THE PIG BALLET

The Pig Ballet is a dance performance for the whole family. It is based on Julia Vuori's comic strip Sika (Pig).The Pig Ballet shows the delightful, melancholy and rich picture… world as a three-dimensional stage interpretation…

"The world of The Pig Ballet is totally free of cynicism, as is the comic strip. The most important things in the world are birthdays and friends. That is why this performance works on us adults too - we who are tired of perpetual sarcasm."

Jussi Tossavainen, Helsingin Sanomat

The Pig Ballet is a story of Pig's birthday in the summer. In the morning, Pig wakes up to the singing of a choir of red sparrows. Pig celebrates her birthday together with her friends Badger, Cow and Penguin. The party is, however, overshadowed by the fact that Pig's pot plant Ceriman suffers from burn-out. In spite of vigorous attempts to resuscitate him, Pig does not succeed in bringing life into Ceriman., and neither do Cow's or Badger's dance performances stimulate the plant who seems to pine away. Luckily, the inventive Penguin discovers a suitable form of therapy for Ceriman. Also Pig's childhood friend, Sorrow the black pig, joins the birthday party. The joy of reunion is, however, interrupted by two masked robbers, who are after the strongbox…

The work follows an episodic dramaturgy, in which chance, self-created rituals and philosophic reasoning unite into fresh humour, situation comedy and a touch of tension. The performance is a story of the power of fantasy.

Julia Vuori has written the manuscript together with Tuomo Railo, who made the choreography. The music was composed by Simo Heiskanen. The world of Vuori was visualized on stage by set designer Metti Nordin, costume designer Marja Uusitalo and lighting designer Tarja Ervasti.

The work is performed by G&G's five dancers. Pig's role is danced by Mammu Rankanen/Laura Frösen, Sorrow/Ceriman is Riikka Räsänen, Penguin is Pia Keskinen/Anne Raudaskoski, Heiskanen dances the role of Badger and Railo the role of Cow. The choir of red sparrows is created with mechanical puppets.

The basis of the visualisation of the story was to stay faithful to Vuori's images. The characters were created to be as similar with the originals as possible. In the set design the proportions of Vuori's illustrations have been maintained, e.g. by making the scene change in a surprising way and by adding lots of details into Pig's home. The set design was created by Heikki Mähönen and the costumes by Maarit Ronkainen.

Manuscript	Julia Vuori ja Tuomo Railo
Choreography	Tuomo Railo
Music	Simo Heiskanen
Dancers	Simo Heiskanen, Pia Keskinen/Anne Raudaskoski, Tuomo
	Railo, Mammu Rankanen/Laura Frösen, Riikka Räsänen
Scenography	Metti Nordin
Costumes	Marja Uuusitalo
Light Design	Tarja Ervasti.
Photographs	Ilpo Vainionpää.

Duration	50 minutes
Premiere	The Cultural Centre of Espoo, Louhi Hall, August 30, 2001
Production	G&G - Tuomo Railo, City Culture Department Centre - ......... Hannele Krohn, Riitta Jokela

Simo Heiskanen

LOG

LOG is Simo Heiskanen's choreography for four dancers. Even the music and the visualization are created by Heiskanen.

"LOG is a restless track of motion, bent by gravitation, for four dancers. In the choreography, precise forms and chaotic situations alternate unexpectedly. The mental images of the work are stumps of film that are edited out, a tavern piano, a mechanical forest and free fall."

Simo Heiskanen, choreographer

"The occasional minimalism of the piano music supports the piece, which reminds one of an artist's strict white lines on black fabric. The passing moments of dance turn into couples dancing. The most memorable part was the beautiful duet of Pia Keskinen and Hermanni Rask."

Pirjo Raiskio, Turun Sanomat

Choreography, music and visualization	Simo Heiskanen
Dancers	Kristiina Backman, Pia Keskinen,
	Mammu Rankanen, Hermanni Rask
Light design	Janne Teivainen
Photos	Ilpo Vainionpää

Duration	25 minutes
Premiere	The Cultural Centre of Espoo, Louhi Hall, September 1, 2000
Production	G&G, Espoo City Culture Department Centre, Zodiak

Tuomo Railo

THE CHERRY TREE

The Cherry Tree is a work for five dancer. The work is based on the music of György Liget and the choreography was made by Tuomo Railo. The Cherry Tree was visualized by the artist Heidi Romo.

"It is clear that Railo knows sovereignly the carriage of movement and the scale of emotions of dance, down to pathetics."

Jukka O. Miettinen, Helsingin Sanomat

"This work includes nothing unnecessary. Railo has excellent taste and instinct when it comes to choosing his music. The Cherry Tree is a freely breathing, even a meditative experience."

Pirjo Raiskio, Turun Sanomat

THE CHERRY TREE is a so-called dogma work. Tuomo Railo has written rules to pilot the choreographical process of his work. There are seven dogmas, the first of which is the following: "The choreographer shall be silent during rehearsals." However, the most difficult of the dogmas may be number six: "Dance must have an impact with its beauty and the beauty must be felt in the spectator's lower stomach."

Choreography	Tuomo Railo
Music	György Ligeti
Visualization	Heidi Romo
Dancers	Kristiina Backman, Simo Heiskanen, Pia Keskinen,
	Mammu Rankanen, Hermanni Rask..
Light design	Janne Teivainen
Photographs	Ilpo Vainionpää

Duration	40 minutes
Premiere	The Cultural Centre of Espoo, Louhi Hall, September 1, 2000
Production	G&G, Espoo City Culture Department Centre, Zodiak

Simo Heiskanen ja Tuomo Railo

JAVA - confusing people

"The performance criticizes technology, but in a very sweet and hilarious way. The work does really prove that new technology is fun."

Auli Räsänen, Helsingin Sanomat

"The whole stage of Kiasma Theatre is like an instrument. In addition to the soundscape that Heiskanen has created on tape, even the floor and the walls of the hall ring; they react to speech and movement in real time. The result is amusing and playful, lightly cacophonic."

Anni Valtonen, Aamulehti

"With their new production JAVA in the Kiasma Theatre, the duo known for their versatile and easily accessible performances, Simo Heiskanen and Tuomo Railo make a fantastic comeback. As a whole, JAVA is a true scenic adventure and an exuberant flow which one does not easily forget… The relationship between man and machine find in JAVA a new and unconditionally up-to-date depth in a purely fascinating form."

Jan-Peter Kaiku, Hufvudstadsbladet

"The work which is generous in its selection of tricks, is written by Railo, and the music was made by Heiskanen. They share an enthusiasm for computers, which makes it the most futuristic experiment in Finnish dance so far… If a genre called topical dance exists, this is it."

Annukka Ruuskanen, Kaleva

"Is the whole thing just technology? Oh, no. The duo has always had something thought-inspiring to say and that is the case now as well… The joyfully proceeding JAVA is spurred by the dancers' playing with floor sensors. The live image, video clips and the frolic of those on the stage is splendidly timed… JAVA is intelligently put together, uses technology magnificently and is a joyful whole."

Pirjo Raiskio, Turun Sanomat

Choreography, dance and visualization	Simo Heiskanen, Tuomo Railo
Music	Simo Heiskanen.
Video	Sari Tervaniemi
Light design	Pasi Pehkonen.
Photographs	Pirje Mykkänen, Ilpo Vainionpää

Duration	1 hour
Premiere	Kiasma Theatre, Helsinki, November 10, 1999
Production	G&G, Kiasma Theatre, Zodiak