Press Reviews - English translations
Here are some press reviews, translated from Finnish by Liisa Benmergui.
- People United by rhythm (August 11, 2003)
- Let's tap dance to Mozart (August 8, 2004)
- Feet Beat Tap Festival (August 5, 2005)
Translation from the review by Jussi Tossavainen/Helsingin Sanomat August 11, 2003
Beat City -tap concert, the Gloria theatre, Helsinki
People United by rhythm
A fantastic look into the world of tap dance
The 7th International Feet Beat Tap Festival, one of the two tap festivals held in Helsinki, climaxed on Saturday in an explosion of dance and rhythm. The Beat City concert offered its audience tap dance at its finest.
It seems futile to try describing the talent or the feelings that filled the Gloria theatre, since mere words do not seem to do them justice.
As the evening progressed, any preconceived notions of tap dance being light-hearted and simplistic were completely forgotten. The audience was swept away by the exotic rhythms, ranging from hot Latin to exotic Asian hosted by charming personalities. One can only admire the heart and soul of the Festival, Sofi Kyrklund, for bringing together such an outstanding array of stars on stage in Finland.
Welcome additions to the show were the various musicians that accompanied several of the acts. When it came to cooperating with the dancers. The Jarmo Savolainen Trio proved to be quite flexible and intuitive.
The tap virtuoso, Bril Barrett, was an absolute improvisational machine, demonstrating his love of hip hop during his performance.
Max Pollak's body drumming, accompanied by the Jarmo Savolainen Trio, gave way to mesmerising samba rhythms. Joined by Ramon Silverio in his second performance, Pollak drummed tantalising African rhythms, nearly sending himself and his fans into a trance.
Frenchman, Hervé Le Goff, offered the audience a tap routine set to a waltz filled with dramatic intensity. Josh Hilberman improvised to an Irish mood set by musicians Jemina and Selina Sillanpää, sibling duo from Lahti. The Sillanpää duo stole center stage, and their beautiful ballad could have been enjoyed without the taps.
Sole Impulse, an American tap group, performs strong and aggressive a cappella tap reminiscent of Riverdance. Just like a locomotive engine, Sole Impulse runs at full steam working variations into their basic rhythm.
The evening's most exotic and captivating performers were Tapage, a duo consisting of Mari Fujibayashi, from Japan, and Olivia Rosenkrantz from France. Tapage represents contemporary tap at its best.
Tapage's performances combine tap with Japanese esthetics. The combinations is a surprisingly effective one.
Although long Japanese robes sway in time with Tapage's Kabuki-like movements, a complex rhythm is simultaneously tapped. The hypnotic display felt natural and fluid.
Sofi Kyrklund, the festival's artistic director, tap danced to the rhythm of percussionist David Lillqvist playing the traditional witch's drum. Surprisingly, the unusual combination worked quite well. Their duet underlined the flavour of the whole evening: rhythm is international, uniting people and nations from all over.
Jussi Tossavainen/Helsingin Sanomat August 8, 2004
LET'S TAP DANCE TO MOZART!
The Feet Beat festival once again showed its versatility
Tap dancers are not narrow-minded. At the Feet Fusion concert, as a part of the 8th Feet Beat Tap festival, everything that does not necessarily belong to the traditional concept of tap dancing was let out on the stage. All the performers had a sparkling and passionate performance, melting the heart of even the most cynical of grouches.
The performance of the young Feet Beat Tap Ensemble dancers was very positive and relaxed.
This attitude was especially enjoyable in the number Taking a Loop accompanied by the musicians David Lillkvist and Tommy Mansikka-Aho. With live music, the feel in the dancing becomes so much more liberated, and there is a feel that the dancing takes place right here and now.
Jussi Lindroos, from Turku, is a welcome exception from the very female dominated tap dance world. Despite that, he does not need any extra points for being a man, but has definitely deserved his own solo with his technically astonishing skills and performance attitude. What a stage charisma! On top of all his performances was an improvisation.
It would be difficult to choose your own favourite but if forced to do so, I would choose the charming Spanish Bubble by the Indictus Company.
The number performed by Ari Kauppila and Jonna Eiskonen is tap dancing but it does not fit into any specific box. It takes the best out of contemporary dance and combines it with tap and makes an unbeatable show out of it. Kauppila has found his own humoristic and Finnish style.
Kauppila is a true renewer of tap dancing. It demonstrates that a performance can also be strange as long as it is not in a happy-go-lucky American style.
The number by the North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble, The Hunt, was from a totally different world. It is danced to the string quartet by Mozart bearing the same name. It sounds awful, I know! But, when one forgets the canonization of the music the result is fun. The young dancers put out some extraordinary musical rhythms with their tap shoes for good old "Moz".
Review by Jussi Tossavainen/Helsingin Sanomat August 5, 2005
Translation: Liisa Benmergui and Sofi Kyrklund
DANCE/FEET BEAT TAP FESTIVAL
Max Pollak taps the Kalevala!
Beat City tap concert at Kultuuriareena Gloria. Performers: Sofi Kyrklund, Chester Whitmore, Heather Cornell, Chikako Iwahori, Josh Hilberman, Max Pollak, Skip Cunningham, musicians Jarmo Savolainen Trio (Jarmo Savolainen, Ville Herrala and Ville Pynssi, including Yoel Terri).
The Helsinki-based Feet Beat Tap Festival has not only claimed a place in Finland, but has put itself on the world map. Manhattan Tap's brilliant and talented members were a joy to watch, and left you hungry for more.
The group's unique quality is due to each member's strong and individual personality. Manhattan Tap's artistic director, Heather Cornell, is more than just a dancer, she could be called a jazz musician. During her improvisations, Cornell seemed as one of the members of the Jarmo Savolainen Trio.
The jazz that was played by an experienced hand flowed onto the stage and was not only easy to enjoy, but was also a pleasure to listen to. Cornell also tapped in a sandbox and as the sand under her shoes created a snare drum effect, Cornell and drummer Ville Pynssi were able to create an amusing musical dialogue.
The greatest surprise of the evening was dealt by Max Pollak. While visiting Kuopio's dance festival five years ago, Pollak became interested in the Kalevala. Since then, he has read the epic and has put together a performance, in the United States, inspired by the Kalevala and old recordings of Finnish folkloric songs and poems.
The shortened version performed in Helsinki is a loose interpretation, by means of body drumming, of the epic. The 5/4 rhythm was challenging and not as simple as the traditional Kalevala inspired dances and rhythms. In Pollak's and Chikako Iwahori's intensive duet, no one was sung into a swamp, but rather danced into one.
Unfortunately, too little was seen of Josh Hilberman. His part consisted of a brilliant, comical performance including an over-the-top turquoise suit, an ukulele and a duck whizzle. To round off the evening, Skip Cunningham, a broadway musical veteran, was seen on screen entertaining audiences in his younger years. After the short film, Skip Cunningham performed live on the Gloria theatre stage. An amazing performance, as was the entire evening.