K369°

The piece 369°, premiered at Cirko in 2019, gets a new form this year in August as an outdoor performance. The artwork was chosen to be the Kalasatama environmental art project of 2021 by the city of Helsinki and will be performed on the 26th-28th of August at the port of the park in Kalasatama. In 2019 with the same connections realised Möhkäle, at the cape of Sörnäinen, got a ton of positive feedback from the audience.

The stage layout is typical for an outdoor performance in a: the relation of the audience is already a plaza – type of way. We gather the audience and the performers together for an empowering whirl, an intensive experience that is shared together.

Petri Kekoni’s ensemble work 369° for five dancers is a movement sculpture that is always viewed from multiple angles and perspectives. The work represents a pattern of movement that is active in every direction; a circle that has exceeded its full rotation is the beginning of a spiral.

The atmosphere and presentation of the work find historical references in the sacrality of an altar, the brutality of a boxing match, or the hustle and bustle of a medieval market. In the middle of the space, the dancers undergo their own absurd survival fight under the eye of the audience.

“In addition to its numeral rhythm, the title of the piece is a statement against the need to always seek perfection, 360 degrees form a perfect circle, which is a concept that is antithetical to art. Mathematically speaking, there is no such thing as 369 degrees, since it’s not possible to go beyond the complete – in theory. What is perfect is in balance, and that is something that we don’t want. The idea of balance is a kind of phantom that we keep fleeing from in work after work.”          

– Petri Kekoni

Choreography and concept: Petri Kekoni
Dancers: Tanja Illukka, Maria Autio, Petri Kekoni, Anna Stenberg, Eero Vesterinen
Sound design: Antti Nykyri
Lighting design: Jukka Huitila
Costume design: Monika Hartl
Stage building: Heikki Rosti / Verstas Helsinki Oy
Technical realization: Suneffects Oy
Production: Liikkeen puolesta ry, Helsinki City / Building project of Kalasatama district
Photos: Pasi Orrensalo