Westward Ho!
The male trio Westward Ho! with its odd melancholy and quiet humour was Tero Saarinen’s international breakthrough work as a choreographer.

with Henrikki Heikkilä, Carl Knif, Heikki Vienola
Choreography: Tero Saarinen
Music: Gavin Bryars, Moondog
Lighting: Mikki Kunttu
Costumes: Tero Saarinen
Premiere: 18.2.1996, Dansens Hus, Stockholm, Sweden

Wavelengths
Wavelengths seems to crystallize Saarinen’s entire view of dance art, his movement language and his understanding of human beings. Composer Riku Niemi’s original music uses the minimalist yet ecstatic and dramatic arch of Ravel’s Bolero as one source of inspiration.

with Sini Länsivuori, Henrikki Heikkilä

Choreography: Tero Saarinen
Music: Riku Niemi
Lighting: Mikki Kunttu
Costumes: Erika Turunen
Premiere: 28.1.2000 (FNB), 17.6.2004 (TSC), Kuopio Dance Festival

Hunt
A choreography aware of history, the innovative use of multimedia in aspiration for a total art work as well as Saarinen’s strong presence as a dancer are all elements that have made HUNT a classic among the reinterpretations of Stravinsky’s music.

with Tero Saarinen

Choreography: Tero Saarinen
Music: Igor Stravinsky
Lighting: Mikki Kunttu
Multimedia: Marita Liulia
Costumes: Erika Turunen
Premiere: 2.6.2002, Venice Biennial
Information: www.terosaarinen.com / [email protected]

Tero Saarinen (b. 1964) began his career as a dancer at the Finnish National Ballet in 1985, where he soon attracted attention as a soloist. He left the ballet in 1992 to search for new influences from contemporary dance from Western Europe and Japan. Saarinen founded his own group, the Tero Saarinen Company (known as Company Toothpick until 2002) in 1996 as a canvas for his own choreographic work. He has also made choreographies for the Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT 1), the Batsheva Dance Company, Ballet Gulbenkian, the Lyon Opéra Ballet, the Gothenburg Opera Ballet, Ballet National de Marseille and the Finnish National Ballet.