Auraco's May newsletter

The Why Mix returns to Annantalo in August – the piece ponders on children’s capability to understand bodily expressions in the time of smartphones

What is Auraco’s new work made of? Mime, dance, music. Mazes, circles, spirals. Emojis of three wise monkeys. That’s what The Why Mix is made of.

The Why Mix performances return to Annantalo in August after being cancelled in December due to the covid-19 pandemic. The piece ponders on children’s reduced bodily expression and movement constructions in the time of smartphones and emojis. The Why Mix will premiere on the 21st of August at Annantalo Arts Centre.

The upcoming performances will not only be seen as a live show on stage but also as a live stream that can be enjoyed from the comfort of your own home. The live stream will be available for you to see on Tuesday the 24th of August and 7 days after that. It will be directed by Lumikinos Production’s Thomas Freundlich who is a Finnish pioneer of dance films. The stream will be a multi-camera production to guarantee a touching experience even from afar.

The word “why” is key to understanding and knowledge. “Mix” is a mixture. The Why Mix throws questions in the air about the meanings and interpretations of bodily movement.

Why do the hands get twisted? Why do the legs take different directions? Why does one have a tail and the others do not? Yes – and why do I see even when I don’t?

The Why Mix is a geometric, thrilling, colourful and partly serious mixture of contemporary dance, mime and music. The visuality draws its inspiration from the Bauhaus style. A style where geometrical shapes and asymmetrical compositions are typical.

The Why Mix is a part of the Mapping – a Map on the Aesthetics of Performing Arts for Early Years project of the EU’s Creative Europe programme.

The performance is produced in collaboration with Annantalo and Pragma Helsinki.