CLOSER TO THE WILD HEART
Photo: Jaakko Rajala
CLOSER TO THE WILD HEART (2016)
Closer to the Wild Heart is a performance and research project that investigates the dialogue between contemporary dance, set/light and sound design. The project was initiated in the year 2016 by dancer/choreographer Maria Nurmela and shared with lighting/set designer Kalle Ropponen and sound designer Jaakko Vastapuu.
Closer to the Wild Heart received its name from the novel Near to the Wild Heart by a Brazilian author Clarice Lispector, without being a reconstruction of it. Lispector's existential prose served as the initial spark for the research process of Nurmela, Ropponen and Vastapuu:
for their working methods as well as for their expressive and aesthetic aims.
Inspired by Lispector, they sought out to create a dramaturgical and visual language – relentless minimalism and pure, infinite aesthetics.
They also aimed to detach the work from the theatrical apparatus and illusion, in order to achieve a certain honesty. All design elements for Closer to the wild Heart are built on a sustainable operating system that is powered from a standard household power-outlet.
The solo performance draws a portrait of a woman between reality and fiction. The work examines the themes of invisibility and self-reinvention. As an installation-like performance, it consists of fleeting moments that begin and end without claims of finality.
ARTICLES:
HEART CONNECTION: A LETTER TO MARIA NURMELA
by Marina Dubia, TANECNI AKTUALITY, 22.8.2022
In Czech:
S choreografkou a tanečnicí Marií Nurmelou (nejen) o svobodě
Lucie Kokourkovà, OPERA +, 03.08.2022
WATCH THE VIDEO
In "Closer to the Wild Heart", inspired by Lispector, they sought out to create a dramaturgical and visual language – relentless minimalism and pure, infinite aesthetics. They also aimed to detach the work from the theatrical apparatus and illusion, in order to achieve a certain honesty.
CLOSER TO THE WILD HEART - CREDITS
Concept Maria Nurmela
Set/light design Kalle Ropponen
Sound Jaakko Vastapuu
Mentoring Liisa Pentti, Tarja Härkönen
Photos Tiina Palmu, Robert Seger, Kalle Ropponen, Akseli Kaukoranta
Funded by Turku Arts Council, Finnish Cultural Foundation
Teaser Tiina Palmu
Premiered in Manifesti Factory Festival Turku, September 16th 2016
as a co-production by Manifesti Factory Festival 2016 / Katja Lehmussaari
The premiere was supported by the Turku Arts Council and The Finnish Cultural Foundation.
Following performances 2017-22:
Manifesti Factory Festival Turku (by popular demand), 16th of September 2017, Manilla Theater, Turku
Kedja/STRECH 2019 (part of the official program), 17th of October 2019, Civil Defense Bunker, Turku
Solocoreographico Festival, 5th of October 2020, Gallus Theater, Frankfurt
KoresponDance, 17th and 18th of July 2021, Zdar nad Sazavou, Czeck Republique
Following performances supported by
TelepART Mobily Grant by Finnagora, TelepART Mobily Grant by Finnish Institute in Berlin and Regional Dance Centre of Western Finland.