FI

Lähto

departure

In Lähtö / Départ there is a woman and a man who have a complicated relationship. Confused, they stand onstage, surrounded by clothes. Feelings and thoughts are expressed through the movement of their bodies – and the movement of the clothes, which have a life of their own.

Lähtö / Départ is the 2013 creation of visual theatre and circus company WHS. Directed by magician and visual artist Kalle Nio, the performance brings to the stage a couple that has drifted apart from each other and is now floating in the middle of dreamlike imagery and illusions. Inspired by the stage illusions of 19th Century magicians, the performance creates a mysterious atmosphere that alternates between absurd humour and tragedy. The piece provides a unique theatre experience in which circus, magic, dance, clothing design, and visual arts merge.The work of the visual artist, magician and stage director Kalle Nio is a combination of magic, visual arts, cinema, art history, circus and theatre. In his stage performances and cinematic installations, he is an inventor, a performer and a researcher creating encounters between past and present, between magic and visual arts, between the high arts and the sideshow, between craft and technology, between the real and the illusory.

Kalle Nio is also part of the Finnish art collective WHS together with Ville Walo and Anne Jämsä. The productions of WHS have been a crucial factor behind the rise of Finnish new circus. In the press, their performances have been called avant-garde and have been viewed in the wider context of theatre and art in general. Besides creating their own performances, WHS also produce promising work from emerging artists.