Questions for Tero Saarinen, choreographer of Borrowed Light (Nov 7—10) from BAM's Executive Producer Joseph V. Melillo.

Joseph V. Melillo: How did you discover the Shaker history?

Tero Saarinen: I became really interested in the Shakers when I saw a documentary about Doris Humphrey's Shaker-inspired choreography in France in the end of 1980s. Through the years I learned more about them and also their contribution to architecture, design, and music.

The minimalism and austerity of the sect influenced me already in 1996 when I created Westward Ho!, the first piece I choreographed for my own company.

Finally in August 2004, I had the possibility to travel to the Sabbathday Lake Community in Maine together with Joel Cohen to meet the four remaining Shakers. We were able to take part in the annual Shakers and Friends meeting, which follows the ceremony of a Shakers' worship service. It was a highly inspirational and informative meeting.

Melillo: How did your path cross with Joel Cohen, and what sparked your commitment to pursue this collaboration?

Saarinen: I found The Boston Camerata's album Simple Gifts in the middle of the '90s. I did not know Shaker songs had been recorded and I was very excited and struck by the power of these songs.

However, it took until 2002 before I contacted Joel Cohen and inquired about the possibility of a joint production. Joel Cohen then travelled to Italy to see a performance of Petrushka by Tero Saarinen Company and it did not take long to find a mutual wavelength.

To combine these two ensembles—singers and dancers—around the themes of community, devotion, and worship felt natural and highly important for both of us.

Melillo: What challenge did this subject matter provide you as a choreographer in the creation of the specific movement vocabulary that we shall discover in the dance work?

Saarinen: First of all, I did not want to create "a Shaker tableau." I wanted to address the theme of a communitarian society on a general level. This is why I did not want to imitate or copy their dances either.

Some spices from the Shakers are present: for example the whirling, stomping, and clapping. But these same elements can also be found in many other religious or pagan ceremonies that have taken place throughout the history of a worshipping man. My task was to use these very basic elements as a starting point and let them intertwine with my own movement vocabulary.

Dualism was very tangible when I was thinking of both the mental and the physical appearance of the piece. I felt that my biggest challenge was in deciding how this would be manifested in choreography. How to find extreme strength and fragility at the same time? How to be heavily rooted towards the earth and at the very moment reach out towards the skies?

Also, the fact that the singers were integrated into the choreography was challenging and exciting. They were very supportive, willing, and ready for anything. My goal was to weave The Boston Camerata and Tero Saarinen Company organically together and form a REAL community with its own identity and own signature of movement as well.

Melillo: How did the remarkable design of the setting and lighting evolve for Borrowed Light?

Saarinen: For both lighting and costume design we had again a dualistic starting point. We felt that the stage should be sometimes dark and mysterious and other times be bathed with piercing and revealing beams. We wanted to approach light as religious metaphor.

The aesthetics of frugality seemed to be the right starting point for the whole visual appearance of the piece. We talked about a severe closed space—a meeting room where there would not be any escape. I also wanted to have stairs in this work since they have rich symbolic connotations that would be right for the piece. Not least man's eternal struggle for his goals.

I have worked with (lighting designer) Mikki Kunttu for already more than twelve years and I would say that we share a similar mental landscape. This is why it is easy to work together; we complement each other very well. Mikki's approach for his lighting design is architectural, emotional, and innovative and this is the reason why for example Borrowed Light looks as it does.

We start working together with Mikki and Erika Turunen (costume designer) very early in advance, about two years before the premiere of a piece. After throwing in an enormous number of ideas around the chosen subject, starts the art of elimination! Most of the time the discussions and pre-work are so extensive that in the end making choices is rather easy and the final outcome is clear to all of us.