TIIA KASURINEN: ONSTAGE – The Concert (2023)
ONSTAGE – The Concert draws inspiration from pop stars, club concerts and stage alter egos – and especially from the femmes of the music industry who have harnessed the audience’s gaze.
ONSTAGE – The Concert, a dance work premiering in Fall 2023, explores alter ego bodies and stage presences in the context of live music. What emerges when contemporary choreography and visual transformation meet the practices of making and performing music?
The work will be based on the electronic pop-band formed by Tiia Kasurinen (concept, choreography, performance) and Olli Lautiola (sound design) and an EP-record of the band, which Kasurinen and Lautiola will compose and write during 2021-2023. The protagonist of the performance is an alter ego -body practiced by Kasurinen. The stage will be also joined by a voguing performance art duo Amanda & Lydia (Lydia Ofi Teresia and Amanda 007). The performance is an album release party, a dance piece, a musical try-out and a choreographic alter ego-exploration. What does the combination of a gig and a choreographic work evoke – in the performers and in the audience?
The performance is interested in spontaneous and pre-planned choreographies of the concert context. The work observes the themes of gaze and charisma, and is influenced by artists such as Madonna, FKA Twigs, Arca1000000, Sevdaliza, Rosalia, Lady Gaga, Lizzo, Kikka and Erika Vikman.
“When seeing concerts, I find myself being highly inspired by the movement qualities, postures and instant choreographies made by artists; especially by solo femme artists, inhabiting bodies and postures out of the ordinary catalogue. I find concerts as a highly kinetic space: just like in a dance theatre, movement can be equally touching to the observer. What happens when a club concert is placed in the dance context?”
ONSTAGE – The Concert
Concept, choreography: Tiia Kasurinen (she/her)
Performance: Tiia Kasurinen, Lydia Ofi Teresia (she/her), Amanda 007 (she/her), Olli Lautiola (he/him)
Sound design/music: Olli Lautiola & Tiia Kasurinen
Light design: Mikko Kaukonen (he/him)
Light design/mentoring: Sofia Linde (she/her)
Costume design: Annukka Havukumpu (she/her)
Stage design: Landys Roimola (she/her)
Motion graphics: Gabriel Boicel (he/him)
Supporters and collaborators: Zodiak – Centre For New Dance, Helsinki Festival, Jenny and Antti Wihuri foundation, Arts Promotion Centre Finland, Finnish Cultural Foundation, Kone Foundation/Saari Residence
Residencies: Saari Residence/Kone Foundation, Vantaan Tanssiopisto, Zodiak
Production: Tiia Kasurinen, Zodiak, Helsinki Festival
Photography: Saara Taussi (she/her)
Teaser videos: Eva-Liisa Orupöld (she/her)
TIIA KASURINEN 