[lilting melody playing]
[Karo singing soulfully in Lingala]
[EDM playing tinnily on phone]
How does this have so many views?
[elegant, quirky music playing]
- Ah! - Apologies. Sorry.
Hey, Ingvil Ranta?
Hi, I'm Roni Luoto, dancer and choreographer,
and I have the perfect piece for the Helsinki International Dance Fest.
That's wonderful! We're always interested in new talent.
I suggest you contact some of the smaller festivals.
You can ask our office to give you a list.
Gain some experience and make a name for yourself.
And perhaps we'll talk more in a few years.
- [Roni] Mmm. - Uh-huh? [laughs]
[Ranta] Viima. Viima!
[Arvola] It is...
a weeping man of the street.
[atonal, discordant music playing]
[low, keening audio distortion]
It is...
a lustful teenage girl.
[Arvola panting]
It is a child lost in an amusement park,
laughed at mockingly by passers-by.
[unsettling audio distortion]
It is...
one.
It is many,
and it wants to be heard.
It is...
[chomps]
[spits]
...my penis.
[mouthing] Is this fucking for real?
This is important work.
The traditional male gaze turns on itself here,
and the subject becomes the object on its own accord,
and he forced the audience to truly assume the part of the voyeur.
At least to me.
But hey, thank you all for being here.
- Cheers! - [group] Cheers!
[dreamy synth music playing]
[Viima] My penis is full of empathy.
It is so very, very misunderstood.
[Roni] What do you want?
I'm here to talk.
How 'bout you help me understand?
Why did you cut me out?
Why did you cut me out of your life completely?
I guess it was just the distance.
Besides, you were too busy with that career of yours.
[scoffs]
Sorry if I've done well for myself. Also, it was you who wouldn't talk to me.
Yet you were the one
that gave up your dreams and ambitions for a salary and a pension.
You were willing to accept those benefits from Arvola
and my help with the audition less than a month ago.
I bet you asked your brother to pass up Arvola's gig.
What are you saying?
You knew it was the chance Sakke could've used.
Sakke makes his own decisions.
He chose Drastic.
Do you really think that I could stop him?
Because everything I do is for Sakke.
Always.
Yeah, I know.
I was just sad when I realized that our friendship meant nothing to you.
But yeah.
Anyways...
Are you really happy with Arvola?
Well, to be quite honest, salary's pretty nice.
It's probably the reason why I'm still there.
So there you have it, okay? You happy?
Nah.
We all got problems.
[Viima] Hmm.
My problem's I can't find a third dancer for Drastic.
Okay. Need a recommendation?
Maybe.
My choreography isn't simple, so...
- Mmm. - It requires a wide range of skills.
And, well... Right? You know how it is, right?
- Hmm. - Many dancers, their skill set is narrow.
Well, like you, kind of.
Your stuff is sensitive and straightforward.
[Viima scoffs]
And again with the sensitivity, huh?
FYI, I could be doing so many other things if only Arvola gave me the opportunity.
- Oh, really? - Yeah.
All right then, prove it.
Oh, okay.
Yeah, yeah.
Okay.
Unfortunately, it still looks deliberate.
Yes.
Okay.
That's not all, of course.
Your technique
must be perfect.
Beautiful.
Very good.
[dreamy synth music continuing]
You've been practicing.
All right, well what about...
street technique?
[Viima] You know.
[tight percussive beat playing]
I've already seen this. Get out of your comfort zone.
More ambition, please.
Whatcha doing, huh?
Do you actually think that I'm auditioning for you?
I don't know.
Are you?
[music trails off]
- [quirky, soulful music playing] - One, two, three, four,
five, six, seven, eight.
We three should always work together.
- Use each other's bodies and flow. - Okay, we'll maintain contact.
The movement will continue from fingers to fingers.
Everything as one, and everything will crystallize together.
One, two, three, four.
Then we'll move away from each other.
[Viima] This wasn't complete shit, guys.
See you tomorrow.
[Sakari] See ya.
[music stops]
[door closes]
We'll see.
At least we'll get to talk to Ranta through Viima, right?
That went really well.
It clicked.
It feels really good to bring some new blood in here.
Am I boring you, brother?
- [scoffs] - Maybe you should find another crew.
Surely they would accept you anywhere.
[tense music building]
'Kay, dude, what is going on?
