Choreographer-dancer Sanna Kekäläinen:

“Private is a political choice. This is about making space, body, text and existence private in this world ruled by the spectacle. I mirror the narcissistic madness of our time and reach for a humane, shared reality. I bring on stage alternative means of communication as a counterforce for rejection and narrow mindedness, which symptomizes as infinite self-imposing. A few concepts, through which I think about representing gender on stage: The locus: where does the stage exist? How does the context affect performance and its reception? Right now the stage is in Finland, a familiar culture. The resources: what are the resources for realizing the performance? In what framework does the performance take place? What is its relationship to money and societal power? Private or common discourse: meanings are formed and received differently depending on whether the performance on stage is private or spectacular. That is why I divide art into two separate discourses, private and spectacle. The question is: how does the private combine meanings and how does the spectacle combine meanings? My stage is private. The work consists of two parts (1. SPEECH & SPECTACLE, 2. PRIVATE—Narcissism Remix) and continues as their anarchic dialogue. This is a proposal for a representation of gender on stage. This is about searching for an existence free of control—a place, where the norms of the spectacle will not reach.”

Performer Janne Saarakkala:

“Sanna directs me: like my ass would be speaking. Like my jerking leg would be speaking. Never let your forehead speak like a character in theater, though. It makes your body mute and you become public instead of private. The journey is an “impossible” task in my body, during which I start to express something so private that I’m only vaguely aware of it. It’s longing, it’s sensual, it’s emotional.”

The performers in Part 1 (SPEECH & SPECTACLE) were Sanna Kekäläinen, Janne Marja-aho, Panu Varstala, with lighting design by Heikki Paasonen, music by Niko Likainen and produced by K&C Kekäläinen & Company / Zodiak – Center for New Dance. In Part 2 (PRIVATE—Narcissism remix), performers were Sanna Kekäläinen and Janne Saarakkala, music by Debussy and text by Kari Hukkila. Script, choreography and direction for both parts were by Sanna Kekäläinen.