S A K U   K O I S T I N E N
 

SLAP! was conceived in 2020. I had just choreographed a children's dance piece called Little Red Riding Hood?, in which I used slapstick comedy as part of the piece. After the piece, I was left with the feeling that it would be interesting to explore this a little more in depth and in a different context - as a piece for adults and working in the forest.

Slapstick is a comedy based on over-the-top physical collisions, coincidences and antics. More often than not, someone gets hurt. In SLAP! we have approached this groping and hurting from many different angles. Sometimes comically, looking at humans as a kind of animal among others, sometimes through melancholy. Where is the line between funny and sad? When can we laugh at the collisions and when do we feel bad for the other? It seems that the line between funny and sad is often a line drawn in the water. SLAP! is perhaps, depending on the viewer, a comedy, a tragedy, or something in between - I don't always know myself.

Slapstick has driven us to reflect on the themes of trying and failing. There are many serious crises going on in the world and sometimes I get very frustrated at times at our seemingly insignificant ability to tackle problems, let alone solve them. SLAP! tries to look at our impotence through gentle humour and absurdity. For example, while our attempts at collaboration are sometimes downright pathetic, they are, on a cosmic scale, quite amusing.

In the end, however, the question remains: after all the trial and error, is there a real motivation behind it all - a desire for connection, a desire for good?