Petri Kekoni Company Nokia’s Möhkäle – Erratic Block

*Nokian Möhkäle* originated as a solo work by choreographer Petri Kekoni. The piece draws its name Möhkäle – (meaning “boulder” or “mass”) or *Erratic Block* – from geology: an erratic block is a rock transported by glacial action that has ended up in a location where it seemingly does not belong. The work uses this phenomenon as a starting point to explore body, mass, and movement—as well as how a human being carries layers, history, and forms that are in constant flux.

Like an erratic block, the piece shifts in November from Helsinki’s Suvilahti to Nokia—near Tampere—settling into the ruggedly beautiful surroundings of the old Nokia factory complex. Through this work, the audience gains a first encounter with the cultural milieu of the Nokia factory island. *Möhkäle* is now undergoing a powerful transformation through both a new venue and a new performer; the deeply personal solo originally presented by choreographer Petri Kekoni is being reinterpreted by Ville Oinonen, a highly acclaimed, experienced dancer from Tampere. With Nokian Möhkäle Oinonen also celebrates his 20-year career as a dance artist. Featuring visually striking imagery and evocative, primal movement, the piece will be performed from November 13 to 21 at the Loft Gallery on the Nokia factory island.

“Man is a woodchip in the stream of history in Petri Kekoni’s magnificent dance piece… the work is full of fine metaphors”

– Jussi Tossavainen, HS

“Möhkäle is a performance that is at once meditative and refreshing—one that both calms and empowers”

– Annikki Alku, Demokraatti

Erratic Block is an interdisciplinary artistic collaboration. Kekoni’s unembellished movement is given a frame by costume designer and researcher Joanna Weckman’s sculptural, shifting and multilayered costume design that obscures the border between the human and the inorganic. The sound and lighting of the piece is by spatial artist and performing arts sound and lighting designer Mikko Hynninen.