Virpi Pahkinen (SWE) Pooh-pooh

Programme

Winds of all kinds have inspired Virpi Pahkinen to create the dance work Aajej. Aajej takes its name from the North African whirlwind, so strong that, according to legend, the local inhabitants had to fight it with swords. In the performance, Pahkinen, who used to study piano at the Helsinki Conservatory, takes a seat behind the grand piano for the first time in a dance context. Also on stage is musician and multi-instrumentalist Jonas Sjöblom, whose music for Pahkinen's solo work Sagittarius A (2009) attracted much attention. In Aajej, he performs live music on tablas, flutes and vibraphone. Among the performers is the prominent Senegalese dancer Kaolack, also known in his home country as 'danseur du vent' (dancer of the wind).