Our Story

Batsheva Dance Company, led by Ohad Naharin, commissions its second work from Saarinen. Un/Do is also later seen in Ballet Gulbenkian’s repertoire.

The Company performs Westward Ho! at Florence Gould Hall in New York.

Wavelengths premieres at the Finnish National Ballet, performed by Nina Hyvärinen and Kimmo Sandell. The duet becomes known for its interpretation by Sini Länsivuori and Henrikki Heikkilä.

Commissioned by the Venice Biennale, Saarinen’s solo creation HUNT receives its world premiere.

The ensemble piece Transfigured Night, set to music by Arnold Schönberg, premieres in the repertoire of Gothenburg Ballet in Sweden. It is later added to the Finnish National Ballet’s repertoire.

Borrowed Light receives its world premiere at the Octobre en Normandie Festival in France. The creation, supported by EU funding, goes on to be performed around the world.

Saarinen is awarded the prestigious Movimentos Dance Prize in Germany, and France honours him with the title of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Tero Saarinen Company is granted an annual Finnish government subsidy as one of the organizations that comes under the Theatre and Orchestra Act.

Tero Saarinen Company’s first North American tour. Six performances at The Joyce Theater in New York end the Triple Bill’s USA-Canada tour.

Both Borrowed Light and Triple Bill are picked as highlights of the year in various reviews.

The now 10-year-old group has six full-time employees and a network of 77 staff over the year.

Borrowed Light tours Australia and New Zealand.

Next of Kin premieres in Vilnius, Lithuania. This multidisciplinary production receives mixed reviews in London, where The Guardian calls it: “One of [the] most comprehensively weird productions I have ever seen.”

Tero Saarinen Company opens the 100% Finlandia cultural year at Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. The programme includes HUNT and Saarinen’s large-scale ensemble work for Opéra National de Lorraine and Ballet de Lorraine, Mariage.

Carolyn Carlson gives her legendary solo Blue Lady to Tero Saarinen for reinterpretation. Over the next few years, Saarinen tours with the work in Europe and Asia.

The Finnish Cultural Foundation gives Saarinen an award for his achievements as an artist.

Tero Saarinen performs his solo Man in a Room on two nights at New York City Center.

The group performs Triple Bill in the Ibero-American Theater Festival in Bogotá.

Invited by choreographer Jin Xing, the Stravinsky Evening visits China as a part of the World Exhibition.

By popular demand, Borrowed Light returns to Jacob’s Pillow as part of the festival’s 80^th anniversary programme.

The Finnish National Opera and Ballet adds Saarinen’s Mariage to its repertoire.

Tero Saarinen Company presents the Tanssin juhlaa! evening celebrations of dance in Helsinki to promote the Dance House Helsinki project.

The Company’s first major community-outreach project begins in Malminkartano, Helsinki.

The National Dance Company of Korea invites Tero Saarinen to be its first-ever guest choreographer. The large-scale creation VORTEX premieres at the Korean National Theatre.

Season of Borrowed Light at Théâtre National de Chaillot in Paris. The performance is filmed for French television.

The Company’s first film project, the documentary A Chair Fit for an Angel, premieres in Canada. It receives awards at various film festivals.

Morphed, a choreography set to the music of Esa-Pekka Salonen, premieres at the Helsinki Festival, on the Main Stage of the Finnish National Opera. The composer himself conducts the orchestra of the Finnish National Opera.

The Finnish National Broadcasting Company YLE celebrates Tero Saarinen’s 50^th birthday with a television theme evening that includes a biographical documentary, the film A Chair Fit for an Angel, and a film of Saarinen’s solo creation HUNT.

Tero Saarinen Company’s 20^th anniversary year focuses on Finland, with performances at the country’s biggest dance festivals, in Kuopio, Pyhäjärvi and Jyväskylä. Saarinen’s early work Could you take some of my weight…? returns to the repertoire, together with the ensemble piece MESH. The Company produces a season at the Finnish National Opera’s Almi Hall.

Presentation of international guest performances in Helsinki continues, with the Company producing three separate evenings.

The year is a busy for educational activities: new courses are developed; Tero Saarinen is invited to teach at the Juilliard School in New York; and an ongoing collaboration with the Finnish National Ballet School begins.

The Company now has 11 employees on monthly salaries.

Dance House Helsinki opens in February. Tero Saarinen Company presents two highly successful runs at the venue. The spring double bill combines Hz by TSC’s first-ever visiting choreographer Johanna Nuutinen with a new rendition of Tero Saarinen’s classic solo HUNT. In fall, TSC hosts a visit from The National Dance Company of Korea. Both seasons receive high praise from audiences and critics alike and sell out the 700-seat Erkko Hall several times. The Finnish National Ballet also premieres a new creation, Wedge, by Tero Saarinen with music from Esa-Pekka Salonen. All in all TSC reaches an audience of more than 11,000 in its home town of Helsinki.

Tero Saarinen Company’s international operations include TSC’s first post pandemic tour performances, the re-premiere of Saarinen’s VORTEX in Seoul and the world premiere of a new commissioned creation, Heart Drive by Imre and Marne van Opstal, coproduced with Ballet BC in Canada.

Manyfold activities in TSC Studio continue. Alongside rehearsals, TERO technique morning classes and rentals, the company offers TSC residencies for five independent working groups plus one in collaboration with the annual street art and culture festival URB.