Movement is a perpetual source of inspiration for me. In my works I aim to create a living, multi-layered, powerfully expressive movement that rises up from primal wellsprings. In this work I particularly wanted to play around with opposing forces and frictions.
When creating Morphed, I felt a need to bring together men of different ages and various dance backgrounds, this time to address themes such as change and sensuality. I cannot deny that turning 50 and having a performing career of more than 30 years behind me influenced my desire specifically to use the art of dance to deal with the shifting, mutating feelings that a man experiences.
When I was looking for music for the piece, I came across Esa-Pekka Salonen’s compositions Concert étude for solo horn (2000), Foreign Bodies (2001) and Violin Concerto (2009). Apart from their kinetic quality, I was inspired by how they switched from brutally aggressive to soft. Salonen’s music has provided a thought-provoking, multi-dimensional initial spark for dealing with the manifold emotions and virtuosity of a man – a man dancing.
Undaunted by the extremes of sensitivity and heroism, and all that lies between, I and these seven dancers have aspired to the boundlessness of the expressive power of the body, liberating movement – and to be human.
– Tero Saarinen