KARHU EDITION – Leena Harjunpää Co
Premiere 2.8.2023, Kulttuuritehdas Korjaamo
KARHU EDITION is Leena Harjunpää Co’s contemporary dance piece for three dancers. The work is a staged kinesthetic exploration and an overview of the many, human-created, symbolic images of bears. For us, the bear is a power animal, a coat of arms, a shy lonely soul, a constellation, a star, aggressive, a victim and a bear skin rug. It’s a celebrity, a meme, and a product that’s also embodied, comical, and cartoonish. The bear is a multi-layered and multi-meaningful creature and character in our culture.
In the piece KARHU EDITION, the working group examines the life and physicality of bears and dramatizes the relationship between humans and bears using different perspectives. In the work, bearishness and its power are pursued wildly and freely through the human body. The working group considers what kind of physical spaces, soundscapes and visual connections and situations the bear and human produce, and how they are placed on the stage side by side and alternately.
Working Group:
Choreography: Leena Harjunpää
Dance: Elina Hauta-aho, Pinja Poropudas, Heidi Tiainen
Sound design and music: Jouni Tauriainen
Costume design and props: Joona Huotari
Lighting and set design: Eero Erkamo
Production: Leena Harjunpää Co, Kulttuuritehdas Korjaamo
Vocal coach: Mathias Lillmåns
The performance is supported by: Niilo Helander Foundation, Arts Promotion Centre Finland, Kone Foundation