MA in Choreography, University of the Arts Helsinki

The ACO performances took place at the Theatre Academy 23.-28.5.2026. Here are a few glimpses of the performances through the lens of photographer Roosa Oksaharju! To see and learn more about the pieces, the spring semester of the MA in Choreography programme and what our latest alumni are up to, read our newsletter: https://mailer.gruppo.fi/t/r-e-tujyujtd-l-r/

You can also sign up for the newsletters of the dance and choreography programmes at Uniarts to stay up to date on our activities: https://link.webropolsurveys.com/S/BC48675361350290

New blog post is up! MA Choreography student July Weber writes about the contemporary art and dance scene in Bangkok and interviews Jitti Chompee, director of 18 Monkeys Dance Theatre and Unfolding Kafka Festival.

Read the article on Choreoblog:

Notes on contemporary art scene and dance in Bangkok, Thailand Spring 2026 MA Choreography student July Weber writes about the contemporary art scene in Bangkok and interviews Jitti Chompee, director of 18 Monkeys Dance Theatre and Unfolding Kafka Festival.

More tickets now available for the ACO performances!

The five pieces premiere at the Theatre Academy on Saturday 23.5. and the performances go until 28.5.

Read more and get your tickets to see all five performances:

Can't get _ _ _ _ out of my head
https://www.uniarts.fi/tapahtumat/cant-get-__-out-of-my-head/

fortuna!

On 6.5. you can see MA Choreography students Pontus Linder and Cindy Ng perform their duet Echo Point at Spring Break Dance Festival in Cirko! In Echo Point, the different movement traditions of the two performers - breaking, contemporary dance, floorwork and ballet - meet in a shared research, a dialogue of two bodies.

In the same evening there are performances and one dance film from students of the MA and BA Dance programmes of Uniarts Helsinki.

Tickets and info:

Spring Break Dance Festival: Opiskelijoiden ilta | Cirko Opiskelijoiden illassa nähdään Taideyliopiston Teatterikorkeakoulun tanssitaiteen opiskelijoiden teoksia. Ilta antaa pilkahduksen siitä, millaisen tanssitaiteen parissa uuden polven tanssintekijät…

ACO performances are coming: 23.-28.5. !✨✨✨

The Artistic Collaboration Projects (ACO) bring together students from seven Uniarts and Aalto University degree programs. Over a period of five weeks, the students have explored and practiced artistic collaboration in performances based on movement and choreography. The process culminates in performances of all five works during the last week of May.

The tickets are on sale now, and you can also queue for tickets! Find the performances, tickets and full schedule here:

Artistic Collaboration Projects (ACO) in dance and choreography | Taideyliopisto The Artistic Collaboration Projects (ACO) bring together students from seven Uniarts and Aalto University degree programs. Over a period of five weeks, the students have explored and practiced artistic…

The 13th meeting of the Nordic Choreographic Platform took place in Oslo in March 2026! The five-day meeting focused on the relationship with music, musical thinking and composition.

The MA choreography students along with their peers from other Nordic choreography programmes participated in the course "Instant Composition – scores, deep listening and music". The course aimed to address the need to invest in the relationship between live music/sound and dancing, exploring what it can be and enhancing attentive listening.

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The Nordic Choreographic Platform is a Nordplus-funded network between the MA choreography programmes of four Nordic art education institutions: Uniarts Helsinki, University of the Arts Stockholm (SKH), the Danish National School of the Arts (DASPA) and Oslo National Academy of the Arts (KHiO). Since 2017, the platform brings together students and staff from these institutions to explore different discourses of pedagogy and artistic research. The platform broadens students’ professional network of colleagues and production venues to help the students integrate into the field after their graduation.

Read more about NCP: https://www.uniarts.fi/en/projects/nordic-choreographic-platform-ncp/

Photo: Ottavia Catenacci

Koreografian professori Kirsi Monnin kysymys liittyen Helsingin Sanomien kulttuurijournalismiin:

Kuuluuko tanssitaide Hesarin kulttuurikartalle?

Luin ilahtuneena tämän aamun Hesarista aikeista panostaa kulttuurijournalismiin ja taiteen kritiikkeihin. Elinvoimainen, osallistava ja uudistuva yhteiskunta tarvitsee vireää kulttuuridebattia.

