Susanna Leinonen Company’s artists are united by a desire to give the audience the experience of total art works that have Leinonen’s visionary choreography at their core. Uncompromisingly made works are comprised of specially-composed music, movement language that is characteristic of the group, costume design that supports the narrative, and lighting that unites the different aspects as a whole.

Susanna Leinonen Company was formed in 2001. It qualified to receive state support in 2008, and two years later, in 2010, it was chosen to be included in a Ministry of Education cultural export programme. Since 2010 Company is also funded by the City of Helsinki.

During the years that it has been running, Susanna Leinonen Company has produced a new work every year. Separate works comprise a series of such a consistently high standard that the company is deservedly at the forefront of contemporary dance. A feeling of ease is born of the polished works and ambitious choreographies, and the unprecedented sound world gives the audience the chance to experience the works in an unrestrained way.

The group is above all recognisable by its movement language, which tends to express the complexity of life in all its subtlety. “And then the movement: Leinonen at her best.” Helsingin Sanomat

susannaleinonen.com