Programme: this could be us
“Kittens need to move in order to develop sight. An experiment proved that if immobilized from birth, they will remain blind.”
Bojana Cvejic
This could be us, finding a box inside of a theater, inside of the University. A box that we built, as a space for things to unfold – possibly, hopefully, desperately otherwise.
It is a box from which I could fish mainstream validated wordings, like “a work about feminism and utopia”, and decide I want them to run away from me, as much as I run away from explaining what I do.
This could be us peeking into a world where explanation is not an option, and the only option is multiple possibilities to jump up.
This could be us finding stuff under a glittery dust: the images of the rehearsals of the dance company I wish to exist.
A dance performance created together with a group of cat-people (and rats in cute outfits). These cat-people did not know each other, but the first steps of my choreography were having them jump – grandjeté-ing – across this floating continent and hold space for making this happen.
And that’s choreographic. For me.
This could be us, sitting around the box, where I introduce you to what’s inside:
This could be us, sitting around the box, where I introduce you to what’s inside:
Elena is a childhood friend: we met in dance school. I wished I knew how to do the splits like her.
Vittoria is also from Italy, we met in 2019 in a class and I thought “wow, this person knows fire” – we have been working together ever since.
Anna and Julia share a similar friendship, I think. And Ronja: we all met last year in ACO where we taught one another how to do pas de chat.
The more I know them, as dancers and people, and the more I think these people belong to my future.
Then, there was an email by Eva-Liis: “it sounded so ‘me’ instantly”.
And Alex and Seba who opened the space with the most gentle gaze day by day, even when I kindly asked them to leave the space because we had to slap our thighs around in our underwear.
This could be us, where I invite you to my journey in dance: where I have been unlearning how to instruct, demand, correct. Design a small plan and always, always, witness the plan changing itself as we go, projecting us into a future that doesn’t exist and that we have a chance of making – together.
This could be us, gifting to you a compilation of dances (like we did in the 90s), dances that emerge from the craft of hanging out in the studio with these very people.
This could be us, finding out that in the box I am a cat, playing a dancer, inside of a Barbie house. We connect to our many bodies. We take the space to rehearse: we’re rehearsing the ability to be whatever/whoever we want.
This could be Giselle not dying, because her love for dance will never betray her. Or she could be rehearsing being someone else: maybe she was never Giselle. I am not so interested in ballet, I am more interested in the idea of ballet. This could also be a box of childhood memories, where things come from child-like joy, from the thrill of performing.
This could be me, making performances for an audience of 6 years old girls who see themselves on big stages.
What is the dance of the future? The world is burning and there is not much I can do about it. What I can do is go back to the craft I know: dancing, with friends, softening a space to meet us at work – from us, to you.
This could be us in a third act of a non-ballet, the suite: a space of radical possibility, the same that was in the performances we created in the living room for the audience of our parents.
Not because I have to, but because I can.
Like it’s just dance.
Also, this work is titled after the vibe of a meme with two cats in bed together that says “this could be us – but this already us”.
Because life is an unpredictable choreography, and I refuse to settle for any less than that.
Working group
- Choreographer: Giorgia Lolli (Artistic thesis, MA in Choreography) with Julia Mäkelä (BA in Dance Performance), Anna Saves (BA in Dance Performance), Ronja Antikainen (BA in Dance Performance), Vittoria Caneva (guest), Elena Grappi (guest)
- Lighting designer: Alex Hautamäki (BA in Lighting Design)
- Sound designer: Sebastian Kurtén (guest)
- Producer: Márcia Correia (MA in Arts Management)
- Costume designer: Eva-Liis Lidenburg (Aalto ARTS)
Services for Artistic Activities
- Sound support: Mika Savolainen
- Light support: Hanna Köyhkö
- Costume manager: Mervi Palo
- Costume support: Kati Autere, Havina Jäntti, Sirpa Luoma, Anja Nuppola
- Stage manager: Selmeri Saukkonen
- AV support: Jyrki Oksaharju
- Props support: Joze Peura
- Producer: Aliisa Kattelus
- Production coordinator: Rosa Sedita
- Poster: Anna-Elina Savolainen
- Hand programme: Jaana Forsström
Supporting teachers
- Raisa Kilpeläinen
- Jana Unmüssig
- Greta Pieropan
Thank you’s
With the support of the Italian Cultural Institute in Helsinki and Nexus Factory.
This work was produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union.
Performances
- Fri 31.1.2025 at 18:00
- Sat 1.2.2025 at 14:00 & 18:00
- Mon 3.2.2025 at 14:00 & 18:00
- Tue 4.2.2025 at 18:00
Scene
Theatre Academy, Theatre Hall, Haapaniemenkatu 6
Content warning
The piece includes popcorn and vulgar language.
Duration
45 min
Artistic thesis learning outcomes
Choreography / Artistic thesis
The student demonstrates how they can create, make and process a choreographic work that reflects their integrity and distinctive voice as an artist. The student demonstrates rigorous understanding and ability to actualise the intricate connection between the chosen conceptual framework and the material compositional arc of the choreographic work. By successfully completing the artistic process with the workgroup and within the framework of production conditions, the student demonstrates professional cooperation and organisational skills.