[tense music halts]
I'm fucking with you.
[laughs]
I'm just teasing.
Ah, fuck.
But hey, Sakke,
I need your hands.
- [Aida] All right, Sakari. - Hi.
You can sell these here.
Has your brother left you to toil away all alone?
Nah, we have a system.
I manage the club
and he does all our Drastic grant requests and other paperwork.
Okay.
Fire organizes the storage room and Ice creates all the art.
We don't compete with each other.
Ah, but siblings are always competing.
Yeah, we really don't, especially not at dancing.
It's not worth it.
You know,
a brother's a brother.
This is Ranta's worst nightmare.
...to this type of talent. Plus, all of it would be in the city.
- So we think... - Oh, hey there.
- Here you are again, having lunch. - Viima.
Yes. Hi.
- Good to see you. Indeed. - [Roni] Good to see you, yeah.
[Ranta] We are, uh...
We're in the middle of an important meeting.
Well, I'd like to introduce Roni Luoto to you.
See, the thing is, Roni choreographed a really solid piece
that we'd like to get on the HIDF autumn catalogue.
- [Arvola] Is that so? - Yes. We've actually met before.
Hello there, Ingvil Ranta.
Sadly, no spots are left in the New Talent Series this autumn,
and the main program requires name and notability.
Viima, you know I am your number one fan,
but these kind of niche projects, well, they're not for HIDF.
Yeah. [Roni clears throat]
Actually, my brother and I have viewers. A million, to be exact.
Fire vs. Ice video?
I'm assuming you've seen it.
It's a semi-trending phenomenon on social media at the moment.
And hey, thanks for sharing that video.
Ah. Yes, sorry. We've met. I, uh, didn't recognize you at first.
But I do have to say it is not ready for HIDF,
and the tickets won't sell much.
Of course they will.
They already are.
[Arvola coughing]
Live battle.
It's in a couple weeks, and you're both invited.
- [Viima] We'll get going now. Okay, bye! - [Ranta] Bye.
- [coughing] - [Ranta] Are you alright?
You do realize she'll immediately check out
if "face-off" is a legitimate thing,
and guess what?
Won't find shit.
Good. Then she'll see that when I say something,
I follow through.
What?
Uh, what happened to everything we talked about in terms of style?
You wanted to keep this Fire vs. Ice BS.
Besides, it's not a competition, so we shouldn't take it so seriously.
You're the one here who takes dancing extremely serious, you know that?
- What? - And it says "face-off," meaning battle.
- So it does sound like a competition. - It's a marketing tactic, Sakke.
It's not like a real battle,
so let's just have some fun like we usually do when we dance, okay?
It's gonna be good.
[Sakari] Ugh. I feel anxious.
[pounding club music playing]
- For you? - And one of those.
That would get you two, all right?
OUTBOUND GOODS
- [Roni clears throat] - Hey! [Doris shushes]
Um, I have a small announcement.
Face-off sold out this evening.
Two-hundred-fifty tickets, so today we fucking celebrate!
[all cheering]
I don't think that I'm gonna make it.
- [dancer 1] What? - [Roni] Huh?
I don't know, not everything's done there.
[Roni] Come on. You can clean up tomorrow, bro.
Whoo!
[Doris] One for each, one for each. Yes.
[Karo] You're good! Just take it.
[Roni] I swear to God, we'll all end up in a ditch if we just...
[all] Okay, let's go!
[Roni] Down this!
[Doris] That's good, yeah.
[whooping in distance]
- [dancer] Whoo, let's go! - [all] Cheers.
Hey, Doris, what did you give us? Do you got anymore?
- They're all gone. - Yeah, but I can't feel a thing.
[disconcerting audio distortion]
[indistinct yelling, exclaiming]
["After Laughter" by Wendy Rene plays]
[soulful pop music playing]
♪ I'll try to hide ♪
♪ Hide my sorrows ♪
♪ I wonder ♪
♪ Can I hold them ♪
♪ 'Til tomorrow? ♪
♪ Maybe I'll hold them for a year ♪
♪ But they keep saying ♪
♪ After your laughter ♪
♪ Now you will see ♪
♪ Those wet little tears ♪
[song trails off]
Right.
May I present to you "Lullaby."
- [rhythmic, percussive beat playing] - [Karo singing in Lingala, distorted]
[pulsing EDM beat pounds]
[song trails off]
[Ile] Now this is a banger.
