CHANGE

CHANGE

The performance Change is built from a caleidoscopic and playful idea where five light designs, musical scores and choreographies are interchangeable.

A duo with ocean blue light to a percussion piece? Or a quintet bathing in bright pink light to electronica? The roll of the dice and the audience choice will decide the course of the show. And every performance will be unique!

The artistic parameters are put under pressure of probabilities; a kind of maths and destiny game in choreography, performed with daredevil elegance by a stellar cast of dancers, including Virpi Pahkinen herself.

Before the dance performance starts a presenter will introduce the audience to the concept of the show and how it is decided by chance. Two spectators are invited on stage to draw the lottery to make the order of the music and light. Virpi Pahkinen´s captivating solo is like a key opening the way to a duet, followed by a trio, a quartet and all the way to a grand finale where all dancers participate.

The light design features a palette from aquatic blue shades to white sharp angles, from cool purple to the burning yellow of a sunset.

The music is varied – from a percussion piece evoking Scandinavian wildlife to majestic and haunting electronica, from the eccentric and driving rhythms of a pipe organ to the meditative solo piano and industrial sounds. Surprisingly, all these different musical pieces work perfectly together with any of the five choreographies.

Geometrical shapes of triangles, squares and circles, emphasizes the theme of mathematics that pervades the performance. Every parameter has an equal duration of 12:58 minutes which makes it possible to make over 100 combinations of dance, music and light.

A choreographic game, where precision meets uncertainty and mystery meets mathematics

REVIEWS

“Virpi Pahkinen’s Change is like a kaleidoscope that shifts at random. It’s fun, surprising and engages the audience.

The combinations for this particular night feel so right. How could it have been done otherwise? I suspect that this is the key; while the choreographer has invited chance in, she has skilfully set the parameters so that the all potential combinations (125 of them) will bear her signature. The choreography is created with Pahkinen precision and aesthetics.”

Dagens Nyheter

“There are just as many ways of interpreting this masterpiece of a performance as there are members of the audience. Just over an hour and ten minutes takes us on a journey far beyond logical thought……

Six dancers, five pieces of music and five colours – these are the ingredients in this magical, mystical journey to something that cannot be reached by means of logical thought. The positions of the bodies, their movements, sound and light awaken myths that lie deep inside every human being. Perhaps it is Jung’s collective subconscious that is being unleashed?”

Kulturbloggen

Mika Takehara’s rattling rhythms seem to lead straight out into the natural world and on into a world less explored. Pahkinen’s figure gathers energy and becomes a spinning centre; soft but powerful, she makes us open our senses to other dimensions.
Change is full of beauty in all its pared down aesthetics right down to the costumes, a Pahkinen puzzle that despite its inherent changeability, brings harmony. Personally I am keen to see it again with new combinations.

Svenska Dagbladet

PHOTO & EDITING: José Figueroa