10,000 Spins is a warm embrace of the middle-aged dancing and performing body—a cheer for a lived history that is visible in the ever-changing body.
Sweaty armpits, unruly leg hair, dance steps, survival, and endurance. Movements, pleasure, and shame. Bodies that blend and collide. Back rows, front rows. The soft patter of dance slippers and endless spins.
In 10 000 Spins dance artists Elina Hauta-aho & Kati Raatikainen and their working group explore how the ideals of different eras, social changes, power dynamics within dance cultures, and conceptions of the human being are imprinted on the body. What traces do decades of training, performing, successes, and failures leave on the body? And how can movement be used to understand, challenge, and change one’s place in the world? Built around an autobiographical approach, this work weaves together the creators’ personal experiences and broader social phenomena. At the same time, it offers insights into the politics of the body, the history of dance, and the attitudes that shape the way we view ourselves and one another.
10,000 Spins is a mid-term reflection of Raatikainen and Hauta-aho’s twenty-year journey in a profession that is both wonderful and terrible. It is a tribute to dance, which has been a lifeline for its creators since childhood. This work celebrates what has been lived, experienced, and imagined, as well as friendship and the journey shared together.
Duration: approximately 1 hour
The performances at Maunula House are free of charge, but seats must be reserved using the link below. Reservations open on 16 November 2026.
The work was first developed during the Nordic Regional (net)working residency in Umeå in spring 2025, when an initial work-in-progress version was presented at the Museum of Women’s History. Now, the completed work returns to Umeå. It premiered in December 2026 at Maunula House in Helsinki, and it will tour the region of Ostrobothnia in March 2027.
Support: Kone Foundation, Arts Promotion Center Finland, City of Helsinki
Residency: Umeå, Sweden, Nordic regional (net)working (with the Ostrobothnia Regional Dance Center Finland, Dans i Västerbotten, and Danscentrum Norr)
In collaboration with: Humina ry and Vantaan tanssiopisto
Sound design: Tuuli Kyttälä
Lighting design: Katinka Ebbe
Costume design: Jenni Räsänen
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