Soup Talks is a series of informal conversations with the artists presenting their work during the festival. The talks form a discursive line that goes through the festival and brings people together. We want to welcome the audience and the artists around a big table with a bowl of warm soup. Everybody is invited to join in, to listen, to pose questions and to take part in the discussions. Each of the talks will be hosted by an artist based in the Helsinki area.

08.11.2020
Guests: Maria Oiva & Kristina Junttila
Host: Lin Da

09.11.2020
Pie Kär & Kerstin Schroth

10.11.2020
Guests: Angela Schubot & Jared Gradinger
Host: Liisa Pentti

11.11.2020
Guest: Calixto Neto
Host: Sanna Myllylahti

12.11.2020
Guest: Maria Matinmikko
Host: Eeva Muilu

13.11.2020
Guest: Sonja Jokiniemi
Host: Jana Unmüßig

14.11.2020
Guest: Frédéric Gies
Host: Mikko Niemistö

15.11.2020
Guests: Antonia Baehr
Host: Veli Lehtovaara & Matilda Aaltonen

Hosts

Matilda Aaltonen

Matilda Aaltonen is a Helsinki-based performer and choreographer who is active in various dance and performance art groups. In her work, the sensory and the aesthetic, the ethical and the political are combined seamlessly. Exploring bodily knowledge and a perception encompassing all species, she is fascinated by the potential in dance to re-discover and re-define the human body. Aaltonen graduated from Uniarts Helsinki’s Theatre Academy in spring 2020, and holds a Master’s Degree in Arts (Dance). Her latest works are Voyeur (2020, Reality Research Center), olento / olio / otus / eläin / eläjä (2019, Uniarts Helsinki’s Theatre Academy) and Their Limbs Their Lungs Their Legs (2019, TADaC Theatre Academy Dance Company, choreography by Lea Moro). Currently Aaltonen is working as a part of multidisciplinary project Can we disclose other animals? The challenges of conceptualising animals in sciences and arts led by philosopher Elisa Aaltola.

Lin Da

Linda Martikainen (they/them, hän, hen), artist name Lin Da, is a Helsinki-based choreographer and dancer whose work focuses on ecology, feminist values and being in relation to unreadiness. Lin Da explores relationships between people and their vicinity in dialogue between non-human and human bodies. The spaces, places, and other entities that are present (non-human and human) suggest directions, rhythms, and qualities for research. They also suggest diverse socio-cultural meanings. During the past years Lin Da has collaborated especially with choreographers and professionals of the music field. These encounters have given rise to artistic works, discussions about artistic processes as well as the open sharing of artistic practices.

Veli Lehtovaara

Veli Lehtovaara is a Finnish choreographer and performer working internationally in the field of dance and experimental theater. He lived and worked in Belgium for the years 2008–2018. His works have been presented in central venues and festivals in Europe as well as in South and North America. Lehtovaara often works in a highly collaborative manner and combines elements from multiple disciplines in his choreographic practice. His creations vary from stage work to film and performance-installations. From 2015 onwards his work has been focused on interfaces of ecological thinking, choreographic practice and corporealities. Currently Lehtovaara is working on a new creation Ikimetäs, which focuses attention on temporality and diversity in old growth forests. The creation is a combination of choreographic work and radio play to be performed in the shopping centres as well as online. (Lehtovaara also performs the work Ontto harmaa tanssi (2020) together with choreographer Anna Mustonen and poet Olli-Pekka Tennilä. In 2020-21 Lehtovaara is taking part in a research project by Elisa Aaltola, Outimaija Hakala, Salla Tuomivaara and Matilda Aaltonen: Voiko eläintä kertoa?) Years 2018–2020 Lehtovaara has been working as a mentor, teacher, assessor and adviser for the bachelor and master programs in dance art at Helsinki Theater Academy.

Eeva Muilu

Eeva Muilu is currently working as Professor of Dance at the Theater Academy of Uniarts Helsinki. She has graduated as Master’s in Dance from the program of Choreography in Theater Academy in 2007 and since then, worked actively as a choreographer and a dancer in Finland and internationally. Besides her artistic work she has been part of the curatorial team of Side Step festival in 2010–2017. Since 2014 she has been a member of the board of Dance Arena ry, the organization behind Moving in November festival.

