Kaze (Wind)

Tero Saarinen was bom in 1964. He began his career in 1985 as a dancer at the Finnish National Ballet, where has soon gained attention as a soloist. Despite his success he left the National Ballet in 1992 to search for new tendencies in contemporary dance in Western Europe and Japan, and from 1992 to 1993 he studied traditional Japanese dance and Butoh in Japan.

Saarinen founded his own group, Company Toothpick, in 1996 as a canvas for his own choreographic work. In 2002 the company changed its name into Tero Saarinen Company. The repertoire of the company consists mainly of Saarinen's creations, but it also includes solos that have been created for him by other choreographers. Saarinen has a wide range of work experience with other major companies. His productions can be found in the repertoires of the Batsheva Dance Company, the Ballet Gulbenkian, the Lyon Opera Ballet, the Gothenburg Opera Ballet, the Nurenberg Ballet and the Finnish National Ballet.

Tero Saarinen is regarded as one of the most brilliant dancers of his generation. Even though Saarinen's work displays influences of classical ballet, butoh and Western contemporary dance, he has created a unique style of his own. In his work, sensitivity of thought is combined with a refined grotesqueness of movement and a clarity of texture.

A number of eminent choreographers, including Carolyn Carlson, Jorma Uotinen and Murray Louis, have entrusted him with solo performances. Saarinen has received several acknowledgements for his work as an artist. Most recently, in 2001, he was awarded the Finland Prize, the most highly esteemed recognition given to artists in Finland.

Percussionist and composer Yas-Kaz is known in his native Japan as a versatile musician who finds inspiration in the sounds of nature and our human habitat. Characteristic to his style are both a sensation of space and a dense, constantly evolving structure. Yas-Kaz has recorded twelve albums since he embarked on his first in 1984, and he has performed both solo and ensemble concerts in Japan, Italy, France, Spain and Canada. Yas-Kaz's universal approach to music is testified to by his collaboration with artists of different genres e.g. saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Japanese contemporary choreographer Saburo Teshigawara, the Sankai Juku Company, and the Dharma Santi gamelan orchestra. He has also composed music for puppet theatre performances, movies and ceremonial occasions.