Leena Rouhiainen

Head of University of the Arts Research Institute and Professor in Artistic Research at the university’s Theatre Academy Leena Rouhiainen has worked as a dance professional in the freelance field in Finland since 1990. She has created 18 pieces of choreography and performed in hundreds of dance performances. She is a founding member of the nationally awarded Suomussalmi improvisation group focusing on site-specific dance and music. In 2004, the dance critic Auli Räsänen wrote in Helsingin Sanomat, Finland’s main newspaper: “Rouhiainen is one of our most wonderful contemporary dancers, whose strong presence assures the audience of the importance of her message.” (HS 8.5.2004). Her doctoral dissertation, a phenomenological inquiry into being a freelance dance artist, was published by the Theatre Academy Helsinki in 2003. Her research expertise includes phenomenology as both philosophy and research practice, artistic research, dance studies, body studies, experimental writing, and now also decolonial studies. She has published 25 peer-reviewed journal entries or book chapters, 46 non-reviewed research entries, 16 articles for the professional community, as well as edited 5 conference proceedings, 10 journals and 8 books. She worked as a part-time teacher at the Pedagogy Department of the Theatre Academy Helsinki between 1997–2008, with classes in contemporary dance, body maintenance and research methodology. She was a shared university lecturer at the same department and the Performing Arts Research Centre of the academy between 2009-2010. Since 2012, in her duty as a Professor in Artistic Research she has taught doctoral candidates research methodology, phenomenology, affect studies and writing. She also supervises doctoral candidates. She has been successful in establishing 9 externally funded research projects. She was the Principal Investigator of the projects Body and Other (Kone Foundation 2018–2020), Intuition in Creative Processes (Research Council of Finland 2008–2011), Challenging the Notion of Knowledge (Research Council of Finland 2005–2007) as well as the responsible partner of Artistic Doctorates in Europe (Erasmus+ project 2016–2019). She was an executive board member of the Society for Artistic Research (SAR) between 2015–2020 and chair of the board of the Nordic Forum for Dance Research (NOFOD) between 2008–2010. She has also been appointed as a member of the Scientific Council for Social Sciences and Humanities of the Research Council of Finland for the term 2025–2028. She holds a Doctor of Arts and an MA in Dance (Theatre Academy, Finland) and a MA in Somatic Studies and Laban Analysis (University of Surrey, United Kingdom). Additionally, she is holds a Full Teacher Certificate for the Pilates Method (Stott Studio Canada), a two-year basic education in Character Analytic Body Psychotherapy (Gestalt Oy, Finland), and a two-year growth education of the Ihminen tavattavissa therapy programme (Tommy Hellsten -instituutti Oy, Finland)