Tanssin Voima 2026 Tanssin Voima Festival | Monday

Power of Dance Festival
Monday 17.8.2026, Hietsun Paviljonki

17:30 Off/Balance: Them Two (free admission)
18:00 Reittejä eteenpäin – Cultural Policy Discussion (free admission)
20:00 Jonna Eiskonen & Ilmari Heikinheimo: Metal Pulsance
20:45 Sivuun Ensemble: Kylmäketju -dance film

Off/Balance: Them Two
A strong, independent and enjoyable duet of two women that plays with stretching the boundaries of an elegant essence. The music carries the women so that their sleeves swing. The work celebrates the pleasure of dancing and moving to the rhythm. It infects the viewer with energetic enthusiasm and the desire to participate in the dance.

Reittejä eteenpäin – Cultural Policy Discussion
(Paths Forward – Opportunities for the Free Dance Field – Discussion)
On Monday of the Tanssin Voima festival, an art policy discussion will be held at the Hietsun Paviljonki on the situation of the free dance field amidst the current funding and budget pressures. The discussion will consider what new operating models, forms of cooperation and changes in mindset are needed to strengthen the conditions for making art in a difficult economic situation.

How can free artists and organizations find paths forward? What options and opportunities can the future offer? The discussion invites you to consider together how the free art field can survive, renew and build a sustainable future.

The discussion will be attended by Kaisa Rönkkö, Dean of the Sibelius Academy at the University of the Arts Helsinki, and the artistic directors of the free dance field Ninni Perko / Sivuun Ensemble, Terhi Kuokkanen / Off/Balance and Jouka Valkama / Ballet Finland. The keynote speech will be given by Outi Järvinen, Executive Director of Arts Management Helsinki. The discussion will be moderated by Emmi Vainio, Head of Administration at Frame Contemporary Art Finland.

The discussion will be held in Finnish.

Jonna Eiskonen & Ilmari Heikinheimo: Metal Pulsance
Metal Pulsance is a dance concert where, by surrendering to the symbiotic state of sound and movement, we reach for the deep roots of life; timeless connection and oneness. The resonance supported by Ilmari Heikinheimo’s metal percussion instruments and Jonna Eiskonen’s dance take us on a shared journey of experience towards the frequencies of psychophysical consciousness and the vibrations of feeling.

Sivuun Ensemble: Kylmäketju -dance film
Kylmäketju is a dance film about intergenerational silence. Choreographer Ninni Perko draws the film’s material from subconscious, bodily experience and the history of her family. The film comments on the history of the use of power through the body of a woman.

Interpreted by Academician Marjo Kuusela, Ninni Perko, Krista-Julia Arpo and over 30 women, Kylmäketju delves into the silent stories of families and brings the effects of our ancestors’ means of survival and the power that carried them to the present day. The performers are women aged 25–90. The film’s movement language consists of expressive dance and physical theatre techniques. The aesthetically absurd world draws its imagery from the symbolism of dreams.