With Attitude, Tomi Paasonen returns to ballet, revisiting what has been his dance focus for 30 years, yet was left behind as the millennium turned. It is time to examine processes, forms and techniques from his choreographic practice in the 1990s from today's perspective.
Attitude is a choreographic study of mixing up the strict academic vocabulary of classical ballet with dramaturgical impulses from contemporary dance. The two queer ballet dancers Kai Braithwaite (Komische Oper, Oper am Rhein, Dance Theatre of Harlem) and Leonardo Mancuso (Teatro alle Scala, Theater Magdeburg, West Australian Ballet) meet the dancer Ted Littlemore (Ne.Sans Dance Company, Joshua Beamish/ The Vancouver Opera), who combines his contemporary dance practice with his expertise in drag.
It is an experimental ballet etude with an yet undetermined outcome, embracing technical skill and virtuosity for new critical perspectives on the classical form. And despite fusing it with queer aesthetics and sensitivities, it does not aim for parody, but for an extension of the possibilities of using the pointe shoe as an instigator of movement and choreography.
Choreography / Direction: Tomi Paasonen
Dance: Kai Braithewaite, Leo Mancuso, Ted Littlemore
Light Design: Asier Solana
Photo: Tomi Paasonen
Duration: 50 min.
A production by Tomi Paasonen in co-production with DOCK ART, funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Europe.
