Sari Palmgren: Last Dance

A weary hiker becomes one with the landscape and confronts their limits. On a hummock of moss, through the lens of a microscopic world, they revisit their wilted connections – and rediscover a fragile bond.

Individuals form pairs
Pairs form chains
Chains create networks
I imagine stems twining around me
Branching, merging, swaying
When a plant and fungus embrace, it’s hard to imagine a more intimate connection.

Last Dance brims with emotion and nostalgia. Its playlist features hits from recent decades, shifting movement from tender ballads to pulsating rhythms. But this is more than just a trip down memory lane – Last Dance is also a ballad of biodiversity loss. The symbioses and networks in nature, the species that depend on one another, are in danger.

The performance’s duets draw inspiration from symbiotic relationships around us, such as the bond between the slimy spike-cap and spruce, or the ladybird and braconid wasp. One is used to reach further, the other is drained of life, while the third is allowed to flourish.

At the core: wherewherewhere?
Where is the nearest pleasure
Where is the nearest banana
Where is love
Where is the other
Wherewherewhere

Entwining
Entangling
Withering
Swaying
Decaying
Pairing
Penetrating
Decomposing
Reaching
Reproducing
Emptying

Bios

Sari Palmgren has been a dance artist for over 20 years, working both in Finland and internationally. She has collaborated with a wide range of artists on stage productions, dance films, immersive and site-specific performances, and community dance projects. Her work often explores themes such as the environment, the relationship between humans and nature, and the cycle of life. From 2019 to 2021, Palmgren was house choreographer at Zodiak – Center for New Dance. Since August 2023, she has been the artistic director of Routa Company. www.saripalmgren.com

Routa Company is a production house for contemporary dance based in Kajaani and the only professional contemporary dance organisation in the Kainuu region. For 20 years, Routa has facilitated the creation and experience of contemporary dance through producing works, hosting an artist residency, and engaging with diverse audiences. Operating at regional, national and international levels, Routa has played a pioneering role in improving working conditions in the arts sector and fostering dialogue. Its efforts to enhance the status of dancers have been widely recognised across Finland.