Tero Saarinen: MESH
Choreography Tero Saarinen Music Collage (Martti Pokela, Jaakko Mäntyjärvi, Pekka Jalkanen, Petri Sirviö/trad.)
Lighting design Iwashina Takeaki Costume design Izumi Miyamura
Choreographer’s Assistants Satu Halttunen, Henrikki Heikkilä Rehearsal Director Henrikki Heikkilä
Dancers | Tero Saarinen Company Auri Ahola, Satu Halttunen, Mitsutake Kasai, Natasha Lommi, Pekka Louhio, Oskari Nyyssölä, David Scarantino, Eero Vesterinen Theatre Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki Jenna Broas, Anni Koskinen, Pinja Poropudas Finnish National Ballet School and Youth Company Tiia Lehtinen, Julianna Luhtala, Eliisa Nenonen, Konsta Roos, Nelli Sinilaakso, Malla Ylöniemi (Understudy: Jane Sievänen and Erika Vilander)
Duration 30 minutes World premiere February 2, 2014, Tokyo, Japan Original production Saitama Dance Association and Saitama Arts Theater Tero Saarinen Company premiere 15 June, 2016, Kuopio Dance Festival
This is a general document. Please contact [email protected] for a confirmed cast list.
Tero Saarinen Company Technical & Production Staff
Technical Director Ville Konttinen
Managing Director Iiris Autio Head of Marketing and Communications Terhi Mikkonen Head of International Relations Johanna Rajamäki Production and Development Manager Carita Weissenfelt Company Assistant Sara Hirn
Tero Saarinen Company
Since its foundation in 1996, Tero Saarinen Company has captivated audiences and critics in 40 countries on six continents and prestigious venues such as BAM and The Joyce in New York, Chaillot and Châtelet in Paris, and the Royal Festival Hall in London. TSC's core activities also include running a global training programme, presenting international dance companies in Helsinki, community outreach projects as well as co-productions and commissions. Its collaborators include the LA Phil, NDT1, Batsheva, Lyon Opéra Ballet, The National Dance Company of Korea and the Finnish National Opera and Ballet. terosaarinen.com
Background info about MESH
Tero Saarinen’s movement language, with its influences from Asian dance traditions, collides with traditional Finnish music in MESH. The creation, originally premiered by 20 Japanese dancers in 2014, explores themes such as communality and outsiderness. An intense interpretation by the Screaming Men's Choir (Mieskuoro Huutajat) meets choreographer Saarinen’s vision of humanity and of our time, in which militant, nationalistic forces are raising their voices.
The work entered TSC repertoire in 2016. The Company’s own strong contingent of soloists is joined on stage by Japanese Butoh dancer Mitsutake Kasai, and promising young talents from the Finnish National Ballet School and Youth Company, and the Theatre Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki.
This is a general document. Please contact [email protected] for a confirmed cast list.