DAWN

In the organizer's words:

by Milla Koistinen / Unusual Symptoms

As dawn breaks, light emerges from the night. The fainter stars gradually fade, and only the brightest remain visible for a while - as do Jupiter and Venus, planets of hope and love.
"All will be well" may sound like an impossible promise today. Perhaps not everything will turn out well, but some things can certainly turn out differently than they are. In her book "Hope in the Dark", US author Rebecca Solnit writes that hope is less a promise and more a practice, a joint effort that takes time and space to take shape. Caring for each other, being courageous, holding each other before the darkness gives way to the first light of day.
In "Dawn", Unusual Symptoms and Finnish choreographer Milla Koistinen explore hope as a collective practice. Inspired by the rituals and gestures of physical labor, they explore the contrasts between hope and grief, joy and anger, passion and fatigue - and ask how these opposing forces can carry us through adversity as individuals and as a community. Because hope is nourishing, but can also be exhausting. A tired body needs someone else to lean on, to find rest and support. Who and what do we hold on to when the dawn seems to stay out longer than usual?

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When dawn begins to break, the light after the night starts to grow. The faintest stars gradually fade, leaving only the brightest stars, along with Jupiter and Venus - planets of hope and love - visible for a little while longer.
"Everything will be fine" feels like an impossible promise to uphold today. Not everything might be fine, but things can certainly become different from what they are now. In her 2004 book Hope in the Dark, Rebecca Solnit writes that hope is less of a promise and more of a practice - a collective effort that requires shared time and space to take shape. A labor of care, courage and holding each other in the dark, before it dawns.
Dawn, a new creation by Milla Koistinen and Unusual Symptoms, delves into the potentialities, impossibilities and paradoxes of hope as an ongoing, collective practice. Drawing inspiration from the rituals and physical labor and gestures of maintenance, it explores juxtapositions: hope and grief, joy and rage, passion and fatigue - and asks how these contrasting forces can carry us through hardships, both as individuals and as a community. The practice of hope is nourishing but can also become exhausting. And when a body grows tired, it needs another to lean on, to find rest, and to be carried through. Who and what do we hold onto when dawn doesn't seem to be coming for longer than usual?