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ANU SISTONEN CHOREOGRAPHER (LU) © Miikka Heinonen / Bohumil Kostohryz
ANU SISTONENCHOREOGRAPHER (LU)
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BIOGRAPHY
ANU MARJUKKA SISTONEN is a Finnish-born dancer, dance teacher and choreographer. After training at the FINNISH NATIONAL BALLET SCHOOL, she joined the school company and was cast in solo roles including Juliette in John Cranko‘s adaptation of Romeo and Juliet and Odette-Odile in Swan Lake. She subsequently turned to modern and contemporary dance to broaden her horizon with acclaimed choreographers like MATS EK, JIRI KYLIAN, JOHN NEUMEIER, MARCIA HAYDEE…
After a substantial period working with Finland‘s most outstanding choreographers at the time – JORMA UOTINEN, KENNETH KVANSTÖM and TERO SAARINEN – Sistonen moved to Paris, and then to London, with a view to exploring her relationship with choreography and nurture her interest in teaching. She has taught all over Europe (Germany, Finland, France, UK, Luxembourg, Sweden) and has returned to the FINNISH NATIONAL BALLET repeatedly as an invited guest.
Anu Sistonen is now based predominantly in Luxembourg and pursues her choreographic work with the CENTRE DE CRÉATION CHORÉGRAPHIQUE LUXEMBOURGEOIS – TROIS C-L and the BALLET DE LORRAINE. Her new pieces regularly feature on the programmes of Luxembourg‘s various cultural venues and institutions, including the GRAND THÉÂTRE DE LA VILLE DE LUXEMBOURG, which recently dedicated three evenings to Sistonen‘s work.
In November 2013 Anu Sistonen‘s piece AGAINST THE FLOW won the audience prize at ‘(Re)connaissance 2013’ a festival and competition organised by LE PACIFIQUE CHOREOGRAPHIC DEVELOPMENT CENTRE (CDC) and MAISON DE LA DANSE GRENOBLE (FR).
CREATIVE APPROACH
ANU SISTONEN has been actively working as a choreographer since 2000.
Her creative approach has always been defined by a strong focus on the MUTUAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MUSIC AND GESTURE. By making this particular element the centrepiece of her choreographic expression Sistonen seeks to evoke the right emotions for the performer as well as the audience. A number of her works require the presence of musicians on stage. These live music performances add sensitivity and emotional intensity to the danced elements and allow Sistonen to create a unique relationship between dancers and musicians and to make that bond visible. The choreographic language takes on a new dimension.
This original approach to choreography has frequently led Sistonen to work with artists from other disciplines including the composers EMRE SEVINDIK and ASKO HYVÄRINEN, the musicians ANDRÉ MERGENTHALER (cello), BENOÎT LEGOT (bass) and BEATA SZALWINSKA (piano), and MIIKKA HEINONEN - a video artist and photographer who has partnered up with Sistonen on countless choreographic projects.
In 2012, in her usual inquisitive and pioneering spirit, Anu Sistonen took on a new challenge: a first piece for young audiences. DUO DUU opened to rave reviews in Luxembourg and has since been shown in several other countries (France, Germany, Liechtenstein, Belgium).
ANU SISTONENCHOREOGRAPHER (LU)
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DUO DUU (2012 / PIECE FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES)
DUO DUU is about friendships between children and the many dramatic highs and lows that define these friendships. It features two dancers and one cellist on stage, with the music accompanying the gestures of the two protagonists and influencing the rhythm and energy of the dance performance. Due to its considerable size the instrument becomes a third character in this intriguing set-up.
Age: 4-7 | Duration: 40 min. | Speechless
Choreography: Anu Sistonen | Music: Emre Sevidink | Performance: Jennifer Gohier, Sarah Picard Bass: Benoît Legot | Costumes: Rachel Quarmby | Lighting design: Elric Vanpouille | Consultant: Jean Lambert (Les Ateliers de la Colline) | Coproduction: Dance Development A.s.b.l., CAPe - Centre des Arts Pluriels d’Ettelbruck, Centre de Création Chorégraphique Luxembourgeois - TROIS C-L, TRAFFO_CarréRotondes | Support: Ministère de la Culture, Fondation Indépendance, SACEM Luxembourg
PIECES AVAILABLE FOR TOURING
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AGAINST THE FLOW (2013)
AGAINST THE FLOW is a piece for three dancers inspired by Frédéric Chopin‘s PIANO SONATA NO. 3 with two distinct styles: flowing, water-like movements for two dancers and an unexpected countercurrent in the form of disruptive, saccadic movements for the third dancer. AGAINST THE FLOW won the audience prize at ‘(Re)connaissance 2013’ a festival and competition organised by Le Pacifique Choreographic Development Centre (CDC) and Maison de la danse Grenoble (FR).
