Ghosts Of Rosegarden
Ghosts of Rosegarden is a big stage piece for eight dancers and five musicians by interdisciplinary dance artist Elina Pirinen.
Ghosts of Rosegarden is an expressive fairy tale about a garden brimming with libidinal wonders. There, seven ecstatic wildlings, a mother and her dead cat, a hot string quartet and an amorous bassoonist stop each other’s blood and burst the air out of one another.
They blossom, engage in cheerful perversions and sacrifice themselves day and night at their otherworldly, never-ending barbecue parties. They grill dust and lava, serving up delicious new prophecies. They embrace trauma-islands inherited from their ancestors, scratch the writing of love with the thorns of roses, and chase prayers into the azure blue of the sky.
Deep in the back of the garden wanders the cycle of destruction and creativity.
The piece performs boisterous autopsies and twists the plots of the past and current narratives of sacrifice.
The large-scale stage work Ghosts of Rosegarden is performed by eight international dancers, Simone Lorenzo Benini, Elias Berglund, Karolina Ginman, Age Linkmann, Julia Mäkelä, Arolin Raudva, Vera Tegelman and Elina Pirinen, alongside string quartet Terhi Paldanius, Reeta Maalismaa, Hanna Hohti and Joasia Cieslak and bassoonist Antti Salovaara from the Finnish Avanti! Chamber Orchestra.
The work is envisioned, choreographed, and written by multidisciplinary dance artist Elina Pirinen. The music is composed by Ville Kabrell. The dramaturgy is by stage artist Ami Karvonen, with spatial and lighting design by Mateus Manninen. The costumes are designed by fashion designer Antrea Kantakoski, and the live cinema is created by film and stage artist Jakob Öhrman.
Elina Pirinen and her working group’s style is known for bringing together “high art” and “folk art.” Rooted in female specific experience, their work engages with the appalling while remaining luminous. It moves between the subconscious, the humorous, the divine, and the primal; between ritual, riot, and mysticism. Pirinen is interested in a world that can only be reached through the synthesis of corporeality, live music, and stage.
The work is an international co-production. Ghosts of Rosegarden will premiere at the main stage of the Dance House Helsinki, before travelling in October to the Sõltumatu Tantsu Festival (STF) in Tallinn and Dansens Hus in Stockholm.
