Highres Das MO uupi 1
Show photographer Sari Antikainen

Liisa Pentti +Co & BRQ Vantaa Ensemble: Das Musikalische Opfer

Catering
  • Show times

    Thu 21.9. at 7.30 PM


    Fri 22.9. at 7.30 PM


    Sat 23.9. at 5 PM


    On Friday, artistic discussion with Liisa Pentti straight after the performance.

How do Bach and dance art meet in 2023? Together with dancers and the BRQ Ensemble assembled by Markku Luolajan-Mikkola, choreographer Liisa Pentti seeks an answer to this question. Combining live music and dance, Das Musikalische Opfer – A Choreography for Seven Dancers and Musicians is an inverse continuation of Pentti's work with the music of minimalist masters, a reach into the musical past beyond the present.

Das Musikalische Opfer (The Musical Offering) is Johann Sebastian Bach’s enthralling and playful late-period masterpiece whose complex and enigmatic counterpoint offers a fascinating challenge to choreography and new encounters between dance and music.

Bach’s music is timeless, providing a framework for emotions like joy and sorrow. It inspires hope and allows us to feel part of the mysterious universe from which music springs. Das Musikalische Opfer – A Choreography for Seven Dancers and Musicians is at once an experimental and traditional dance work, in which dancers and musicians create a mystical and dreamlike world in the space of the Erkko Hall.

Liisa Pentti +Co is a Helsinki-based dance group whose central values are artistic relentlessness and ingenuity. Founded in 2000, the group’s artistic profile is situated in a field between dance, performance art and contemporary theatre. Experimentation and searching for new forms of expression are emblematic of Liisa Pentti +Co’s work.

BRQ Vantaa Festival’s artistic director Markku Luolajan-Mikkola has assembled a unique ensemble of internationally renowned musicians. BRQ Ensemble performs with varying line-ups mainly at the BRQ Vantaa Festival, but their past performances also include venues in both Stockholm and Italy.

The performance may contain strong lights.
Note
: Age recommendation +7 years.

The event is organized by Liisa Pentti +Co

Liisa Pentti

Photo: Petteri Enroth

Liisa Pentti is a trailblazer of Finnish dance. She graduated as a dance artist at the Amsterdam Academy of Theatre and Dance’s Modern Dance department (SNDO) in 1986, and was one of the postmodern dance artists shaking the Finnish dance and cultural scenes in the 80’s.

In addition to her own artistic work, she was one of the central figures of Zodiak Presents Assoc. and Zodiak – Center for New Dance from 1987 to 2011, and tirelessly paved the way for new kinds of dance and art. Liisa Pentti was one of the founding members of Sivuaskel festival and worked in the event’s artistic department from 1996 to 2009. She was the Artistic Director of Täydenkuun tanssit in 2013, with “After Contemporary?” as the festival’s theme. The festival included a symposium centered on the topic. Pentti was in charge of the Theatre Academy’s Swedish-language actor training department’s physical education classes between 1990 and 2019.

Pentti has taught a group consisting of youths on the autism spectrum since 2015. The group has put on two performances, shown at the Zodiak Stage in 2018 and 2021.

Liisa Pentti continuously works as a teacher, dancer and choreographer both in Finland and internationally. She has written many articles and other texts on dance, its subject matter and its place in the world.

As a choreographer, Pentti received the Stina Krook Foundation’s award in 2015, and in 2019 was awarded the National Prize for the Performing Arts.


Ticket information

Tickets on sale at tiketti.fi and Tiketti's ticket offices. For any ticketing inquiries, please contact Tiketti's customer service.

Early bird prices until 25.6.2023:
Standard ticket | A 36€ – B 28€ – C 20€
Discount ticket (Under 25, pensioners, students, unemployed, conscripts and civil servants, members of Teme) | A 28€ – B 20€ – C 12€
Group ticket (minimum 10 tickets) | A 32€ – B 24€ – C 16€

Prices from 26.6.2023:
Standard ticket | A 45€ – B 35€ – C 25€
Discount ticket (Under 25, pensioners, students, unemployed, conscripts and civil servants, members of Teme) | A 35€ – B 25€ – C 15€
Group ticket (minumum 10 tickets) | A 40€ – B 30€ – C 20€

Pay What You Can | A small number of "Pay What You Can" tickets are available for the performance. PWYC ticket reservations via email: info@liisapentti.com.

Note: To ensure good visibility to everyone, The Erkko Hall auditorium is steep. Please note that there is no lift to the upper section. Only the first row seats are fully accessible.

Credits

Concept and choreography

Liisa Pentti

Dancers

Meeri Lempiäinen, Ryan Mason, Corinne Mustonen, Pinja Poropudas, Satu Rekola, Kardo Shiwan ja Katri Soini

Choreographic interlocutor

Pia Lindy

Choreographer’s assistant

Pinja Poropudas

Music

Johann Sebastian Bach

Sound

Tuukka Tervo

BRQ Vantaa Ensemble

Sirkka-Liisa Kaakinen-Pilch, barock violin; Marten Root, traverso; Ilpo Laspas, harpsichord; Markku Luolajan-Mikkola, barock cello, viola da gamba

Light design

Heikki Paasonen

Costume design

Tua Helve

Photos

Sari Antikainen, Uupi Tirronen

Communications

Essi Brunberg, Ellen Karlsson

Producer

Hanna Nyman

Production

Liisa Pentti +Co

Supported by

City of Helsinki, Arts Promotion Centre Finland, Kone Foundation, Svenska kulturfonden, Niilo Helanderin säätiö

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