Ballet Finland: On aika
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Date
12.3-13.3.2026
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Duration
1 H 45 min (incl. intermission)
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Venue
Erkko Hall
Show times
thu 12.3.2026 at 19.00
fri 13.3.2026 at 19.00
Works and duration
Hanna Brotherus: Song of Sorrow
Duration 30 min
Intermission 25 min
Johanna Nuutinen: EVER
Duration 20 min
Kenneth Kvarnström: Carmen?!
Duration 20 min
In addition
Artist discussion after the performance on 12.3.2026 (in Finnish).
Participants: choreographers Hanna Brotherus and Kenneth Kvarnström, Jouko Valkama, the artistic director of Ballet Finland and Ballet Finland's dancers.
Introduction
On aika consists of contemporary dance performances by three top Finnish choreographers. The works by Hanna Brotherus and Johanna Nuutinen, created for Ballet Finland dancers, both premiered in 2024, and the evening will be concluded with Kenneth Kvarnström’s joyful and beloved classic Carmen?!.
The works are united by the theme of time - a moment where the past, present and future meet. Originally created in 2024 to celebrate Ballet Finland’s 15th anniversary, On aika ensemble celebrates Finnish contemporary dance and choreographic diversity.
A wonderful evening! So diverse! All the works work wonderfully independently, but I especially liked how great they formed a whole!
I had the feeling that I would want to see the work again right away.
Tears just rolled down my cheeks.
Thank you Ballet Finland for reminding me what everything's actually all about. Especially this piece EVER by Johanna Nuutinen was utterly magnificent.
Incredible dancers, choreography, dance and sounds! Thank you.
– Audience feedback from 2024
Song of Sorrow (Laulu surusta)
"It is a privilege to return to the performance Song of Sorrow after a break. Time has deepened the work and changed us as creators and performers. I often think about the brevity and unpredictability of time. I think about its value; what is it if not shared with others?"
– Hanna Brotherus
Hanna Brotherus' Song of Sorrow is a stirring outburst of energetic dance by seven movement professionals of different ages and backgrounds, reaching for the simultaneous lightness and weight, sorrow and hidden beauty.
"We walk through our grief in ignorance until we suddenly realize that we share the same burden with others. Despite our differences and different backgrounds, it is precisely these differences that made it possible for us to connect with each other in the empty space."
Credits
Choreography: Hanna Brotherus
Music and sound design: Totte Rautiainen
Light design: Tuomas Honkanen
Costume design: Erika Turunen
Set design: Jonathan Maxwell
Dancers: Saida Solla, Anneke Lönnroth, Mirva Mäkinen, Ive Ntumba, Sofia Ruija, Eero Vesterinen
EVER
"Returning to the work EVER as a choreographer is a return to an unfinished question that has continued to live outside the work. Time and lived experience open up new layers to the movement that may not have been visible before."
– Johanna Nuutinen
Johanna Nuutinen's work EVER focuses on the ambiguity of the concept of the end. The end can mean an inevitable conclusion, a pause or a transition, but it can also be a new beginning or a continuum in which nothing really ends, but rather transforms into something new. The work invites the viewer to pause and reflect on what "the end" means to them – and whether anything is truly "over forever." Joonas Pehrsson's sound design and Lauri Porra's composition Matter create a rich atmospheric framework for the work.
Credits
Choreography: Johanna Nuutinen
Music and sound design: Joonas Pehrsson, Lauri Porra
Light design: Tuomas Honkanen
Costume design: Erika Turunen
Dancers: Aino Päivike, Anette Toiviainen / Katariina Luukas, Katerina Torp
Carmen!?
"Carmen?! is an old work that has entertained audiences all over the world... It's amazing that a work that was made at such a fast pace and with a smile on a face can continue to live on for so long."
– Kenneth Kvarnström
Kenneth Kvarnström's beloved classic Carmen?! premiered in Kuopio in 1993. Since then, it has been performed in various configurations and forms around the world, usually with four male dancers and always without a female lead in the role of Carmen. The version now on display has been spiced up with some new elements. The music is Rodion Shchedrin's dramatic and rich Carmen suite.
Credits
Choreography: Kenneth Kvarnström
Music: Bizet-Shchedrin: Carmen suite
Light design: Tuomas Honkanen
Rehearsal director: Jouka Valkama
Dancers: Vilhelm Bjerser, Timo Korjus, Eero Vesterinen, Eemu Äikiö
