STAGES Sonja Jokiniemi
Blab
Blab is a sculpture of sensory impressions, and at its core lies a subconscious territory, a new concept.
The performance can be described – if indeed it is describable – as an odd hybrid of visual art and choreography – a performance piece that seeks to escape the world’s stringent demands for categorization. People and objects are mixed, bodies stick out, forms and longings are penetrated. This colorful work unfolds while the artists investigate a complex thought process with neither beginning nor end.
Sonja Jokiniemi is a choreographer and performance artist based in Helsinki, Finland. Her unique world is a utopia. She strongly opposes the tendency to try to force all deviations into a sort of normal state, and she does so through her own highly personal anti-culture, the goal being to highlight the inhibited, the deviant and those who are silenced, who she sees as the bearers of the seeds of revolution. Inspired by collaborative work with people on the margins of society, she creates playful performances that challenge language and conventional thinking.
Concept, choreography and visualization: Sonja Jokiniemi
Performers: Ivo Serra, Mira Kautto, Sara Gurevitsch
Lighting design: Heikki Paasonen
Textiles made in collaboration with Janina Silvennoinen
Performance photos: Simo Karisalo
Producer: Riikka Thitz
Co-production: Zodiak – Center for New Dance, Moving in November festival, Regional Dance Centre of Eastern Finland (ITAK), Veem House for Performance
Residency support: Arsenic Theatre, Regional Dance Centre of Eastern Finland (ITAK), ImPulsTanz – Vienna International Dance Festival, Pianofabriek Kunstenwerkplaats, STUK – House for Dance, Image & Sound, wpZimmer
With support of: Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike), Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation, Samuel Huberin Taidesäätiö