Tunnelmani vaihtui tyrmistykseen, kun muut taiteen lajit mainitaan, m***a (taas kerran) tanssitaide tai tanssi laajempana kulttuurisena ilmiönä oli kadonnut HS:n kulttuurikartalta. Tanssin tekijät, kokijat ja tukijat voivat toki nostaa esiin numeroita, tilastoja, tutkimuksia ja taiteen tulkintoja debatoidakseen sen puolesta, että meillä totta tosiaan on sellainenkin (laaja) kulttuurinen ja kansainvälinen ilmiö kuin tanssitaide ja (sosiaalinen, kilpa, harrastus, pop) tanssi. M***a ihan ensiksi olisi hyvä kuulla, miksi tanssitaide ei ole mainittuna mukana “näkemyksellistä kulttuurikeskustelua” edistävässä hankkeessa ja miten HS:ssa suhtaudutaan tanssitaiteeseen osana suomalaista ja kansainvälistä kulttuuria?

Kirsi Monni,
Tanssitaiteen tohtori
Professori
Taideyliopisto

HS 6.3.2026

"Nykyinen Kirjallisuus ja taide -tiimi kasvaa ja samalla sen nimi muuttuu Kulttuuri ja näkemys -tiimiksi. Tiimiin perustetaan kolme uutta uutispäällikkötehtävää, jotka keskittyvät kirjallisuuden, kuvataiteen, teatterin ja klassisen musiikin kritiikkeihin sekä näkemyksellisiin teksteihin koko Helsingin Sanomissa. Näistä tehtävistä kaksi avataan ulkoiseen hakuun. Elokuvaa ja popkulttuuria käsittelee HS:n toinen kulttuuritiimi.

Uudistuksen tavoitteena on merkittävästi vahvistaa HS:n asemaa yhteiskunnallisessa kulttuurikeskustelussa, kehittää kritiikkejä sekä nostaa laatua kolumneissa ja muissa toimituksen laatimissa mielipiteellisissä teksteissä.”

Kulttuuri | Helsingin Sanomat vahvistaa kulttuurijournalismia ja perustaa uuden kirjasivuston Uuden Kulttuuri ja näkemys -tiimin vetäjäksi tulee Saska Saarikoski.

Want to know more about studies, current events and publications in the MA in Choreography programme? We send out a newsletter twice a semester, and you can find the most recent one here: https://mailer.gruppo.fi/t/r-e-tkhikrkk-l-r/

To subscribe to all newsletters from the dance and choreography departments of Uniarts, click this link: https://link.webropolsurveys.com/S/BC48675361350290

Photos are from the demo sharings of the MA in Choreography students in November 2025. Above Pontus Linder: Mama's boy / Poetic license, below Gáddjá Haarla Pieski: IJALODDI

Henna Raatikainen is the first student in the new theoretical research option of the Choreography MA Programme at Uniarts Helsinki. She is especially interested in formulating playful suggestions for classical ballet to interact with more experimental choreographic practices. In her new essay on Choreoblog, Henna writes about studying in the new study option and her research interests currently.

“That such a pilot programme exists – here, now, in Finland – feels highly improbable, radical even. In a time that demands productivity and constant visibility, it offers the possibility to take dance, choreography and bodily experience as seriously as they should be taken," Henna writes.

"Building on my research into how classical ballet’s formal constraints interact with experimental practices, I have found it precious to encounter fellow choreography students for whom ballet is a mystery – even a “what the f**k?” While I am not on a mission to dismantle or deconstruct ballet entirely, I am eager to turn more deliberately to questions of active or disobedient spectatorship – both as a subject in itself and as a component of art criticism."

Read the full essay on the programmes's blog Choreoblog:

Misbehaving with Classical Ballet – Why Study Theory at Uniarts? Henna Raatikainen is the first student in the new theoretical research option of the Choreography MA Programme at Uniarts Helsinki. She is especially interested in formulating playful suggestions for…

The MA in Choreography cohort (Gáddjá Haarla Pieski, Tuure Kaukua, Ellen Krogh Skjølstrup, Pontus Linder, Cindy Ng and Henna Raatikainen) warmly invite you to their Solo Demo Sharings ❤️

Location: Theatre Academy (Haapaniemenkatu 6, 00530 Helsinki), Studio 523 (staircase A, 5th floor)

Dates and times:

27.11. - 15:00-18:00
29.11. - 15:00-18:00 (please notice that Gáddjá Haarla Pieski is not performing on this day)
1.12. - 15:00-18:00
3.12. - 17:30-20:30

The event is free, but please reserve your spot - there is limited seating! Reservation links and more info in the invitation letter: https://mailer.gruppo.fi/t/r-e-tkirkktl-l-r/