Raisa Punkki and punkkiCo Present 'Pick Cells' November 11, 2011

November 11, 8pm; November 12, 8pm; November 13, 8pm

Native Finn and San Francisco resident since 2005 Raisa Punkki and her company punkkiCo present their two-years in the making evening length dance collaboration Pick Cells, at Dance Mission this November. Her conspirators/collaborators on the piece are set and costume designer Claire Pasquier, composer Albert Mathias and lighting designer Christian Mejia.

The title Pick Cells is both a play on pixels, where when you zoom in you see the perfection of a single dot-but when you zoom out you see it's combined with others and makes up a larger and much different image-along with the idea of picking up ideas as you move or create.

The narrative of the work is structured on two worlds: an ancient one awaiting an enigmatic birth event, and our modern world replete with its own challenges, dramas and superficiality.

An important thread in the piece is, strength. Specifically how that forms the backbone for the virtues of resilience and flexibility one needs if one is going to enter into a standoff with nature when she acts in a seemingly capricious and cruel manner.

"I work using metaphor and minimalism," says Punkki. "And I wanted to apply those in order to grapple with a world that can be wonderfully full of surprises one minute, and then diabolically full of threat the next."

The costumes were designed and created by Claire Pasquier to create both movement and chaos. At one point in the evening audiences will be asked to don 3-D glasses in order to deepen the experience of the costumes, as if experiencing 3-d to the second power.

The score by Albert Mathias ranges from suspenseful and propulsive to dreamy and sensual and will include Jeanrenaud's cello solos.

Official Website: http://punkkico.com/default.aspx