Funny Things Before Panic is a coping mechanism dressed up as a musical. Three dancers embody three true stabbing stories that have happened around the choreographer, Liina Magnea.

Heidi Finnberg plays as Liina's mother who got stabbed by a gang-member in the 80s, Reetta Nummi (SITOI) is Helga, the friend who got stabbed to death by her 16-year-old son and Liina is the teenage boy who got into a knife fight on a beautiful summer day.

In hopes of finding a way to emotionally cope with the situation, the performers compulsively sing songs and dance, retelling the traumatic events. This ultimately leads them to panic - a physical state riddled with tics, cramps and sounds that they have experienced in their personal lives. To distance themselves from the drama of a panic attack, they transform the symptoms into new dances and songs.

By turning the knife around they realise that these stories illustrate their internal self stabbing. The conclusion is an ode to the absurd and one's own incapability to grasp injustice in the world.

The work does not literally represent or re-enact the acts of violence.

Choreographer, composer, musician, performer: Liina Magnea
Composer, musician, performer: Reetta Nummi (SITOI)
Performer, musician: Heidi Finnberg
Performer, musician: Gabriel Pedrosa / Niklas Niki Blomberg
Lighting design: Titus Torniainen
Music Consultant: Nori Kin
Post Production Music and consultant: Haraldur Thrastarson
Assistant Choreography: Tuukka Leijavuori

Mentor: Elina Pirinen, Harri Kuorelahti

Photo, video: Nathan Ceddia, Kristin V Jam
Artistic Production Manager: Ayako Toyama
Performance photos: Sanna Lehto, Katri Naukkarinen
Production: Zodiak, Liina Magnea
Co-production: Tanznacht Berlin

Supported by Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe, Goethe-Institut, Fonds Darstellende Künste with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Arts Promotion Center Finland

Special Thanks to: Anna Bergel, New Fears Gallery / Julian Weber, Aikido Dojo am Gleisdreieck, Julianna Schreyer, Laurean Wagner, Jacopo Lanteri, Lauri ja Ilkka Matila, Amma, Maria Solrun

Media:
Helsingin Sanomat