Susanna Leinonen Company RAW – Triple Bill

No One, Just Your Friend

Triple Bill opens with No One, Just Your Friend, which premiered in 2000 as part of the Bagnolet festival. This debut work by Susanna Leinonen marked her breakthrough on both the Finnish and international contemporary dance scenes and was immediately met with enthusiastic acclaim from audiences and critics alike.

No One, Just Your Friend dives into the movements of life and the mind, revealing what happens when the façade of friendship collapses. The interplay between three women presents the beauty and cruelty of friendship side by side: intimacy, competition, gossip, and power. The movement language shifts from observant to sharp and dynamic, brimming with energy and expressivity. Tapani Rinne’s intense soundscape, blending ambient and jazz, propels the piece toward a hypnotic finale. Lighting by Pasi Pehkonen and costumes by Annette Tamminen create a minimalist yet powerful stage image in which movement and atmosphere reach their full force. No One, Just Your Friend shows where the artistic journey of one of Finland’s most influential contemporary choreographers began.

Trickle, Green Oak

The second work of the evening is Trickle, Green Oak, which premiered at the Finnish National Ballet in 2003. The piece is one of the strongest works of Leinonen’s early career and firmly established her as an original choreographer whose artistry has also drawn international attention.

A female quartet leads the audience into a mysterious, starkly haunting world where physical strength and vulnerability intertwine. Movement, driven by the rhythm of breathing, stretches to its limits and bursts forth in controlled explosions. The work has been described as rawly beautiful and intensely atmospheric, with each gesture carrying a clear inner energy and purpose.

Visuality plays a central role: Erika Turunen’s costumes, Olli-Pekka Koivunen’s lighting, and Mia Erlin’s score create a stage world that is dreamlike, even nightmarish. Leinonen’s choreography, the visual design, and the music are interwoven in a way that captivates the audience with aesthetic force and powerful presence.

Pain Killer

The RAW evening culminates in the world premiere of Pain Killer, taking place at the Erkko Hall on 8 October 2025. The work continues Susanna Leinonen’s artistic exploration of the body’s limits and human experience. At approximately 40 minutes, Pain Killer is the evening’s most extensive piece, and its intense dialogue between movement, sound, video, and visuals stands as a tribute to multidisciplinary collaboration.

The creative team brings to the stage a work in which each element amplifies the others. Composer Kasperi Laine (also known as the rap artist Laineen Kasperi) provides a pulsating and experimental soundscape, while Ville Seppänen’s video design and Teemu Nurmelin’s lighting construct a space that evolves alongside the dancers’ movements. Costumes by Sari Nuttunen complete the visual world, where the body’s boundaries and identities shift before the audience’s eyes.

With its physicality and visual force, Pain Killer offers a comprehensive finale to the RAW evening and marks a new, eagerly awaited chapter in Susanna Leinonen’s already remarkable career.