JoJo’s program in 2024 consists of JoJo’s own productions and guest performances.
Valvesali
Fri 8.11. at 19
Visceral and hypnotic, SKIN HUNGER explores the grounding force of tactile human experience – the sense of touch.
The largest exterior interface of the nervous system, skin remains the site of our most tender and most brutal impulses. Through the multifaceted language of movement that draws from the dance of the subconscious, SKIN HUNGER summons a powerful counterforce to the often disembodied experience of our digital age. Binaural soundscape creates an intimate 3 dimensional sound environment for each audience member in this unique staging, creating an immersive auditory connection to the bodies of the 6 international performers.
We all receive the first and the last sensations of our lives through touch. We hope this work serves as an invitation and motivation to be more in touch with ourselves and each other.
The work is part of Dance House Helsinki’s SPARKS project. Supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation, SPARKS is an artistic development project which is carried out in 2020–2023. The project will produce three premieres for both the Erkko Hall and Pannu Hall.
The performance is experienced through headphones.
Direction: Johanna Nuutinen | Dance: Jonna Aaltonen, Amie-Blaire Chartier, Yi-Chi Lee, Johanna Nuutinen, Georgios Pelagias, Jack Traylen | Choreography: Johanna Nuutinen with the dancers | Text: Melissa A.Thompson with Johanna Nuutinen and the dancers | Sound and music: Tuomas Norvio | Additional musicians: Eriikka Maalismaa (violin), Tapani Rinne (bass clarinet) | Space, light and video design: Joonas Tikkanen | Costume design: Joona Huotari | Realization of the costumes: Renne Lehto, Satu Sarantaus, Joona Huotari | Dramaturgical support: Melissa A.Thompson | Introductory voice: Heidi Ajanto | Technical production: Lauri Lundahl (space), Vincent Masse (sound) | Sound operator: Vincent Masse | Light operator: Lauri Lundahl | Co-production partners: Dance House Helsinki | Supporters: Arts Promotion Centre Finland, City of Helsinki, Kone Foundation, Finnish Cultural Foundation, Ministry of Education and Culture | Production of the visit: JoJo – Oulu Dance Centre | Duration: 75 min | Target Group: Adults
INTRO
Amie-Blaire:
“I recently went home after a few years of being away and I saw my Dad. He’s a lot older than he was when I left. And I hugged him.
How do you describe that?
I got to hold an eight-day-old baby. I was so excited. And she was so tiny and so beautiful. But of course, as soon as I held her, she started crying.
How do you describe that?
Holding another person, another universe?
When I was a kid, I used to play this game with my sister: I’d hold my hand out, as close to her as I could, and I’d ask; “Am I touching you?”
I thought I was so clever, because I wasn’t touching her— with my hand. But I was with my foot or something else.
I used to play this in the car as well. I think I was annoyed because she is older, and always got to sit in the front. So I’d sit behind her and I’d ask,
“Am I touching you?”
I only ever touched her seat lightly, so I don’t know how she knew. But she was never wrong.”
Georgios:
Am I touching you?
GATHERING 1.
(GROUP SCENE AFTER GEORGIOS´S SOLO)
Yi-Chi: I render myself Untouchable.
Jonna: Nothing, Of permissions, Lush, First Knowing, Unconditional, Bone, Sun, Rain
Jack: My feet are rooted, My arms are open
Georgios: This need to read the world through my hands. And sometimes to consume it too
Amie-Blaire: I guard my body beyond recognition. I thicken my skin. And hover.
GATHERING 2.
(GROUP SCENE AFTER JOHANNA´S SOLO)
The flesh
The surface
The weight
The pressure,
The soothing force
It can only belong to an Other.
HUG DUET
(AMIE-BLAIRE & JACK)
Amie-Blaire:
I disappear in these moments.
As a kid, I thought I was becoming transparent,
so much so that I thought that I could talk to ghosts
An in-between state
This dark force you carried
Some nameless place between lust and destruction.
I was certain it would happen then
I slid through my own secret trap door.
Nothing actually happened
But we both know something broke under the threat
I guard my body beyond recognition
I thicken my skin
And hover
“It’s okay, I can take it.”
NATURE QUARTET
(JONNA, JOHANNA, JACK, YI-CHI, GEORGIOS)
Jonna:
Nothing
Of permissions
Lush
First
Knowing
Unconditional
Bone
Sun
Rain
(we are)
Guests
In this vast forcefield
(we are)
Temporary
In something
eternal
20 e (normal tickets) / 15 e (students, seniors etc) / 10 e JoJo members
From Valve ticket office and Ticketmaster.fi.
Please, check the opening hours for Valve ticket office at Valve.fi
SMALL GROUP OFFER for CHRISTMAS SEASON:
Gather a group of at least 5 people and get your tickets at a great discounted price! The convener of a small group gets their own ticket free of charge and others (minimum 4 people) get their own ticket at JoJo’s membership price á 10 e / ticket. The offer can only be redeemed at the ticket office of Culture Centre Valve.
Johanna Nuutinen has created stage and cinema productions at the crossroads of visual and performing arts since 2011. Her work has been performed at more than 40 international film festivals and several dance festivals in Finland and abroad. She has created commissioned works for the Finnish National Ballet, the West Australian Ballet, Tero Saarinen Company and Skånes Dansteater. Before embarking on a freelance career in 2017, she was a dancer at the Finnish National Ballet.
In 2016 Johanna Nuutinen +Collaborators dance production platform was formed to support the artistic work which Johanna Nuutinen creates with a team of highly talented and visionary sound, light and costume designers as well as dancers and dramaturgs. During the next three years Johanna and her team will be investigating the world of senses and our sensory experience. The series will consist of works that deal with visual perception as well as tactile and auditory senses through virtuosic motion, hypnotic visuality and the visceral world of sound.
Vuonna 2016 Johanna Nuutinen +Collaborators -tanssituotantoalusta perustettiin tukemaan Johanna Nuutisen luomaa taiteellista työtä yhteistyössä visionääristen ääni-, valo- ja pukusuunnittelijoiden sekä tanssijoiden ja dramaturgien kanssa. Seuraavien kolmen vuoden aikana Johanna ja hänen tiiminsä tutkivat aisteja ja aistikokemuksiamme. Sarja koostuu teoksista, jotka käsittelevät näkö- sekä tunto- ja kuuloaisteja virtuoosisen liikkeen, hypnoottisen visuaalisen ja viskeraalisen äänimaailman kautta.
Please remember to follow the general safety and hygiene instructions for events:
– Don’t come to events when having symptoms
– Good hand hygiene is important: wash your hands or use hand tools
– Cough on your handkerchief or sleeve
