Dance piece FIGURE SOLAIRE, choreographer Favela Vera Ortiz

Event Introduction

FIGURE SOLAIRE refers to a figure that carries an inner core while also embodying something greater than itself. It is an archetype, a memory, and an energy – a force that repeats and transforms. The work does not depict the sun, but explores the traces left by such a force in the body, in space, and in movement.

Dancer Elina Valtonen carries the figure from one space to another. Sensitivity, precision and inner power meet in a movement that expands, contracts, disappears, and emerges again. At the heart of the work is the relationship between the body and its environment.

FIGURE SOLAIRE is a site-specific outdoor work in which each location transforms the landscape of the piece. The city, the park, buildings, vegetation, light, and weather are not merely a backdrop, but become part of the performance. At the premiere in May 2026 the concrete urban setting and seascape of Parrulaituri gave the work one form, while during the tour for example the lush surroundings of Herttoniemi Manor created another.

For the Night of the Arts, FIGURE SOLAIRE will be presented on the large open lawn in front of Helsinki Winter Garden. The audience will watch the performance from the steps in front of the Winter Garden, while the dancer moves through the expansive green landscape. The openness of the space gives the body a new scale and places the solitary figure within a wider urban landscape.

Each location gives the figure a new scale and a new way of appearing.

Categories

Dance