NASTY
“Susanna Leinonen’s iconoclastic Nasty is as fierce as it is powerful – – Utterly brilliant and undoubtedly one of the finest contributions to the debate on women’s right to self-determination.”
Nasty is a strikingly topical work that centers on the expectations, limitations and attacks targeted at our bodies. The work presents an unvarnished vision of our world: Evil hides not only in the structures of the society, but also in ourselves, as we pass along the injustice and cruelty we have experienced.
Susanna Leinonen Company’s works are known for their extremely skillful and demanding movement. This time choreographer Leinonen and her ensemble have chosen to examine our bodily limits, as well as how constantly being looked at and under conflicting demands and expectations shape the female body and experience. In the centre of the work are dancers and their bodies as tools of artistic work. In Nasty, the highly trained physique becomes a machine that stretches, bends and creaks to reach its full potential. But the question remains: who gets to define that potential?
Leinonen’s choreography doesn’t revel in violence and corporality, but rather spells out the everyday viciousness we direct at ourselves and at others. Harsh words take their place on the surfaces of the space and on the skin of the dancers as an unstoppable stream of information and opinions. Estonian composer Arvo Pärt’s delicate and expressive music contrast and completes this stark vision the world.
Choreography: Susanna Leinonen
Music: Arvo Pärt, Max Richter, Jóhann Jóhansson, Hildur Gudnadóttir & Robert Aiki Aubrey, Teemu Korpipää
Sound design: Teemu Korpipää
Costumes: Sari Nuttunen
Lighting design: Harri Peltonen
Video projections: Ville Seppänen
Dancers (latest): Phet Haanpää, Camilla Keihäs, Ninni Niemikunnas, Aino Päivike, Tatiana Urteva
Premiere: September 7th 2018 at 7pm, Stoa, Helsinki
“Nasty protects our right to keep our secrets and deftly side steps the soap box to powerfully address the issue of feminism and women’s rights. What a dead place the world would be without mystery, without darkness, without the subconscious. In an atmosphere of fearfulness, Nasty’s complexity and depth of feeling create a sense of freedom, it holds space for the audience as we find it in ourselves to face up to the unknown within.”
– Helsingin Sanomat (2018)
“Susanna Leinonen Company’s stunning new contemporary dance production lays bare the aggression and demands directed at the female body – – Scene by unfolding scene dancers demonstrate their incredible power for endless creative and expressive transformation. They are one with Leinonen’s fascinating and demanding movement language. All five are skilful martial artists, whose vocalisations carry a real sense of menace, and who later evolve into corporeal forms that observe each other and the audience with a critical, uncompromising gaze.”
– Turun Sanomat (2018)
“Female bodies – feared and objectified – – There are plenty of familiar elements of course: Leinonen’s incredibly considered and distinctive movement language, executed with unfailing attention to detail, as well as the highly and consistently talented dancers, the gorgeous visuals and the first-class creative team. And yet, I have never seen her come out with anything quite as outspoken as this. The effect is entirely refreshing.”
– Hufvudstadsbladet (2018)
Touring 2018-2024
23.-24.11. 2018 Kumu, Tallinn, Estonia
1.12.2018 Look @ Dance Finland, Saint Petersburg, Russia
10.-12.1.2019 Louhisali, Espoo, Finland
19.1.2019 Sotku, Kuopio, Finland
16.2.2019 Valvesali, Oulu, Finland
18.-19.4.2019 Dance Salad Festival, Houston, Texas, USA
24.4.2019 Åbo Svenska Teater, Turku, Finland
8.6.2019 Black and White Theatre Festival, Imatra, Finland
26.7.2019 Festival Internacional de Danza Contemporánea Lila López, San Luis Potosí, Mexico
1.8.2019 Full Moon Dance Festival, Pyhäjärvi, Finland
1.9.2019 Performing HEL, Helsinki, Finland
11.-13.10.2019 Seoul Performing Arts Festival, Seoul, South Korea
25.10.2019 Cultuurcentrum Hasselt, Hasselt, Belgium
3.12.2019 Alexander Theatre, Helsinki, Finland
8.-20.11.2020 DanceNet Sweden tour: 5 locations, Sweden
30.9.2021 Alexander Theatre, Helsinki, Finland
24.-25.3.2022 Balltoppen, Ballerup, Denmark
8.6.2022 Dance Theatre MD, Tampere, Finland
17.9.2022 Alexander Theatre, Helsinki, Finland
18.-20.1.2024 House of Dance, Helsinki Finland, 4 performances
