Beyond Time and Place – Dance Company Tsuumi @ Free Art Space, Helsinki

Dance Company Tsuumi & Crew / Space: Vapaan taiteen tila, Hki / Director and choreography: Mirva Mäkinen / Sound art: Jaakko Autio / Visual design: Jaana Kurttila / Video art: Kim Saarinen / Performer: Tuomas Juntunen / Production: Dance Company Tsuumi

Dancer Tuomas Juntunen bridges the gap between performer and audience in Mirva Mäkinen’s choreography. PHOTO: MIKKO MÄNTYNIEMI / TSUUMI DANCE THEATRE – Jussi Tossavainen – 28.4.2018 12:07

Retreat is an expression that has gone through inflation. Nowadays, anything can be sold with it. Nevertheless, I can safely say that I experienced such a retreat in the embrace of the performance Out of Time and Space, produced by Tsuumi and directed by Mirva Mäkinen.

The title of the performance says it all. We are nowhere. More specifically, in a bomb shelter in Sörnäinen. Any place will do, and I don’t even have a wristwatch. During the performance, I forget that I should even check the time.

The performer, Tuomas Juntunen, also seems to be just a part of the random mini-cosmos thrown into the space. At first, even noticing him is made difficult. We sit in a circle, on chairs, looking towards the center, but the dance happens behind our backs. Could the performance situation be made more distant and alienated from the viewer’s experience? Likewise, video projections on rocky walls are somewhere behind us, and to see them, one has to contort into uncomfortable and burdensome positions.

I see perplexed looks in the audience, from the co-experiencers. It seems that we are all equally unsure of how to act and how to experience. There is an anticipation in the air – when does this start and what is the message and execution of this piece? Or does it even have one?

Fortunately, the “big sister’s” voice tells us from the speakers, like a Deus ex machina, how to behave in the space. We long for safety and a sense of control. We consent to being guided and we drag our chairs with us from one place to another to get the best visibility. The space lives and we live with it. This wouldn’t have been possible in a traditional theater space. As the performance suggests, we are out of reach of everything, and yet, in the midst of it all.

JUNTUNEN doesn’t feel like a dancer, but rather like someone who experiences. He makes sounds and grunts, reacts like anyone would when exerting effort in any situation. He takes off the cloak of performance and simultaneously breaks down the barrier between performer and experiencer.

A higher-pitched voice gives us permission to move in the space. We have the freedom to do anything. Yet, we prefer to remain seated and receive what is given. And I don’t want to criticize the audience here. We live according to conventions.

I never felt anxious. I was never forced to participate or pulled into something I didn’t want. But when the voice of the higher director said that we can make contact with the performer, I didn’t hesitate. Hardly anyone took the opportunity. I reached out to touch Tuomas Juntunen, and he came to me. He came into my arms, we hugged each other, and in that moment, it felt right. It felt good.

In the bomb shelter in Sörnäinen. Filled with birdsong, in darkness, aware of the harsh light of spring outside but still out of time and space. Sometimes a person longs for something like that.