"Dance is my attempt to understand human nature and its multiple manifestations: friendship, love, strength of spirit."
Tero Saarinen
GASPARD
A choreography for five dancers set to the piano composition Gaspard de la nuit by Maurice Ravel, Gaspard was originally produced for the Ballet de l'Opéra national de Lyon in 1999. Inspired by the sensations of romanticism, mystery, and danger evoked by Ravel's music, Gaspard stages human encounters suspended between anticipation, fascination, and disappointment, where the contrast between the two extreme elements of death and sensuality gives the choreography a dreamlike dimension.
HUNT
Commissioned by the Venice Biennale in 2002, the solo Hunt was born from a collaboration between Tero Saarinen and Finnish multimedia artist Marita Liulia. Performed over 150 times in around 30 countries, Hunt is one of the most significant contemporary interpretations of The Rite of Spring by Stravinsky, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2013, marking the first performance in Paris. In this solo, Saarinen focuses on the internal conflicts of the individual, such as masculinity and femininity, selfishness and altruism, good and evil, and the decline of beauty, asking a series of questions on fundamental human themes: "Who leads us? To whom do we belong? Whose life is ours?" If The Rite of Spring is the cruelest and most powerful of Stravinsky's works, as the dancer and choreographer asserts, in Hunt, Saarinen explores the concept of sacrifice, portraying both hunter and prey at the same time.
Tero Saarinen
Dancer and choreographer Tero Saarinen began his career in the 1980s with the Finnish National Ballet, collaborating with internationally renowned choreographers such as Carolyn Carlson, Jorma Uotinen, and Murray Louis. In 1992, he shifted his focus to Western Europe and Japan, where he studied traditional dance and Butoh. In 1996, he founded his own company in Helsinki, which has been known as the Tero Saarinen Company since 2002.
Famous for his original style, which draws from classical ballet, contemporary dance, Butoh, and martial arts, Tero Saarinen creates productions considered "total works of art" with strong visual impact, often combined with live music. He has received various awards and recognitions, including the Finland Prize, the Pro Finlandia medal, the German International Movimentos Dance Prize for Best Performance, and in 2004, he was named a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Government.
The primary goal of the Tero Saarinen Company is to promote a vision of the world and fundamental human values through the language of dance, as well as to spread dance as a fundamental element of psycho-physical well-being. Among its activities, the company also manages an international teaching program.