Age: All audiences | Duration: 25 min. | Speechless
Choreography: Anu Sistonen | Performance: Joona Aaltonen, Grégory Beaumont, Ville Oinonen / Jarkko Lehmus | Lighting design: Jean Brücher | Costumes: Peggy Wurth | Coproduction: Dance Develpoment A.Ss.b.l., Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, CAPe - Centre des Arts Pluriels d’Ettelbruck, Centre de Création Chorégraphique Luxembourgeois - TROIS C-L | Support: Ministère de la Culture, Fonds culturel national
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QUANTUM VARIATIONS (2012)
Anu Sistonen is present both on stage, in a white gown, and on a screen, wearing black. The virtual dancer seems locked in, obsessed by a desire to break free while her doppelgänger, the white dancer, is the epitome of freedom. The video is projected onto a string curtain that represents a barrier the dancer must cross to escape her captivity. The piece is a reflection on how we can be held hostage in and by our daily lives, on the things that stop us from being ourselves, seeking to give us a new perspective on life.
Age: All audiences | Duration: 17 min. | Speechless
Choreography and performance: Anu Sistonen | Video: Miikka Heinonen | Lighting design: Jean Brücher | Coproduction: Dance Development A.s.b.l., Centre de Création Chorégraphique Luxembourgeois - TROIS C-L | Support: Ministère de la Culture
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GIVES LIFE / TAKES LIFE (2013)
GIVES LIFE / TAKES LIFE is a choreographic work for five dancers with water as its central theme: water as an element that is constantly with us; water as a source of pleasure and emotion; water as movement; water as the origin of life…and death.
Age: All audiences | Duration: 40 min. | Speechless
Choreography: Anu Sistonen | Performance:: Jonna Aaltonen, Grégory Beaumont, Julien Ficely, Jennifer Gohier, Ville Oinonen | Music: Emre Sevindik | Lighting design: Jean Brücher | Costumes. Peggy Wurth | Video: Miikka Heinonen | Coproduction: Dance Development A.s.b.l., Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, CAPe – Centre des Arts Pluriels d‘Ettelbruck, Centre de Création Chorégraphique Luxembourgeois - TROIS C-L | Support: Ministère de la culture
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TROIS FEMMES (2014)
THREE WOMEN – three artists - face themselves and one another on stage, and use their art form to tell the audience about loneliness. The pianist Beata Szalwinska interprets Karol Szymanowski‘s nine PRELUDES pieces that show incredible maturity and dazzling talent despite Szymanowkski‘s young age. The dancers Rhiannon Morgan and Jonna Aaltonen let themselves and their part-rehearsed, part-improvised performance be led by the piano music.
Age: All audiences | Duration: 20 min. | Speechless
Choreography: Anu Sistonen | Performance: Jonna Aaltonen, Rhiannon Morgan | Piano: Beata Szalwinska | Ligting design: Brice Durand | Coproduction: Dance Development A.s.b.l., Centre Culturel Régional Dudelange opderschmelz, Kinneksbond, Centre Culturel Mamer, Centre de Création Chorégraphique Luxembourgeois - TROIS C-L | Support: Ministère de la culture
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TONE HAZARD (2014)
What if everything in life happened by chance? In TONE HAZARD, Anu Sistonen explores the lack of control over one‘s own destiny and the feeling of being only a bystander to one‘s own life, which can feel like a purely random series of events. The five dancers on stage internalize this fundamentally existential and universal situation by relying on and interacting with the eponymous work by the Finnish composer Asko Hyvärinen.
Age: All audiences | Duration: 35 min. | Speechless
Choreography: Anu Sistonen | Performance: Jonna Aaltonen, Grégory Beaumont, Jennifer Gohier, Simone Mousset, Ville Oinonen | Music:: Asko Hyvärinen | Lighting design: Brice Durand | Coproduction: Dance Development A.s.b.l., Centre Culturel Régional Dudelange opderschmelz, Kinneksbond, Centre Culturel Mamer, Centre de Création Chorégraphique Luxembourgeois - TROIS C-L | Support: Ministère de la culture, Ambassade de Finlande au Luxembourg
CONTACTDance Development A.s.b.l.
E-Mail: [email protected]
Tel.: (+352) 40 45 69
Homepage: anusistonen.webs.com
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/user15274169