Sanna Myllylahti

Sanna Myllylahti (1972) is an internationally recognized Finnish dancer, choreographer and teacher. She studied in Danshögskolan in Stockholm and in Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor Kunsten (MTD) where she graduated in 1996 with the BA in Dance. She has been engaged as a choreographer since 1994. Her choreographic work has been mainly concentrated in the Netherlands, where she stayed living for nearly 20 years until returning back to Finland in 2011. Her various creations have been touring internationally. As a dancer she has collaborated with following artists (among others): Itzik Galili, Keren Levi and Saskia Boddeke / Peter Greenaway. Parallel to her work as an artist, Myllylahti has been working as an educator in several universities, dance academies, festivals and professional studios around the world. Currently Myllylahti holds a position as a Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Dance at the Theater Academy, The University of the Arts Helsinki. She teaches contemporary dance technique, movement research, choreography and composition.

Mikko Niemistö

Mikko Niemistö on koreografi, esitystaiteilija ja kuraattori, joka työskentelee Helsingissä ja ulkomailla. Hän on toteuttanut sekä sooloteoksia että monialaisia kokonaisuuksia, joissa eri taiteenlajit käyvät vuoropuhelua. Mikko on koulutukseltaan Master of Fine Arts in Choreography (Dans och circushögskolan / New Performative Practices -maisteriohjelma, Tukholma, 2017). Teoksissaan Mikko tutkii ihmiskehon suhdetta ympäristöönsä: tiedostamattomia ja tiedostettuja ruumiillisia yhteyksiä yhteiskunnan rakenteisiin. Häntä kiinnostavat erityisesti hiljainen kehollinen tieto, ruumiin ja mielen taustakohina sekä kehomuistojen kasaumat. Tällä hetkellä hänen työskentelynsä keskittyy asioihin, jotka sijoittuvat arkitodellisuuden katvealueille, kuten unen, protestin ja digitaalisen maailman tiloihin.

Liisa Pentti

Liisa Pentti (MA, BScS) is a choreographer, dancer and the artistic director of her experimental dance company Liisa Pentti +Co. Her works have been presented throughout the Scandinavia, Russia and in many European countries. She has a long teaching carrier both as a freelancer and in the Theatre Academy of Helsinki. She has been working with autistic young people since 2015. Through her company she also curates seminars, events and workshops related to the role of the art in the society, like the After Contemporary project 2011–2017. Liisa Pentti is one of the co-creators of Zodiak – Center for New Dance and and she was part of the artistic board 1987–2012. She is one of the founders and curators of the Sidestep festival 1996–2009. She has also curated Per Forma-event in 2011 and was the artistic director of the Full Moon –festival 2013. In her work Liisa Pentti is exploring the specificity of dance and questions related to the non-narrative logic of the visual-kinesthetic experience. She is also concerned with the psycho-energetic dimensions and the relationships of visible and non- visible spaces as choreographic questions.

Jana Unmüßig

Jana Unmüßig is an artist with a background in choreography. Her choreographic works have been presented internationally (e.g. HAU Berlin, Kampnagel Hamburg, ImPulsTanz Vienna, Springdance Utrecht). She was artist-in-residence at e.g. Movement Research, New York; HIAP – Helsinki International Artist Programme and K3 – Zentrum für Choreographie, Hamburg. Since 2015 she has engaged in a process of wondering that has resulted in paintings, videos, writings, dramaturgy (for Zina Vaessen), performing durational collaboratively made pieces for artistic research conferences (with Tina Jonsbu), hosting walks (with Francisco Trento). 2020/2021 she is a fellow of the Artistic Research Program Berlin. She shares the fellowship with choreographer and performer Miriam Jakob. Unmüßig did theater studies at the Sorbonne, Paris, trained dance at SEAD (Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance) and holds a MA in choreography from the HZT Berlin. 2018, she received a D.A. from Uniarts Helsinki.