Feel the pulse of street dance

Pulse brings three new works to the Finnish National Ballet, each with a distinct movement language and approach to dance, challenging the dancers while showcasing their brilliance and versatility.

Julian Nicosia’s background lies in contemporary dance, while Bintou Dembélé and Larkin Poynton draw from street dance traditions. The evening’s musical landscape, a mix of live orchestral performances and recorded tracks, creates striking contrasts, ensuring that everyone from first-time visitors to seasoned ballet enthusiasts can find their own favourite moment.

More than a mere stage performance, Pulse is also an event before and after the show, and during the interval. Dance always has its own rhythm, and on this evening, the pulse of street dance takes over the Finnish National Ballet.

– en mode marron –

”In my creative process, dance, music, and sound engage in dialogue. I reflect on how to reinvent the form of a timeless ritual, which is built on repetitive music, breath-based vocalisation or mimicked breathing, circular movements, and polyphonic rhythmic sound—all unfolding in a live performance.”

– Bintou Dembélé

Hegoak

”Inspired by the myth of Icarus and the Basque folk song Txoria Txori, Hegoak explores the tension between aspiration and belonging. It reflects on ambition, freedom, and the delicate balance between flight and fall, individuality and heritage. Just as Icarus’s ambition led to his downfall, the work questions whether true freedom lies in transcending one’s origins or in embracing them, and the danger of pushing beyond limits. Reflecting my personal journey from the Basque countryside to the world, Hegoak invites the audience to reflect on their own struggles with freedom, ego, and identity. The result is a layered, fragmented exploration of history, identity, and the yearning for release.”

– Larkin Poynton

lips on the ground

”Amid the stillness of emotional shock, a hidden garden whispers of forgotten growth. Recovery is not the return to what was, but the blossoming of what might yet be. A sudden shattering disrupts the fragile harmony of life, leaving behind cracks in the foundation of what once felt certain. Through the fractures, a new path emerges, showing that even in our most fragmented moments, there is room for renewal, connection, and the quiet, unexpected beauty of transformation. Even in our most fragmented moments, both humanity and the universe hold the power for renewal, connection, and unexpected beauty.”

– Julian Nicosia

Creative team

– en mode marron –

CHOREOGRAPHER AND DIRECTOR Bintou Dembélé
MUSIC Steve Reich
CONDUCTOR Ross Collins
COSTUMES Laurianne Scimemi
LIGHTING DESIGN Tom Visser

Hegoak

CHOREOGRAPHY Larkin Poynton
MUSIC Arvo Pärt
CONDUCTOR Ross Collins
VISUALISATION Larkin Poynton
LIGHTING DESIGN Tom Visser

Lips On The Ground

CHOREOGRAPHY Julian Nicosia
MUSIC (RECORDING) Janiv Oron, Michael Anklin
VISUALISATION Julian Nicosia
SETS Annabelle Peintre
LIGHTING DESIGN Tom Visser

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