Startup seconds: Jarkko Partanen
Read | 1 August 2024Aerowaves continued its annual Startup Forum at Spring Forward 2023 in Dublin, inviting nine emerging dance presenters to be guided through the festival by five Aerowaves Partners, and to propose a curatorial project. Three of them were awarded €10,000 each to follow through with the project: Soňa Jakubove (SK), Sheree Lenting (NL) and Jarkko Partanen (FI).
We have been publishing snapshots from their production journeys to track their progress, problems and practical solutions. Here, Jarkko Partanen tells us how it’s going, mid-way through his project.
Interview by Inês Carvalho
London, February. As I sit in the auditorium at The Place Theatre, I mentally recap my first interview with Jarkko Partanen about his Startup Forum project: to bring Atlas Da Boca by Gaya de Medeiros to Helsinki. After hearing about this work in his own words, I am now looking forward to seeing it live for the very first time.
As soon as Gaya and co-performer Ary Zara take the stage, I can see why Partanen believes that Atlas Da Boca should be presented to new audiences. Combining movement, voice, music and screen projections, this duet creates an emotional honesty by fusing these different layers with glimpses of biographical experience. There are moments of pure interaction with the public, who are invited to be absorbed by the intimacy of Gaya and Ary.
Three months later, it’s precisely this element that marks the beginning of our second interview, this time a virtual encounter.
“We want to maintain that intimacy”, reveals Jarkko, “We’re still determining the best setup, but we might adjust the seating plan to keep the audience close to the performance.” When he pitched his Startup Forum project idea to KIASMA Theatre in Helsinki, they promptly offered their support and venue space for performance, and an artistic residency for Gaya. Over two weeks in September, the Brazilian-born, Lisbon-based artist will premiere Atlas da Boca in Finland, and then use the stage to develop a new work.
This means that for Partanen, choreographer, performing arts curator and founding member of WAUHAUS, the next couple of months will be very much about logistics to make all this happen. “I think we’re at a good point. We’re having a few conversations with Gaya about her needs for the residency, we’re drafting a schedule and thinking about the marketing copy.” Things are progressing, including practical production tasks such as booking flights, accommodation and updating the budget. “This stage has been all about creating the conditions to enable the work, but it’s been also nice to chat about the new work,” he summarizes.
To work on new choreography, with the working title of “Run Baby”, Gaya de Medeiros will come to Helsinki in a group of four artists, who will start working on it during the day, before the two performances of Atlas da Boca. At the end of their second week of residency, there will be a public sharing of the work, followed by a talk with local artists.
Jarkko tells me more about their plans: “The idea is to arrange an evening programme after the performances of Atlas da Boca, to create an informal meeting context, particularly with local artists. This project has a three-part structure: the performance, the talk, and the residency sharing. The talk will be an open discussion about where the work is going, and it will be free of charge.”
Having received the €10,000 award from Aerowaves’ Startup Forum allowed Jarkko to put the pieces together to welcome Gaya to Helsinki. But as the puzzle is still taking form, what are the challenges and lessons that this journey is bringing?
He swiftly replies to my question: “Everything has been very consistent. We’re now in the final stages of production, which involves a lot of organisation and decision-making. On a personal level, managing this project alongside my own artistic process as a choreographer brings its challenges, but I’m grateful for the support we’ve had since the beginning.”
Another aspect in this learning curve is the budget. “Managing a budget is always a concern, but we’ve been managing it well so far. Moving forward, we’ll prioritize marketing activity and finalize a few production details, but that won’t blow the budget.”
At the moment, Gaya and Jarkko continue their plans until they meet again in Helsinki. From 11–13 September, Atlas da Boca will be presented at KIASMA Theatre, and the residency will culminate in a sharing and open talk in the following week.