I currently reside in Amsterdam (NL) but I come from Pori (FIN, b. 1989). I am an ever-curious, committed, and hard-working independent interdisciplinary performer-choreographer, massage therapist, and dance/movement psychotherapist (MA). Movement-wise, I have travelled from folkore dances onto different contemporary dance practices, butoh, and performance art. Family history coloured with loss and grief, and spine surgery during adolescence are important factors in my interest in and experiences of movement, touch, body, recovery, and healthcare. Education in Dance and Somatics at ISLO (Joensuu, FIN) was a springing board for me to pursue the interests for which there did not seem to be words.
I think that choreography is not exclusive to movement, dance, or people. It is not easy to narrow down my “style”, however some of the commonalities in my works and collaborations are: multidisciplinary performance practices that challenge performership-spectatorship; site-specific work; text; film; fascination towards costumes and visuality in performing arts; transforming private and everyday-life experiences into performance material. I love this field of work as it enables experiencing the full range of being: the loud and quiet, glitter and arid, leaps and stillness, aches, pains, fulfilment, crashing down, glory… I am delighted to be a member of BodLabOT rehearsal studio at OT301 and Encuentros Platform (initiated by Irene Sorozabal Moreno) as of February 2024 in Amsterdam. This stability and new networks have enabled me to deepen my craft and be actively involved in the performing arts across disciplines.
After drifting into the world of multinational technology companies for a handful of years, most of it spent day-dreaming, I decided to finally leave that behind and get back on track with what I really strive for. Amidst multi-tasking, I am following the practices of Katie Duck (multidisciplinary improvisation) and Lily Kiara (Skinner Release Technique) in Amsterdam, as well as deepening my experience in butoh and BodyWeather. Lately I have also familiarised myself with the work of Julyen Hamilton (dance and theatre improvisation) and started to train in Gyrotonic® with Yukie Spruijt and CaSa Motion.
I perform semi-regularly with wonderful colleagues from the Amsterdam multidiscplinary improvisation community. My recent performed solo-ish works are ‘My skin the city‘, ‘Peace to be‘ and ‘Angels, upside down‘. A BodyWeather lab residency in Austria in August-September 2023, led by Astarti Athanasiadou and Stéphane Verlet-Bottéro was a very deep, profound experience and collaboration. Works such as ‘Kick me deeper into secrecy’, ‘In my house the balloons’, and ‘Aroniatango’ (with Moving Strings ensemble) are in the making. In addition to the on-going stage creations, I am inquiring into the profound heritage of Anna Halprin, Janet Adler (Authentic Movement) and Steve Paxton (contact improvisation), and getting back to my roots of folklore traditions and social dances such as tango.
My teaching experience ranges from children’s dance classes to Dance of Life® classes for adults, in addition to having worked across age groups in health-care and education. I am planning to start giving classes again for common public and dance/bodywork/performing arts professionals, for example in the disciplines of Dance of Life®, Authentic Movement, and movement observation. Additionally, I work as a dance/movement psychotherapist with people with personality disorders, and mood disorders, and families with neurodivergent children, and as a masseur at my own practice Tuulia Massage Experience.
To put it all into once sentence, it would be quoting Petra Kuppers (2004): “The first choreography of everybody is the act of living itself.”
I hope to see you soon, on- or off-stage. Check the agenda for updates!
Sincerely yours,
-T- (she/they)
Formal education:
MA Arts Therapies – dance therapy (2020-2023) / Codarts, Rotterdam (NL)
Técnico Auxiliar de Fisioterapia e Massagem Desportiva Aplicada (2019-2020) / EMMA, Lisbon (PT)
Dance of Life® teacher training (2012-2016) / International institute for dance therapy, Tenerife (SP)
Formação Avançada em Interpretação e Criação Coreográfica (2016) / Companhia Instável, Porto (PT)
BA(Hons) in Choreography (2012-2015) / Falmouth University (UK)
Education in Dance and Somatics (2010-2011) / ISLO, Joensuu (FIN)
P.S. Background photos by Roman Zotter, Marko Mäkinen and Antti Uimonen.