The stage production Tempo explores time, the sensation of time, and its acceleration, deceleration, and cessation. At its core lies a seemingly insignificant event that takes on vast dimensions, revealing the fragility of life.

Tempo marks the first collaboration between magician and visual artist Kalle Nio and choreographer Fernando Melo. It is based on a text written by Harry Salmenniemi, as well as wordless scenes built around dance and stage illusions, where time slows down, reverses, and comes to a standstill. Tempo prompts the audience to question how the experience of time is formed and in what ways time can be understood. At the same time, it awakens viewers to their own temporality. The music for the production is composed by Samuli Kosminen.

This is the second collaboration between Nio, Salmenniemi, and Kosminen. Their previous stage production, Nopeussokeus, premiered at Kiasma Theatre in 2010 and was subsequently performed in twelve different theaters, across seven countries, and in five languages. Nio and Salmenniemi have also collaborated on the film installation Yö, presented at Mänttä Art Festival in 2022.

Sweden-based Brazilian choreographer Fernando Melo, who works internationally, creates the gravity- and time-defying choreography for three outstanding dancers. Slovenian dancer and puppeteer Barbara Kanc, Italian dancer Luigi Sardone, and Swedish dancer-acrobat Winston Reynolds move through a landscape between dance, theater, and acrobatics. The movements of both the performers and the set approach the limits of the impossible—and go beyond.

The production is an international co-production. In Finland, it is produced by WHS in collaboration with Helsinki Festival. In Slovenia, the production partner is LGL, the National Puppet Theatre. The project is supported by the Alfred Kordelin Foundation.