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Arts

Kaaos Company Artistic Work 2021–2022: Destabilising normalcy in dance and performance

Kaaos Company juxtaposes normativity by placing varieties of body on stage and in performance contexts. This action supports deconstruction and reorientation to the 'as is' nature of the body. Indirectly this questions equality and discrimination by the fact it exists. These principles are explored during 2021–22 with Principia: a dance and circus durational performance work investigating equality and agency through the gravitational field. This is a collaboration with Kati Raatikainen (choreographer) Jenny Mansikkasalo (circus) Roy Boswell (sound) Aino Koski (set) Ada Halonen (light) Piia Rinne (costume) and Kaaos Company (Noora Västinen, Georgie Goater, Sally Davison, Kadar Khristan). Principia will premiere at X Dance Festival 2022. The second work Swan song is a collaboration between Liisa Pentti, Maija Mustonen, Georgie Goater (mentors), Riku Pekka Kellokoski (sound), Irene Lehtonen (light), and Sally Davison, Gunilla Sjovall (performers). SWAN SONG circumnavigates the relational space from the performers combined 131 years of flesh. The space informed by disability, age, life on the margins, and thirteen years of working together to include all bodies in dance. SWAN SONG premiers at X Dance Festival 2021. The working plan also covers a residency (PRINCIPIA), touring (SWAN SONG), rehearsal, and performance fees for artists who perform improviation gigs for Kaaos Company 2021–22 (4 performers), producer, artistic direction, of KC and XDF, performance fees for 30 artists in X Dance Festival 2022, (an inclusive dance festival dedicated to displacing and disrupting perception in dance). This application supports about 50 artists to investigate creativity and expression through bodily investigations in occupying otherness. Kaaos Company's work is an act of accountability for our communal heritage in reinstating physical and mental variety as an artistic, cultural, and social imperative in refining perception and new trajectories in artistic work.

The funding received from the Kone Foundation for Kaaos Company's Artistic Work 2021–2022 enabled many artistic outcomes and trajectories for the company during 2021-22. Many of the original schedules realigned because of the pandemic but this situation also birthed new creative outcomes.

SWAN SONG
The original plan went through many mutations in response to the pandemic restrictions throughout 2021 and 2022. Eventually the work adapted into 3 forms: an audio performance with subtitles which was shared in the program of X Dance Festival in June 2021, a video performance of the work recorded in January 2022 when the premier of Swan Song was scheduled to occur. And finally, in March 2022 the live version of Swan Song with an audience and a simultaneous sharing of the video recorded in January through registration for people not able to attend physically. Swan Song reached approximately 322 people nationally and internationally (to date).

PRINCIPIA - SIRKUSINSTALLAATIO PLANETAARISISTA PERUSTEISTA: KAAOS COMPANY
The performers move between the ground, air, and aerials exploring the sensorial experience of being human. The slowly opening landscape of bodies, as well as movement, offers a continuum of evolution to appear to the viewer.
Principia premiered in Cirko in April 2022 and was performed four times.

A diverse audience of 150 people from Ammattiopisto Live, Teak, Lihastautiliitto, Kv-tuki 57, Lyhty/Lamppu, Suomi Rojava community and members of the general public attended.. 50% of the audience had not previously attended a dance performance and most of the audience demographic were new to the work of Kaaos Company..

X Dance Festival (XDF) 2021 employed 55 people through the festival events. XDF 2021 contextualised mainly though an online format opened up the international agency of the festival enabling engagement with a wider scope of affect and influence within the international inclusive dance field.

Katras performances happened though out 2021 and 2022 at festivals throughout Finland. Performances happened in: Helsinki City Hall, (International day of disability) Kumpassitori (Helsinki Päivä), Joensuun Tori (Parafest), Tapiola (Espoopäivä) (2021 & 2022), Kokkola Theatre and Kokkola Shopping Mall, (Winter festival) and Oodi, Kansalaistori. Katras also performed in partnership with Move Fest Kosice on Zoom from Helsinki.

XDF was rescheduled to 2023 due to the pandemic waves of 2021-22 and the unavailability of space.









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The funding received from the Kone Foundation for Kaaos Company's Artistic Work 2021–2022 enabled many artistic outcomes and trajectories for the company during 2021–22. Many of the original schedules were realigned because of the pandemic, but this situation also birthed new artistic outcomes.

SWAN SONG
The performance of Swan Song went through many mutations due to the pandemic restrictions throughout 2021 and 2022. Eventually the work was adapted into three forms: an audio performance with subtitles in the programme of  XDance Festival in June 2021, a video performance of the work recorded in January 2022, and the premiere in March 2022. Swan Song has reached approximately 322 people nationally and internationally (to date).

PRINCIPIA - SIRKUSINSTALLAATIO PLANETAARISISTA PERUSTEISTA
Principia premiered in Cirko in April 2022 and was performed four times.
A diverse audience of 150 people from Ammattiopisto Live, Teak, Lihastautiliitto, Kv-tuki 57, Lyhty/Lamppu, the Suomi Rojava community, and members of the general public attended. 50% of the audience had not previously attended a dance performance, and most of the audience demographic was new to the work of Kaaos Company.

XDance Festival (XDF) 2021 employed 55 people through the festival's events. Most of the events were transferred online, which opened the international agency of the festival, enabling engagement with a wider scope of affect and influence within the international inclusive dance field. The live events were on the Zodiak stage in front of a small audience, following regulations.

Katras performances happened throughout 2021 and 2022 at festivals throughout Finland: Helsinki City Hall (International Day of Disability), Kumpassitori (Helsinki Päivä), Joensuun Tori (Parafest), Tapiola (Espoopäivä) (2021 & 2022), Kokkola Theatre and Kokkola Shopping Mall (Winter Festival), and Oodi, Kansalaistori. Katras also performed in partnership with Move Fest Kosice on Zoom from Helsinki.

XDF 2022 was rescheduled to 2023 due to the unavailability of space because of all the pandemic rescheduling. 

XDance Festival from May 30 to June 4, 2023, was in cooperation with Annantalo for the kids programme and Caisa for the main festival programme. XDF 2023 was dedicated to the memory of Olli Nordberg, a skilled influencer and expert in the fields of disability policy, accessibility, and culture. He was the regional coordinator for Kynnys Ry in Turku, and his influence went far and wide.

The festival employed 55 people (43 for the main festival events and 12 for the kids event). The people involved in the festival were from UG, ZA, UK, FR, NZ, US, and Finland. We were able to sponsor two disabled dance artists to attend the festival due to the funding: Joseph Tebandeke from Uganda and Christelle Dreyer from South Africa. Joseph and Christelle contributed greatly to the festival, and the whole festival seeded many new connections and ideas for collaboration with the participants for the future.

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