Carl Knif Company’s newest work Matching Steps premiered at the Finnish National Opera and Ballet on 2 October 2025.
Matching Steps is choreographed by Carl Knif, with dancers Jonna Aaltonen, Olli Lautiola, Riku Lehtopolku, Saara Töyrylä, Terhi Vaimala and Eero Vesterinen on stage.
Premiere
2 October 2025, 7:30 pm
Other performances
3 October, 7:30 pm
4 October 3 pm
Almi Hall, Finnish National Opera and Ballet
Performances in 2026
28 April, 7 pm
29 April, 7 pm
Erkko Hall, Dance House Helsinki
In Matching Steps, Carl Knif continues to explore the connections between classical music and contemporary dance. The performance is related to his previous works Fugue in Two Colors (2020) and Sessions (2022), in which the issues of contemporary human life were framed by classical compositions. Matching Steps is based on Clapping Music (1972) by Steve Reich, combined with newly written music by Janne Hast.
Matching Steps takes the step and the walk as its choreographic starting point, exploring walking as an existential act, as the origin of thought – and defining the body as the source of music and movement, as an instrument of thought.
How do you define a step? Is it by its length, its spatial breadth? Or is it by time, the time a step takes? How do you define the direction of the step? Is it by the relationship between space and the one who moves? Or can a step be directed in thought towards an as yet undefined final destination?
If the will is the starting point, what is the direction? Do I take the steps I really want to take, or does my route turn out to be completely different from the one I first imagined? Who influences my route, the speed at which I walk? Am I going faster or slower than I think? Am I walking at a different pace to my body or my mind? Where would I go if I were true to my intuition?
When I see others walking, I hear music. It is a sharp and clear rhythm. But when I look closely, the deafening steps are uncertain, the rhythm unsteady and the directions unknown.
