The meaning of zero

Before you have something you have to have nothing.

“The Importance of Zero is a very successful, compact and thoughtful performance of just under an hour. Its abstract movement language, which uses the whole body in a variety of ways, is energetic and at the same time very approachable. The music and dance are brilliantly balanced and support each other.”

Annikki Alku / Democrat 30.11.2023

Performed by five dancers and two musicians, The Meaning of Zero is a frenetic scientific and artistic journey to the heart of zero. The concept of zero is fundamental to human development and underpins all modern technology. Our work combines mathematical thinking with a sprawling and surging energetic dance.

Petri Kekoni Company’s art has always been about being in touch with the deepest questions of existence. In this work we continue to drill down into the earthy structures of the society we have built, a kind of spiritual concrete plinth. The stark staging of the work appears as a plinth, reflecting the foundation of everything.

The work is a collaboration between choreographer Petri Kekon and composer Ville Aslak Raasakka. The music is performed in collaboration with the chamber orchestra Avanti!Raasakka, who has gained international fame, has composed his own musical composition for our work, which will be in dialogue with Kekon’s choreography. Raasakka’s work is scored for electronics, cello and bass flute – a rare and very interesting combination whose soundscapes capture something essential about the concept of zero. The sounds of the dancers are also part of the soundscape of the piece.

The cast is made up of top Finnish performers – the virtuosic musicians of Avanti! and the stunning dancers of the Kekoni Company interpret the work with breathtaking skill, precision and sensitivity.

Throughout my 25-year choreographic career, I have developed a specific kinetic method as a movement processor, from which a canon of movement can be discerned from one work to the next. From this set of movement gestures we can find the “zero” movement, the basis of everything. It need not be a clear single movement, but I believe it is more a bodily attitude and essence. The floor is always important, especially now, it is the dividing surface in the coordinate system of life. Above is the plus sign and below is the minus sign, with zero in between.

The concept of zero is fundamental to the whole animal kingdom, it is not just a human concept. According to one study, the crow also learned to recognise the concept of zero. The pervasiveness of the concept of zero in the living world tells us something essential about the composition and understanding of the world around us; whenever there is something, there must first be nothing.

• Petri Biscuit

The musical meaning of Nolla is realised through an open-minded composition, where the extremely quiet sounds of the cello and bass flute and the dancers’ movements create a massive, layered space through mixing and electronics. Before the sound of instruments and footsteps comes the noise of the string, breath and movement. These material sounds move from their natural states to digital, hyperactive immateriality and back again, ever growing.

• Ville Aslak Raasakkka

WORKING GROUP 2025:

Choreography, staging and concept by Petri Kekoni

Electronic and acoustic music: Ville Aslak Raasakka

Dancers: Tanja Illukka, Maija Kiviluoto, Saku Koistinen, Minttu Pietilä, Antti-Pekka Pudas

Musicians: Iida-Vilhelmiina Sinivalo / cello, Martta Jämsä / flute, Livia Schweizer / flute with tape, Anders Pohjola / mixing, / Chamber Orchestra Avanti!

Lighting designer: Anna Rouhu

Costume designer: Joanna Weckman

Stage design by Mikko Orpana

Costume design by Joanna Weckman and Eeva Varmola

Producer: Saku Koistinen

Information Officer: Nina Pitkänen

Photography by Pasi Orrensalo

Graphic design by Jukka Kuisma / Iasy Oy

Production by Thomas Freundlich / Lumikinos Oy

Production by Petri Kekoni Company / Liikkeen puolesta kannatusyhdistys ry

In collaboration with Dance House and the chamber orchestra Avanti!