Well, Karo deserves credit for it.
What do you think, kiddo?
Good. It's all right.
But I don't really think I deserve the credit for this.
My grandma deserves it, honestly.
And plus, I don't even know if it's actually her song
or if it's a traditional song.
[groans] You hate it.
She hates it.
And just when I was about to ask
if you would actually choreograph the music video.
Oh, yeah?
So, like, a music video?
You see...
Well, I was thinking that I'd like
to bring dance into my brand,
or into the core of our brand, you know?
I spoke to Ile about it,
that I can just make a big visual album.
A music video for each track.
And guess what?
Choreographed by and starring Karo Claude.
Yeah, we'll invest a lot of money in this.
If you're not interested,
- there are other takers. - Hey!
This is Karo's only.
What do I have to do to get you on-board?
Do you want me to shelve the song? I'll shelve the song.
Hey, no, no, no, no.
Just make sure the credits are correct
and everything is done respectfully.
But I only wanted to show my respect to you with that.
[chuckles]
Mmm.
So, are you in?
- Well, yeah. - [Angelo] Well, yeah? Well...
Yes!
Of course I don't mix it with alcohol.
- I don't take much anyway. - Good.
Sometimes I need a little boost, a micro-dose.
Do you have any idea what kind of schedule Roni keeps us on?
[Doris] Yeah, your schedule is crazy. But you know what?
[Doris laughing]
Today we're gonna party!
[psychedelic remix of "After Laughter" playing]
♪ After ♪
[Sakari laughing]
I love you all.
♪ After ♪
What the fuck?
[Roni, distorted] One, two, three, four.
♪ When you're in love ♪
♪ You're happy ♪
[psychedelic remix continuing]
[song continues, distorted]
[song trails off]
[Roni, distorted] Five, six, seven, eight, and one two, three, four.
Sakke, Sakke, Sakke.
[menacing audio distortions]
[menacing audio distortions continue]
Sakke?
- Are you okay? - I, uh... My, uh... I... [clears throat]
Mmm, the tofu I ate was bad, so...
I really don't want my boyfriend to be a liar and a junkie.
Oh.
So am I your boyfriend now, huh?
Not sure.
- [Sakari] Food poisoning. - [Roni] Yeah, right.
For fuck's sake, Sakke. I thought we were past this.
- It won't happen again. - Yeah, I know it won't, bro.
The battle is in only two days. Do you realize what that means, Sakke?
- Look, I feel really shitty about it. - Please don't start this shit again.
[Roni] Hey, look at me.
We get to show Ranta what we can do. I promise it'll be fun.
[Doris] Ow, fuck!
You have to pay in full, like we agreed.
And you still haven't paid off the last one.
[Roni] You'll get paid first thing tomorrow morning, okay?
We have a really important event, and we can't pull it off without music.
All right, then we'll send you the bill. Bye.
[Doris] Yeah, yeah.
[Roni] Angelo. You're here.
Again.
Are you trying to seduce our Doris?
Hey, Roni. Can we talk for a sec?
[Roni] Yeah, in a bit.
I need to speak with Angelo first. Sorry.
All right.
Hey, what's up?
Since you're such a supporter of the dance culture,
I have a proposition for you.
What do you want?
Give me ten grand, and you'll get a 5% interest.
[scoffs] Wow.
Fifteen percent, and you'll get the money back next week.
But why would I help you?
All you and your brother do is give me shit all the time.
I hope all of your audio problems can be fixed
so we can all find out who will win,
fire or fucking ice.
I know how hard it can be to be an online celebrity.
You compete for likes and views and stupid numbers.
But you wanna know something?
Ten years ago you had to bust your ass
to even get the smallest opportunity at success.
Trust me, we've been busting our butts.
Sure, the concept is lame.
But the whole point is to celebrate dancing,
not actually compete in who moves better.
Bullshit!
It's all a competition.
You know that too, right?
But you know what? You're gonna lose.
If Sakke wins, I'm gonna be happy for him.
I guess you really think you are better than him.
Or are you right?
But how would I know?
Sakke will win 'cause he's a showman.
And showmen always upstage artists like yourself,
every single fucking time.
[low, pulsing synth music building]
I beg to differ.
But what if we could find out
who might be right,
and as well as also fix my sound system?
[frenetic synth outro music playing]