Taneli Törmä (Denmark) – ALIEN
Free admission.
Duration: 30 min.
A meditative reflection on longing and belonging and a tribute to all those who have been the outsider. ALIEN is a large-scale moving and living statue. Meditative and timeless, it is a tribute to anyone who has ever felt like a stranger – an outsider – an “other”. Working with 8 Lithuanian dancers, Finnish choreographer Taneli Törmä brings this project to Lithuania for the first time to create a striking intervention in 3 different cities.
ALIEN is an abstract and ritualistic action that combines movement language from clubbing culture and traditional folk dance. Whether dancing alone in a club or as part of a long chain of folk dance, both dances connect the individual to a larger, collective wave of movement.
Free from traditional narratives, ALIEN is a powerful physical and visual experience. It is a testament to our human need for connection and community, and a moving reflection on longing and belonging.
Taneli Törmä – LOCATION X is an award-winning Finnish choreographer and performing artist based in Denmark. As a teacher, performer, fundraiser, idea maker and curator, he focuses on developing the performing arts towards a more diverse, intercultural, multi-perspectival and innovative form. Taneli Törmä’s/LOCATION X’s works have been shown in more than 20 countries. His works have been selected twice for the Aerowaves – Dance Across Europe priority lists and he has got several international dance film prizes. Alongside his own work, LOCATION X has also initiated the program DANCE ALL YEAR LONG, a mobile customized dance platform offered for different cities. Together with these municipalities, it supports other dance artists with residencies and gives an opportunity to present their work. The goal of LOCATION X is to create new bridges for contemporary dance and to find new audiences and collaboration partners for it – a platform for curating new perspectives and views about dance. Taneli Törmä’s works are often immersive. He is driven by the interest to create situations and experiences, that will carry a specific feeling and movement towards the public – always moved by the question on who is dancing and how and where we can dance today in our everyday lifes?
His work has been shortlisted twice for Aerowaves – Dance Across Europe, and he has won several international prizes for dance films. In addition to his own works, LOCATION X has also initiated the DANCE ALL YEAR LONG programme, a mobile, cross-city dance platform.
Choreographer: Taneli Törmä
Dancers: Adrian Carlo Bibiano, Gabrielle Emily Aidulis, Sigita Juraškaitė, Vaiva Paukštė, Eivinas Dziena, Ema Senkuvienė, Ugnė Kavaliauskaitė and Ieva Navickaitė.
Sound Design: Esa Mattila
ALIEN is created as a Big Pulse Dance Alliance coproduction, coproduced by New Baltic Dance (Lithuania) and
Dublin Dance Festival (Ireland), co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.
Other supporters: Dance Info Finland, Danish Arts Foundation, Odense Municipality and JoJo – Oulu Dance Centre.
Co-creators: Louise Mochia, Tina Damborg, Cirkeline Dahl Bondesen, Chris-Paschal Englund Braun, Mikaël Vivien Orozco Madsen, Marie Keiser-Nielsen, Sarah Pini, Marlene Bonnesen, Annamaija Rolff-Petersen, Sofie Hub, Cecilie Schyth Kjær, Amalie Sabrine, Nurbak Batulla, Marcel Nuriev, Anastasia Fattakhova, Maria Nurieva,
Anna Korobova, Erkin Makaveev, Roosa Törmä, Annukka Hirvonen, Milla Keskitalo, Antti-Pekka Pudas, Paula Puumalainen, Alina Sakko, Jutta Sulkala, Milla Toppi and Silja Tuovinen.
Photo: AdeY