Sensitivity, intelligence, courage

Movement and art. For nearly forty years, dancer and choreographer Jorma Uotinen has used his body to create art, either in the form of dancing, singing or acting. Born in Pori in 1950, warm, extrovert, peculiar, Uotinen is one of the Finns with the most international success and recognition.

Having just arrived from Budapest where he premiered a new production of his piece Piaf Piaf, Uotinen accepted to have dinner with Agenda. Over a traditional salmon soup at Café Engel, in the heart of Helsinki, Jorma spoke about his career and reflected on the art of dancing.

Starting in 1970 as a dancer of the Finnish National Ballet, Uotinen’s career is so extensive that it is difficult to know where to begin. In 1976, he moved to Paris to be part of Carolyn Carlson’s group at the Theatre de l’Opera. That stay gave him a charming French accent that adorns his talk with spontaneous voilà and très bien. In the ‘80s Uotinen achieved international recognition with revolutionary solo performances. In the late part of his career he has embraced new challenges – he started a singing career, approached a wide audience by lending his voice to Skinner, in the Finnish version of the animated film Ratatouille and was a referee in several episodes of the TV show “Dancing with the Stars”.

When did you start dancing?

Dancing came to me when I was 16. I was in the theatre, there was a musical and they needed some dancers, so I danced. But at that time, I still wanted to become an actor. However, I got seriously ill and I was paralysed. Through that experience, I realised I want to become a dancer and nothing else. Doctors said that I could recover with the help of some physiotherapy. I deeply understood the meaning of movement during that period. I learned to move millimetre by millimetre again. It took me one year. This experience really changed my life. Still today I appreciate the gift of movement.

What does dance mean to you?

There is something in dance and in movement that you cannot express with words. What you cannot say, shout or scream you have to dance it. You can express all kind of feelings. Life in its entire complexity. There should not be any limits.

Being from a little town in Finland, how was the experience of moving to Paris?

Paris was a revelation. Moving to Helsinki from Pori was already something big, but Paris was fantastic. Dancing and the performances there were exceptional, a major step for a Finn. I think I am the only one from Finland that ever danced on the Opera’s stage.

Did it make a difference to be Finnish?

No, nobody cares about where you come from. People cared about the quality.

Did your concepts about art and dance change much while being there?

Yes. Until that moment I was trained classically because that was the only way to dance at that time here. Then, in Paris I found more freedom to experiment with movements.

What were your favourite places there?

Café de Flore in Boulevard Saint Germain is my favourite café. I always go back there. Also Brasserie Lipp, which is right across. First I was living in Pigalle, but then I moved to Île de la Cité, which truly became my home.

After five years in Paris, you moved to Venice before coming back to Finland. Did you notice a big change in Finland?

In a certain way, I did. But I felt there was a place for me. The public was waiting for me and it was the right time to bring something I have learned.

Did you have troubles to bring your new vision?

There was some discussion about it. But slowly the public started to understand that what I presented was the new way of expression. In the end there was an acceptance from the big public, too.

Was Finland very different when you came back?

Not really, but now it is really different. It is more open. The lifestyle has gotten more or less the same across Europe. You can find this type of soup everywhere, for example.

One of your major works was the solo piece Jojo…

I created it in Paris. It opened in Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord. I have many memories about this piece because I performed it very successfully during ten years all around the world. It was the first time in Finnish dance history that someone did a one-hour long solo performance. A male dancer dancing alone was something revolutionary at that time. Then I did some other solo performances in the ’80s, like Scream. I also performed it for ten years. In the nineties I did Man Who Never Was. Those three solos are the centrepieces of my career.

Do you think there is a peak for an artist?

That is not something for the artist to say. When I am working on the new piece, I always think it is the best. I am that naïve and simple. But of course, when you look back, certain pieces were more important and some other had shorter life. This does not mean that the others were less important at the time they were created.

Is your creativity hunger satiated?

No, I don’t get comfortable. In Budapest, where I premiered Piaf, I worked very intensively, very concentrated on that and I did not do anything else. When it is done, it is very satisfactory to see the end result, the reaction from the audience, and they appreciated a lot.

Do you fear repeating yourself?

We should not be so afraid of that. First of all, you have signature, a language, as a writer or as a choreographer, and the public recognises you for it. Every piece cannot have a new vocabulary. Once you have found something that differentiates you from the others and makes you interesting, you use that something. Milan Kundera said that he is writing the same book over and over.

When did you reach that something?

I know my movements, my capabilities. Maybe they are limited. Sometimes I say to my assistant, “I have done this before” and he answers: “Yes, but it is your vocabulary. You have to do it”. The essence is there.

You have said that artists are crazy.

There is a danger of misinterpretation when we say that. Madness is something we should not joke about. But it is easy to say that artists are crazy because we might be somehow different. I meant to say that an artist must have a great sensitivity, an intelligence and courage. Those are the fundamental factors an artist should have. Salvador Dalí said: “The only difference between the madman and I is that I am not crazy”.

How is dance in Finland nowadays?

It is completely different. There is much more variety and there are more people working on it. There is a new generation of choreographers. When I started the only way to go into professional dance was to go through the classical dance. This is not the case any more. You can find contemporary dancers that have no knowledge about classical forms. And they don’t need to know it. When you compare it to music or literature, which have more importance in society, dance has been considered marginal as an art form. But it has an importance place, even if it does not reach those large crowds.

Does being a public person affect your dancing?

To be a celebrity does not change my way of moving. The opinions might change about me, as more people know about me, but not my dancing.

Dancing has not been your only way of expression; you are also an actor and a singer.

There are parts of me. When I started to sing in the end of ’90s, I had the necessity to do something different than dance. I have been in the dance business for more than 30 years, so I reached a point when I thought that I have done everything. In Finland it is not easy to start doing something else when one is good in one field. The first general attitude is to think that is not possible to do it, why would he do it? But if one has the inside necessity to do it, then he has to go for it. Whatever the reaction is. I have been singing for several years and now I start to feel that I have been accepted as singer. People think now: “Mmm, maybe he can sing”.

You participated in the Finnish version of Ratatouille. What was your reaction when you were called for this work?

I was wild about it. I wanted to do it immediately. And when they sent my voice to Disney for approval, I was so afraid they would turn it down. What excited me about this work was that I could use my voice in different levels of expression, but it had to be done so exactly and precisely to follow the film. It is a bit like dancing. You have to follow the rhythm. It was really fun to do it.

Do you have stage fright?

Always. Even more when singing. I panic. Then I go on stage and something magic happens. I think, “Ok, now I am here I have to do something”. But before I always feel nervous and that feeling is never going to disappear. However it also makes it exciting. Every time you need to take the courage. Maybe people will find me ridiculous, so what?

Did you read reviews and critiques?

When I was younger, I cared more about critics. It is interesting to read them, but I do not have to agree with what is written. I just think this what this person sees in the piece. If he sees it this or that way, that is his right.

Did you ever call a critic after a bad review?

Once I did. It was a very long time ago while I was performing Jojo in Sweden. One critic said that I was using cheap effects in my performance. He wrote that I could do anything with my body, but that I chose to do some cheap effective tricks. I decided to call him and asked him to give me an example of one of those tricks, so I could think about new ways and improve. I just wanted to know, but he did not have any answer. After that, we actually became very good friends.