Dancer-choreographer Jyrki Karttunen has been appointed as the new director of dance theatre Hurjaruuth. Karttunen will take up his post at the beginning of December.
Jyrki Karttunen is a long-standing choreographer and performer who has previously worked at the Helsinki City Theatre, the Finnish National Ballet and the Karttunen Kollektiv group, among others. Karttunen also holds a Master’s degree in Dance and a degree in Social Sciences with a qualification in Early Childhood Education.
“For the past ten years I have been looking for a direction where I could make high quality art, especially with children and young people. In order to be able to concretely follow my dream, I studied and graduated in 2021 with a degree in social work. Now I can continue to pursue my dream at Hurjaruuth,” Karttunen says in a Hurjaruuth press release.
Karttunen starts his work at Hurjaruuth in a turbulent world situation. For Karttunen, it is important to focus on humour and brighter values in his work.
“Central to my work is an appreciation of the greater meaning of laughter, humour and comedy. While I understand that there are also horrible, scary and chaotic forces in the world, I have chosen to focus on lighter values instead. I see the world as unfinished, but that’s why it’s such a huge opportunity.”
Karttunen will begin his work in the middle of the most dynamic season of Hurjaruuth, the premiere of Winter Circus Super, directed by Sanna Silvennoinen, on December 1st 2023. Karttunen has been selected for a three-year term with a two-year extension option. Karttunen’s artistic handprint will be visible in Hurjaruuth’s repertoire in 2024.
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Dance Theatre Hurjaruuth