Helsingin Sanomat 16.4.2011
Social democratic bodies dance to the welfare society
The previous piece by Maija Hirvanen, now successfully touring On Ice, tells us what the good girls are made of. The new one, Our social democratic bodies, shows the attitudes behind the welfare state.
The performance starts with in a ritualistic manner in a tempo of wooden rhythm sticks. The performers rise gracefully onto the rising stage and start to draw amusing arches with silk ribbons in colors of the tricolor, like chinese dancers. In the part entitled Dancing the war away, the dancers land to the stage like ancient protists in their several Marimekko shirts, and then, peel themselves out of the shirts, one by one.
Hirvanen makes satire besides everything else, contemporary dance itself, like in the splendid scene, that is made of practicing dance under the title ‘Right to care’. The delicious group reciting about coffee drinking during the elections is current in deed.
The verbal fireworks continue with a social democracy’s table of contents, where the dancers are listing tens and tens of characteristics connected to the ideology.
The horn of plenty of intelligent, satire and understanding culminates as small dances with central themes to the welfare society, such as “drinking coffee with your boss”, “small independent business maker”, “crass root level” and “a man can talk too”. Also the flammable subject “postmodern” fits into these dances.
Who says contemporary dance cannot be up to date and current.
JUKKA O. MIETTINEN /Helsingin Sanomat, 16th April 2011.
Translated by Zodiak centre for new dance
