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Birds of Paradise, now showing at Studio Pasila, begins working its magic even before the first movement. As soon as the doors open, the audience is greeted by the performers already sitting among them, dressed in strange, otherworldly costumes. It immediately raises a question: do you even dare sit next to them?
A brooding electronic soundtrack slowly builds the tension. Something unusual is clearly about to happen.
And when it does, it really does. From the opening moments, Birds of Paradise never loosens its grip. The hour flies by in a whirlwind of movement, humour and theatrical excess. Poking gleeful fun at masculine posturing, Tiia Kasurinen's dance piece is exuberant, physical and impossible to look away from.
The work takes its inspiration from the birds of paradise found in the rainforests of Papua New Guinea. Famous for their extravagant plumage and astonishing courtship rituals, the males meticulously prepare their performance spaces before twisting themselves into extraordinary shapes in an effort to attract a mate.
Few creatures in the natural world display themselves with such imagination. Except, perhaps, humans.
That's where the performance finds its beating heart.
Created, directed and choreographed by Kasurinen, Birds of Paradise uses nature's spectacle as a mirror for human behaviour. Much of the comedy comes from exaggerating masculine competitiveness, vanity and aggression. The dancers strut, flex, challenge one another and demand attention, exposing the absurdity hidden beneath many traditional ideals of masculinity.
As the performance unfolds, however, its tone gradually softens. The birds remind us that attraction doesn't have to rely on intimidation. It can also be built through dance, playfulness and charm.
The production had already attracted international attention before this full-length version premiered. An earlier iteration became the first Finnish work ever selected as a finalist in the prestigious Danse Élargie choreography competition in Paris in 2024.
The little dialogue there is – or, more accurately, shouting – is performed in English, making Birds of Paradise particularly accessible to international audiences.
Kasurinen, Kaisu Koittola and Lauri Lohi deliver an astonishingly physical performance. Visually, too, the production is striking. Leevi Ikäheimo's costumes transform the performers into bizarre hybrids of humans, birds, nightclub creatures and professional wrestlers. One inspired touch is the use of ski boots, which suddenly make the dancers' awkward shuffling resemble the gait of exotic birds.
The hypnotic electronic score is interwoven with birdsong and sounds from the rainforest, creating an immersive world somewhere between post-nature documentary, nightclub and fever dream.
The production isn't without its flaws. Its satire of masculine bravado occasionally becomes repetitive, even if repetition is arguably part of the point. I found myself wishing there had been more of the inventive, bird-inspired choreography. Instead, the central message is delivered with all the subtlety of a morning star to the head.
Still, those are minor reservations. This is a bold, visually inventive and hugely entertaining piece of dance theatre. The standing ovation on opening night said it all.
Watching Birds of Paradise, it's hard not to glimpse a strange vision of the future. If artificial intelligence eventually takes over our jobs and delivers the age of abundance promised by Elon Musk, perhaps this is what humanity will become: spending our days crafting ever more elaborate costumes, displaying ourselves in increasingly imaginative ways while searching for a suitable mate. Once everything else has been stripped away, courtship remains.
Birds of Paradise runs at Studio Pasila, Helsinki City Theatre, until 19 August 2026.