Virva Talonen: PLAY

The work PLAY by choreographer Virva Talonen and her working group focuses on play and its transformative power in the world of our time. The work is based on the idea of children as experts of play. In PLAY, we explore whether the traditional dominance of adults deciding what children can do can be reversed. Who gets to play? Who decides what to play? What kind of a performance is created when children get to decide? The PLAY working group is formed by six children and eight adults. PLAY is both a performance and play. It enters in different worlds, realities, and parallel realities that are yet unknown to us. In PLAY, play is serious, light, annoying, overwhelming, upsetting, power, desire, empathy, negotiation. There is room for play. Play is real. Play is. In addition to choreographer Virva Talonen, the working group consists of dance artists Jenni Koistinen, Karolina Ginman, Jukka Tarvainen and Leo Terävä, children Joshua Kingue, Hilja Riikonen, Milja Siirilä, Ronja Bado, Natoma Vaimala and Martta Susi, lighting designer Nanni Vapaavuori, sound designer Markus Heino and costume designer Mari Nurmenniemi. The child participants have been selected for the working group through an open audition.