(play)

What do you hear? Whom do you see? Does what you hear affect what you see? These questions are posed by dance performance (play) - a result of NorrlandsOperan´s annual collaboration between the Symphony Orchestra and one of Swedens very best choreographers.

Act 1 - Konsertsalen
Music by Marcus Fjellström and John Adams

Act 2 - Teatern
Kenneth Kvarnström (play)
Music by Bach, Visée, Chopin, Shostakovich and others

This year's choreographer is Kenneth Kvarnström, who joins forces in this performance with seven dancers, three fashion designers, a lighting artist and six musicians.

"For me, he was an obvious choice," says NorrlandsOperan's Dance Manager Annelie Gardell, who has long had a deep appreciation for Kvarnström's distinctive language of movement, sensuality, humour, and choice of strong collaborators.

The choreography centres around solos, duets and trios in which each sequence is clarified through costuming and music. "We use music by everyone from Bach to Chopin and Philip Glass. It's fascinating that they fit together so well and can sound so alike, even though they are separated by several hundred years," says Kvarnström.

How does Kvarnström view dance's encounter with the live music?
"For me, choreography is music. I work a lot with the musicality in the movements, so that they form together a melody that the dancers sing without words, with their bodies. The most difficult part is to get the tempos to match. As a choreographer I can't put in too many steps so that the dancers can keep up even if the tempo increases."

NorrlandsOperan's Orchestra Manager Marco Feklistoff agrees. Maintaining the right tempo in relation to the dance is the most difficult thing of all. At the same time, the body's function as an instrument is one of the prime incentives for working with dance performances.

"It lends an edge and nerve to the performances when dance and music are allowed to work together on equal terms.  There, the individual musician and dancer meet through their wordless art."

Choreography: Kenneth Kvarnström
Light and set design: Jens Sethzman
Costumes: Helena Hörstedt, Erika Turunen, Martin Bergström
Dancers: Kenneth Bruun Carlson, Kai Lähdesmäki, Sofia Karlsson, Janne Maria-aho, Cilla Olsen, Valtteri Raekallio, Terhi Vaimala
Conductor: Shi-Yeon Sung
NorrlandsOperan Symphony Orchestra (Act 1)
Soloists: Asuka Nakamura, piano; Jonas Nordberg, theorbo; Karin Eriksson,violin; Pontus Björk, violin;Pär Lindqvist, viola; Pelle Hansen, cello(Act 2)

(play) is a co-production between K. Kvarnström & Co., Helsinki City Theatre andNorrlandsOperan. Supported by: Swedish Arts Council.

Read more about K. Kvarnström & Co. here