Notes on a Pink Thong
- C-print
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Björn Säfsten
Hemsökt Åtrå (Haunted Desires)
October 9 - 11, 2025
Blackbox, Dansens Hus
Dancers: Pär Andersson, Marcus Baldemar och Joaquín Collado
When Märta Thisner’s promotional images first appeared I was intrigued. Bodies in the water hinting a black speedo. Once the piece premiered earlier this year at Inkonst in Malmö, the speedos had turned even skimpier. Pink thongs. While nudity and thongs are bread and butter in dance, it still caught my eye. Very unlike Säfsten, I thought to myself. Recently I read some article on the comeback of the speedo to which the gay netizens went; “Ha! When did they ever disappear?” But this evolution of the boundaries being pushed to be skimpier and fleshier is telling of the current state of things, especially in the male gay community.
Instagram, TikTok and the likes are as we all know a curated version of real life (images are not an accurate representation of reality - Susan Sontag said it first!). Yet thirst traps as a promotional tool keep flourishing on said platforms. While sometimes almost nauseating seeing grown men posting for clicks and likes, it’s easy to go down the rabbit hole. For research purposes, I checked the discover feature on Instagram to get the following suggested content; personal trainers selling clients’ before and after pictures where the former is already a shape unattainable to most, divers in speedos with zero body fat and young fashion and fitness influencers alike shaking their glutes. But what impact does excessive exposure to this kind of imagery have on the individual, and the community as a whole, where body dysmorphia is already real and body standards off the charts?
These are some of the ideas that inform Björn Säfsten’s latest work Hemsökt Åtrå (Haunted Desires) which was performed to a nearly sold out audience with a new ensemble in the Blackbox at Dansens Hus last week. I had looked forward to seeing the original cast with which Säfsten worked closely for the making. Sam Huczkowski who up until recently made part of the Norrdans ensemble and Philip Berlin, are two of the most exciting young dancers to watch. For the Stockholm premiere, Pär Andersson who also appeared in Säftsen’s and so we’re gone (2023) is instead joined by Marcus Baldemar and Joaquín Collado, all with equally radiant presence on stage.
There’s no slow build-up. The dancers emerge from behind a transparent divider in a train-like manner to the sounds of Victor Saiz, one of Säfsten’s many long-term collaborators. The score sets the mood instantly. Right off the bat, something tells me that is going to be different. Flex, pose, click. Approx. 20 min in, a set of ordinary clothes (a plain tee and a plaid shirt in stark contrast to the almost fluorescent thongs worn by the dancers) descends onto the stage and sets off a theatrical hook-up scene performed to perfection by Baldemar and Collado. “Do you want a drink?” asks Baldemar’s character to a voice-over. The awkwardness of making small talk, finding oneself at a total stranger's, the feeling of anything being possible. It’s very relatable. Clothes come off and the dancers are thrown into a frenzy. An intimate coordinator has been consulted in the process and I can see why. It’s unusually risqué. I’m not sure I love it as a whole but I find myself smiling in the end. Truthfully, it’s a piece that conceptually resonates very well with ideas and thoughts about algorithms, projections, delusions and toxicity that have been occupying my mind lately.
Spoiler alert: the liquid drenched climax could easily belong to a contemporary horror film. For the piece Säfsten has supposedly been inspired by Substance (2024). When Andersson delivers his comically yet punchy robotic monologue: “I never got to be the leading lady!” I see Demi Moore’s face in front of me.
Choreography: Björn Säfsten, in close collaboration with Pär Andersson, Philip Berlin and Sam Huczkowski
Script: Björn Säfsten and Pär Andersson
Dancers: Pär Andersson, Marcus Baldemar and Joaquín Collado
Music: Victor Saiz
Set design: Björn Säfsten and Jonatan Winbo
Light design: Jonatan Winbo
Costume: Björn Säfsten
Technician Dansens Hus: Johannes Fäst
Dramaturgy: Kristina Hagström-Ståhl
Voice actors: Klas Lagerlund och Dan Mclellan
Audio editor: Joakim Lundgren
Intimacy coordinator: Sara Arrhusius
Production: Säfsten Produktion & Nordberg Movement
Co-production: Inkonst & Dansens Hus
Created in residency at: Inkonst and La Caldera Centre de Creació de Dansa Barcelona
With the support of: Kulturrådet, Konstnärsnämnden, Stockholms stad and Region Stockholm
Thanks to: Palmer Lydebrant