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Waltz (Valssi,
2003)
Short film for cello, piano and wheel chair
Waltz is a short film version of a solo dance made for the wheel chair dancer Risto Lång. The choreography was made by Jari Karttunen and it's based on the composition made by the bygone contemporary composer Erkki Salmenhaara. Salmenhaara composed Valse fauteuil roulante (Wheel Chair Waltz) especially for Risto Lång 1999 as his last composition ever.
Salmenhaara's composition tells about the struggle for living and moving that people using wheel chairs have to face in their every day life. The choreography by Jari Karttunen is more intimate showing a man in a wheel chair in total privacy - naked without any social disguice. While making the short film the director Mikko Keinonen used these ideas but added a new story level mixing dream and reality and illustrating the motto Risto Lång has in his life and art: "I'm dancing on thousands of feet I actually don't have."
The original name of the choreography and the film was "Wheel Chair Waltz" but Mikko Keinonen wanted to change it into the short form "Waltz". "Risto is a dancer who just happens to be in a wheel chair. We don't need to apologize for his special quality", states Keinonen. Also as the name describes the main idea was to make a dance film. The background story is clearly separated from the dance section and Risto Lång dances on a black stage with no decoration in order not to let anything disturb the dance itself.
Waltz was awarded as the best international film in the 6th Sabina International Short Film Festival in Mompeo, Italy, July 19th, 2003 and it also received a special mention (recommendation award) in Arrivano i Corti short film festival in Rome, Italy April 18th, 2004.
Duration: 5'20''