Helsinki Dance Company & Kenneth Kvarnström no-no

Kenneth Kvarnström’s no-no premiered at Helsinki City Theatre in autumn 1996 and marked the beginning of a new era of powerful, physically driven contemporary dance. In November 2026, we celebrate the work’s 30-year legacy with a new version created for nine dancers.

Balancing between extreme physicality and sensual, poetic expression, no-no unfolds as an intense ritual of movement that speaks to both body and soul. It is a dance work that does not explain its themes, but instead trusts in dance as a self-sufficient form of expression.

Alongside Kvarnström’s distinctive movement language, the performance is shaped by Jens Sethzman’s lighting and spatial design, as well as a soundscape that carries the dancers from ecstatic physicality toward a delicate, almost sacred sensitivity.

First premiered in 1996 by Helsinki City Theatre’s dance group, no-no redefined Finnish contemporary dance and captivated audiences both in Finland and on tour across Europe. The work was last performed at Helsinki City Theatre in 2008 to sold-out audiences.