Durban - Portable Home, a global dance project by Finnish choreographer Virva Talonen, plays in Durban’s Courtyard Theatre this weekend.
The project has been presented in various artistic versions in three countries, but this is the first in Africa. Talonen started it in Finland by visiting her own home town and it then morphed into three other projects, working with dancers interpreting her themes in Tokyo, in Bethlehem in Palestine, and now here.
It comes to Durban courtesy of the Finnish embassy in Pretoria. The SA Dance Alliance called for dance companies to participate and the Flatfoot Dance company was chosen from a slew of entries.
The dancer, choreographer and dance teacher has relished her stay in Durban working with one of the country’s top dance groups.
“Working together we all have our own ideas of home. It could be a state, land, a place, but also a feeling of belonging. It can even be a state within. I am belonging to some place and when I come here, I don’t belong, but the dancers have made sure that I do,” she said in an interview at the Courtyard Theatre between rehearsals.
“In Bethlehem, the project was more about family and land and people’s access to land, whereas in Finland (a solo show) I revisited the place where I was born, where I used to belong,” she said.
Talonen has been working with the dancers in Durban for almost a month, but while being “pretty much confined to the studio”, feels she knows the city better than many tourists.
“This is the way I get to know Durban, sharing and working with people. Sharing time and space with them, I am seeing so many places.
“I’ve been really welcomed, even though we might not have much in common. You open yourself up to their ideas and we’re all willing to share,” she said. “All material comes from the dancers. It wouldn’t make sense for me to say do this, or do that: we’re sharing.”
Flatfoot Dance Company’s artistic director Lliane Loots called it a love project from day one.
“In her artistic dance work, Virva focuses on the contradiction between the fragility and strength of the human self, and her free flowing and grounded dance technique is deeply meditative and mesmerising. It has been such an enormous pleasure and learning curve hosting and working with Virva these past few weeks. Her quiet dedication and focused methodology of working has won over the six resident Flatfoot dancers – I am really looking forward to seeing the final outcome,” she said.
After the show, Talonen hopes the work will remain in the Flatfoot repertoire and can be performed again.
When she’s not dancing, Talonen writes and reads “a lot” and enjoys sailing on family boating outings in the Finnish summer. Before returning home she looks forward to a short holiday in Cape Town and a few days in Pretoria. “You learn so much when you travel,” she said.
Portable Home is at The Courtyard Theatre today at 2.30pm and 7pm. Tickets R80/R50 students from [email protected]
The Indpendent on Saturday