Hello you,
What would you like to know?
I can see the question,
the real question before it even exists.
You want to know,
where I’m from
where I’m ‘from’ from
where I’m really from
Do you want the long answer
Or the short one?
This performance uncovers how my own being has materially changed over time in response to encountering a radically different environment, language, and culture. Decoupled from my origins, my performance, Being. Decoupled uses masks and creates layers that transform and translate into new beings. These masks are leaving traces that can be traced or not. Each beginning becomes an ending, and the cycle repeats – but what comes between? Being. Decoupled explores the separation between East and West and how that has left marks and memories, and how that has been embodied. Through body, movement, music, words and choreography and composition this performance presents fragments of the experience of the artist’s life.
Content warnings: Haze, strobe, loud noise.
Trigger warnings: Partial nudity, can be upsetting themes.
Sam Vaherlehto is a dancer, performance artist/maker, choreographer and movement director, originally from Finland but now based in Glasgow. He is ballet trained, but after working for a few years in a ballet company realised that contemporary dance is his passion. Throughout the years Sam has collaborated with composers, designers /visual artists, directors and choreographers. The collaborative nature of his work often speaks to the human condition, identities, limits and possibilities of the body and mind. He has collaborated with multidisciplinary artists around Scotland, Finland and China. Sam’s latest works are with Imaginate, Lyra and The Work Room.
Performer, director, concept: Sam Vaherlehto
Collaborators: Lasse Fisher, Claire Francis, Gareth Moorcraft and Chao-Ying Rao (Betty)
Special thank you for tutors: Vania Gala and Lucy Cash
