Tommi Kitti

In the Wrong Key (Väärä sävellaji) is a work choreographed by Tommi Kitti in 2003 for his own company. The piece became one of the core works in the repertoire of Tommi Kitti & Co. The work is composed of three contrasting sections, replicating the format of the contemporary dance triple bill that was fashionable with ballet companies in the early 2000s. The three parts of the work are related to each other, even though they feature completely different movement qualities, performing approaches and relationships to music.

”It’s the dance itself that’s in the centre, instead of images. Kitti is a master of movement. When watching his own dancing and sevaral of his group works, one feels like the movement has just generated itself. It’s as if Kitti thought and felt directly with his movement. 

However, the illusion of ease and inevitability doesn’t  fade away the virtuosity of the movement. It is precisely the intertwining of the relaxed, improvisatory quality and highly keyed precision that creates an irresistible feeling of pleasure in the viewer.”  

-In the Wrong Key (Väärä sävellaji) review, Helsingin Sanomat 2003

Tommi Kitti’s intimate, human relationship to dance, along with his dynamic, virtuosic movement, made his works some of the most original and impacting productions in Finnish and international contemporary dance in the early 2000s. Kitti’s choreography and his way of working continue to influence many of Finland’s top dancemakers.  

Raekallio Corp. reprises the production after 20 years.

Choreography Tommi Kitti
Dancers Unna Kitti, Natasha Lommi, Inka Tiitinen, Eero Vesterinen, Valtteri Raekallio
Lighting design Janne Teivainen
Music composed for the work Doina Klezmer (Sampo Lassila, Tapani Jämsen, Markku Lepistö, Hannu Vasara, Pekka Purhonen)
Additional music Astor Piazzolla: Milonga del Angel, perf: In Time Quintet

Premiere 11.3.2003, production by Riemu ry. / Satu Tujunen, Zodiak – Centre for New Dance
Dancers in original cast Tommi Kitti, Satu Halttunen, Virpi Juntti, Valtteri Raekallio, Mammu Rankanen, Inka Tiitinen
Reprise production Raekallio Corp. / Pohjoinen liike ry

Photos Heli Sorjonen, Eduardo Sanchez, Thomas Freundlich
Duration 50 min

Tommi Kitti began his career as a dancer in the early 1970s, subsequently working as choreographer and dancer in companies such as Dance Theatre Raatikko, The Helsinki City Theatre Dance Company, the Cullberg Ballet and the Finnish National Ballet. Alongside his career as a dancer, Kitti created some 50 choreographies. In 2000, his work Still Life for Four Dancers was awarded the special prize at the Rencontres chorégraphiques internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis competition. The dancers of the work formed the core of Tommi Kitti & Co., which operated until 2010. 

Tommi Kitti has been awarded the most important Finnish artistic awards, including the State Art Prize in 2000, the Pro Finlandia medal in 2003 and the Tanssin Maineteko award in 2011.