Production info “The subconscious is not only the refuge for denied desires. It is a world...
Major decisions have been made on piers: whether to stay or to leave. An empty pier is not truly empty; it remembers those who have already departed and awaits the arrival of the next person.
This solo dance piece by a 68-year-old man serves as a metaphor for waiting, arriving, and departing. From a pier, one can observe, as an outsider, life in its various forms drifting by. One might be a traveler oneself. Someone else’s journey may cross paths with one’s own.
“As a child, I used to sit on the side of the road, “the milk platform”, waiting for the village’s milk shipment with my brother. Cars would arrive from somewhere and head off somewhere else. Back then, I wasn’t particularly interested in the people inside the cars or where they were going. I simply noted down the makes, colors, and license plate numbers. Often, the drivers and passengers would wave at us; sometimes, someone would even toss something out of a car window.
I thought to myself: There must be something truly wonderful out there, given that everyone is heading in that direction. In the 1960s, all sorts of peculiar contraptions traveled along Highway 4: many could barely chug their way up the hills. Attached to the outer wall of my home, which stood right by the roadside, was an advertisement for a nearby holiday village. If someone stopped to ask for directions in a foreign language, no one in my family could understand them. People don’t always understand one another, I realized. Yet, even without knowing the language, we were still able to guide travelers from abroad by looking at a map together.
To this day, I don’t speak foreign languages very well. But I have learned how to hop off the platform and join those passing by. I have traveled to many countries and encountered various cultures, and I have come to understand that everyone has their own starting point. We are all standing on the platform!”
Alpo Aaltokoski
Choreography and dance: Alpo Aaltokoski
Music: Giya Kancheli
Light design: Kalle Paasonen
Video design: Kosti Kinnunen
Costume design: Marja Uusitalo
Premiere: April 13, 2027 // Spring of Three Solos, Pannu Hall, Dance House Helsinki
Duration: approx. 20 min